Technology + Relationships · 2018. 10. 30. · Positive Engagement: Uses caring relationships, effective messaging and a positive school climate to motivate daily attendance. Shared

1© www.attendanceworks.org

Technology + Relationships =

July 25, 2018 Grade Level Reading Week, Philadelphia www.attendanceworks.org

Reducing Chronic Absence


What is Chronic Absence?

Unexcused

absences

Chronic

Absence

Chronic absence is different from truancy (unexcused absences only) or

average daily attendance (how many students show up to school each day).

Chronic absence is missing so much school

for any reason that a student is academically

at risk. Attendance Works recommends

defining it as missing 10% or more of

school for any reason.

Excused

absencesSuspensions


Requires Quickly

Advancing A New

Paradigm on Attendance

Truancy• Counts unexcused

absences

• Emphasizes individual

compliance with

school rules

• Uses legal, typically

more punitive

solutions

Chronic Absence• Counts all

absences

• Emphasizes

academic impact

of missed days

• Uses preventive

problem solving,

relationship

building strategies


Multiple Years of Chronic

Absenteeism = High Risk for

low 3rd Grade Reading Skills

Note: ***Indicates that scores are significantly different from scores of students who are never chronically absent, at p<.001 level. + In the DIBELS 6th Edition Assessment and Scoring Guide (Good & Kaminksi, 2002), these are labeled as “Some Risk,” indicating the need for additional intervention and “At Risk,” indicating the need for substantial interventions.


Chronic Early Absence

Connected to Poor Long-

Term Academic Outcomes

A Rhode Island Data Hub analysis found that compared to kindergartners who attend regularly, those chronically absent:

• Scored 20% lower in reading and math in later grades and gap grows.

• 2X as likely to be retained in grade.

• 2X likely to be suspended by the end of 7th grade.

• Likely to continue being chronically absent.

Chronic absence in

kindergarten

Lower levels of

literacy in first grade

Lower achievement as

far out as fifth grade


Reducing Chronic

Absence Can Help Close

Equity Gaps

• Vulnerable children, especially those living in poverty, are 2-3

times more likely to experience chronic absence at earlier

ages.

• Vulnerable children are much less likely to have the resources

to make up for lost learning time in the classroom.

• Vulnerable children are more likely to experience multiple

years of chronic absence


36 states + DC adopted chronic absence as a metric in their ESSA plans.

The vast majority adopted the definition recommended by Attendance Works.

Who's In: Chronic Absenteeism Under the Every Student Succeeds ActFutureEd, Georgetown University, September 2017.

https://www.future-ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/REPORT_Chronic_Absenteeism_final_v5.pdf


ESSA Implementation

Offers Unprecedented

Opportunities and

Challenges

Spring 2018

• States establish business rules to ensure attendance data is accurate, consistent and reliable

Summer 2018 – Fall 2018

• States establish rating systems and targets for school accountability.

• States develop their school report cards

• LEAs create ESSA plans

Winter 2019

• The bottom 5% of low performing schools will be identified and will be required to conduct a needs assessment

Spring 2019

• Schools build chronic absence into school improvement plans


Factors That Contribute to

Chronic Absence

Barriers

• Illness, both chronic and acute

• Lack of health, mental health, vision, or dental care

• Trauma

• Unsafe path to/from school

• Poor Transportation

• Frequent moves or school changes

• Involvement with child welfare or juvenile justice systems

Negative School Experiences

• Struggling academically or socially

• Bullying

• Suspensions and expulsions

• Negative attitudes of parents due to their own school experience

• Undiagnosed disability

• Lack of appropriate accommodations for disability

Lack of Engagement

• Lack of culturally relevant, engaging instruction

• No meaningful relationships with adults in school

• Stronger ties with peers out of school than in school

• Unwelcoming school climate

• Failure to earn credits / no future plans

• Many teacher absences or long-term substitutes

Misconceptions

• Absences are only a problem if they are unexcused

• Missing 2 days per month doesn’t affect learning

• Sporadic absences aren’t a problem

• Attendance only matters in the older grades


Invest in Prevention and

Early Intervention


Attendance Improves

When Families Have…

Capacity

Resources, skills, and knowledge

to get services in schools

Hope

for a better future

Faith

that school will help you or your

child succeed

Relationships are key to all of

these elements. Technology can

help accelerate and enhance the

ability of relationships to put

them in place.


Students

& Families

Schools

Actionable

Data

Positive

Engagement

Capacity

Building

Shared

Accountability

Actionable Data:Is accurate, accessible, and regularly

reported in an understandable

format.

Capacity Building Expands ability to work together to

interpret data, engage in problem

solving, and adopt best practices to

improve attendance.

Positive Engagement: Uses caring relationships, effective

messaging and a positive school

climate to motivate daily

attendance.

Shared Accountability:

Ensures chronic absence is

monitored & reinforced by policy.

Strategic partnerships between district and community partners

address specific attendance barriers and

mobilize support for all ingredients.

Take a Data Driven Systemic Approach


Panelists

How can technology and relationships be used to:

Strengthen Family Engagement?

Ken Smythe-Leistico, Faculty and Field Coordinator,

Social Work Program, Seton Hill University

Build Capacity?

Angela Duran, Campaign Director,

Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

Allocate resources, analyze causes and identify needed partnerships?

Cecelia Leong, Associate Director for Programs,

Attendance Works

Leveraging Technology to Improve Attendance

Ken Smythe-Leistico, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor,

Seton Hill University

President & CEO,

RISE Educational Consulting

14

Parent Engagement – Attendance – Child Outcomes

Interventions to increase parent’s awareness of

absenteeism can be effective in increasing

student attendance (Helm & Burkett, 1989; Licht, Gard, & Guardino, 1991; Roderick et al., 1997)

Providing parents with written feedback about

how many days their child had missed school

was linked to a 10 percent drop in chronic

absence (Rogers & Feller, 2016)

15

Linking Parental Attitudes to Student Attendance

Mail-based communications to parents of at-

risk attenders to:

Emphasize the importance of regular school

attendance and

Provide accurate reporting of how many days their

child missed in relation to their peers

Mailings vs. Mailings + Social Support

Robinson et al. (2017)

16

Technology Interventions

More than 80% of American adults have

a cell phone with unlimited text service

which has been used as an effective and

efficient strategy to engage parents.(Mayer, Kalil, Oreopoulos, & Gallegos, 2015; York & Loeb, 2014)

17

Connect-Text

The goal of Attendance Texting was to improve

kindergarten attendance by using a two-way text

messaging platform to increase parent

understanding of attendance and identify and

reduce family barriers

18

Not just a text…a targeted message

Ready4K! – an eight-month-long text messaging

program for parents of preschoolers designed to help

them support their children’s literacy development

– York & Loeb, 2014

1) FACT – text designed to generate buy-in from parents

2) TIP – text that aimed to enhance parents’ self-efficacy

2) GROWTH – text which provided parents with encouragement and reinforcement

19

Connect-Text: Targeted Messaging

[Utility]. Messaging system provides families with

important school information and related family/child

opportunities such as out of school time offerings

[Individualization]. Provides families with feedback on

their child’s attendance and motivation on why

regular school attendance is critical to their child’s

educational success

[Support]. Focuses on positive messages regarding the

importance of the current school year and tips for

developmental opportunities to strengthen learning

20

Connect-Text: Sample by Type

Utility message: Reminder Parent-Teacher

Conference Week: No Classes Thursday (10/15-

10/16). Message me to reserve a slot with your

teacher.

Individualization message: Hi [PARENT NAME], we

really missed [CHILD NAME] today. Hope he feels

better tomorrow. The field trip to the zoo will be

great.

Support message: Reading Rocks! Does your child

have a favorite book? Text back and we’ll share

your fav with your teacher.

21

Procedures

One AmeriCorps member to work with PreK-1st

in one school (6 classrooms)

Implement Connect-Text

Approximately 30 minutes of time per week

Classroom assistance

Lunch duties

Assist with daily school dismissal

22

Procedures-Using Data to Inform

Review in 20-day cycles comparing

“year-to-date” and ”last 20 days”

Good attendance (absent fewer than 5% of days)

At-risk attendance (absent between 6%-9% of days)

Chronically absent (absent more than 10% of days)

23

Connecting Families to Needed Resources

Before- and after-school care/enrichment

Transportation

Shelter/housing

Basic resources (clothing)

Household items (washing machine)

24

Comparing Basic Trends

25

Figure 3. Trends in kindergarten chronic

absenteeism for Bridges K-5 and synthetic

control school

26

Ke

ep

ing

in

To

uc

h

Ken Smythe-Leistico, Ed.D.

[email protected]

(412) 860-8425

@RISEEdConsulting

@rise2educate

@S

eto

nh

ill

27

Going to Scale in Arkansas

263 districts

479,258

students

42,664 teachers

and

administrators

28

Tiered Approach to Building Capacity

Tier 1Low chronic

absence

Tier 2Modest and Significant

Tier 3 High andExtreme

Low (< than 5%)

Modest (5%-9%)Significant (10-19%)

High (20%-29%)Extreme (30%+)

• Uniform data reports• Teaching Attendance E-modules• Online access to tools/materials

• Teaching Attendance Workshops• Organizing an Attendance

Improvement Strategy Workshop • Subset data analysis and goal

setting

• Regular coaching• Onsite work with attendance

teams

29

Partners for Going to Scale

30

Uniform Data Analysis

31

Tools and Materials

32


Teaching Attendance

Curriculum Offers a

Standard Approach to…

Give school leaders and attendance teams a quick way to

equip teachers, school staff and community partners with

evidence-based strategies to improve attendance

Rally school staff to act as the first line of prevention and

early intervention and helps them think about how they can

integrate this work with existing practice and initiatives.

Helps them work smarter not harder!

Inspire better attendance practices that are positive,

proactive and problem-solving


On-Line Learning

(AW’s Teaching

Attendance Curriculum)

http://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/teaching-attendance-curriculum/

http://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/teaching-attendance-curriculum/


Why We Teach Attendance

Module 1: Why We Teach Attendance

What Is Chronic Absence?

Why Does it Matter?

How Can We Make a Difference?

Who Can Do Something?

What Are Our Next Steps?

Workshop 1: Why We Teach Attendance

Making the Case for Attendance

Current School-wide Practices

School-wide Stop-Start-Continue


Tier 1

Prevention Strategies

Module 2: Creating a Culture of Attendance

Cultivating a Welcoming Environment

Building Positive Relationships

Using Effective Messaging

Recognizing Improvements

Combating Attendance Dips

Workshop 2: Creating a Culture of Attendance

Envisioning a School-Wide Culture of Attendance

Tier 1 Prevention Strategies School-wide

Effective Messaging

Relationship Building


Add Tier 2

Early Intervention

Module 3: Using Data for Intervention and Support

Monitor Attendance Data

Identify Chronically Absent Students

Analyze Root Causes in Partnership with Students & Families

Match Interventions to Root Causes

Connect Students and Families with Resources As Needed

Workshop 3: Using Data for Intervention and Support

Using Data for School-wide Intervention and Support

Tier 2 and Tier 3 Supports School-Wide

Parent Teacher Conversations


How can technology and

relationships be used to allocate

resources, analyze causes and

identify needed partnerships?


Use Data + Technology to

Show Where Chronic

Absence is Concentrated

Developed by

UC Davis with

data released by

CA Dept of Ed

High Poverty Elementary

Districts in New York City have

the Highest Concentrations of

Chronic Absence

40©


In Pittsburgh, Census Block

Data Identified that a Handful of

Neighborhoods had the Highest

Absentee Rates


Use technology to visualize levels of chronic absence and key

community characteristics.

43© www.attendanceworks.org© www.attendanceworks.org


Chronically Absent

Students by Human

Service Program Area

Source: Allegheny County Department of Human Services for SY 2011/12


Implications for

Partnerships

In summary, data can be used to:a) identify hot spots requiring more support

b) unpack barriers and

c) identify potential partners for the work.

But to make a difference, data needs to be combined

with relationship building to build awareness,

advocate for needed changes, and forge partnerships.


Discussion

1. Are there other examples of how relationships

combined with technology have made a greater

difference?

2. So often, we think of technology as a magic bullet.

What is an example of how it’s not been the magic

bullet?

3. What is one take away that you would offer about

how to maximize the use of technology to reduce

chronic absence? (Panelists)


Reflections

Turn to a partner and discuss:

What is one thing you could do to

combine technology and relationship

building to reduce chronic absence?

Documents

Technology + Relationships · 2018. 10. 30. · Positive Engagement: Uses caring relationships, effective messaging and a positive school climate to motivate daily attendance. Shared