What is Chronic Absence? Why Does it Matter?ilcommunityschools.org/images/Forum/Workshop Materials...10/23/2012 5 9 9th Grade Attendance Predicts Graduation for Students of All Economic

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What is Chronic Absence? Why Does it Matter?

Chronic Absence Is A Critical Tool for Community Schools

It can serve as:

A unifying, common goal

Effective tool for resource allocation

Easy to understand measure of progress and success

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Unpacking Attendance Terms

Average Daily Attendance

• Definition: The % of enrolled students who attend school each day

• Answers: What resources are needed given the number of students who typically show up to school?

Truancy

• Definition: Typically refers only to unexcused absences and is defined by each state and sometimes by school district.

• Answers: How many/which students are skipping school and breaking compulsory attendance laws?

Chronic Absence

• Proposed National Definition: Missing 10% or more of school for any reason – excuse, unexcused, etc.

• Answers: How many and which students are missing so much school they are academically at risk? Do we need to improve attendance in order to raise achievement?

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Nationally, Students Who Miss More Than 10% Of School (18 out of 180 days) Are At Grave Risk

When 90% Doesn’t Earn an “A”

Chronic Absence(=>10% absence)

Warning Signs(<10% but >5% absence)

Satisfactory Attendance(=<5% absence)

0-90%

91-94%

95 %+

Emergency: =>20% absence

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5

64%

43% 41%

17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

No attendance risks Small attendance risks Moderate attendance risks High attendance risks

Percent Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced on 3rd Grade ELA Based on Attendance in Kindergarten and 1st Grade

Students Chronically Absent in Kindergarten & 1st Grade Much Less Likely to Read Proficiently in 3rd Grade

No risk Missed less than 5% of school in K & 1st tSmall risk Missed 5-9% of days in both K & 1st

Moderate risk 5-9% of days absent in 1 year &10 % in 1 year High risk Missed 10% or more in K & 1st

Source: Applied Survey Research & Attendance Works (April 2011)

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The Long-term impact of Chronic Kindergarten Absence Is Most Troubling for Poor Children

Source: ECLS-K data analyzed by National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) Note: Average academic performance reflects results of direct cognitive assessments conducted for ECLS-K.

5th Grade Math and Reading Performance By K Attendance

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Absenteeism Is A Problem Even For Higher Achieving Students

Difference in ELA CST Percentile Points by Number of Days Absent

‐10

‐8

‐6

‐4

‐2

0

0 3 6 9 12 15 18

Difference in

ELA

CST

Percen

tile Points

Below Basic and Far Below Basic Last Year

Basic Last Year

Proficient and Advanced Last Year

Number of days absent

Number of days absent had a significant negative effect on CST percentiles in English Language Arts for elementary students in

Redwood City CA

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Chronically Absent 6th Graders Have Lower Graduation Rates

Average % days missed, 6 to 8 0 to <2.5% absent 2.5 to <5% absent5 to <10% absent 10% or more absent

Gra

duat

ion

Rate

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

SESFree lunch Reduced lunch Paid lunch

Spradlin, et al. (2012). Examining the prevalence, scale, and impact of chronic absence in Indiana student‐level data analysis. CEEP, University of Indiana.

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9th Grade Attendance Predicts Graduation for Students of All Economic Backgrounds

Note: This Chicago study found attendance was a stronger graduation predictor than 8th grade test scores.

Source: Allensworth & Easton, What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools, Consortium on Chicago School Research at U of C, July 2007

Need to recolor chart

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Moving into Action Requires KnowingIf Chronic Absence is a Problem

Most Schools Only Track Average Daily Attendance and Truancy. Both Can Mask Chronic Absence.

98% ADA = little chronic absence, 95%ADA = don’t know; 93% ADA = significant chronic absence

7%

12% 13% 13%15% 16%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

A B C D E F

Chronic Absence For 7 Elementary Schools in Oakland, CA with @ 95% ADA in 2012

% Chronic Absence

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Sporadic — Not Just Consecutive –Absences Matter

A 407 alert is issued when student misses 10 consecutive days or 20 days over a 40 day period. It misses more sporadic absence.1 out of 5 elementary school children were chronically absent.

Source: Nauer K et al, Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families, Center for New York City Affairs New School, Oct 2008

New York City Schools

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Chronic Absence Versus Truancy (San Francisco Unified School District)

(Note: SFUSD identified chron/hab truants as = 10 unexcused absences)

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Chronic absence data (as well as other attendance measures) should be examined by classroom, grade, school, neighborhood or sub-population.

If chronic absence is unusually high for a particular group of students, explore what might be common issues (unreliable transportation, community violence, asthma and other chronic diseases, poor access to health care, unnecessary suspension for non-violent offenses, lack of engaging curriculum, child care or afterschool programming, foreclosures, etc.)

If chronic absence is unusually low for a high risk population, find out what they are doing that works.

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Data is Needed for Identifying Programmatic Solutions

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Schools + Communities CAN Make a Difference

Characteristics of Successful Attendance Initiatives

Partner with community agencies to help families carry out their responsibility to get children to school.

Make attendance a priority, set targets and monitor progress over time.

Engage parents and students in identifying and addressing school, family, and community issues that contribute to chronic absence.

Clearly communicate expectations for attendance to students and families.

Begin early, ideally in Pre‐K.

Combine targeted interventions with universal strategies that nurture an engaged learning environment, build a culture of attendance and ensure physical health and safety at school.

Offer positive supports before punitive action.

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Increased Attendance Involves a 3‐Tiered Approach that Fits with Most Reform Efforts

A small fraction of a school’s

students

Students who were chronicallyabsent in prior year or starting to miss 20% or moreof school

Someof a school’s

studentsStudents at risk for chronic absence

All of a school’s

students

All students in the school

RecoveryPrograms

InterventionPrograms

Universal/PreventivePrograms

High Cost

Low Cost

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Solutions Only Work If Grounded in Understanding Of What Leads to Chronic

Absence

Discretion

Parents don’t know

attendance matters

School lacks a strong culture of attendance

Aversion

Child is struggling

academically

Child is being bullied

Barriers

Lack of access to health care

No safe path to school

Poor transportation

Special thanks to Dr. Robert Balfanz, Everyone Graduates Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD for providing this framework.

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Recognize Good & Improved Attendance

Parent and Student

Engagement

Personalized Early Outreach

School Team Monitoring

Attendance Data & Practice

Proposed Universal Strategies For Influencing Discretion and Identifying

Causes of Absence

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• Case management and wrap-around services

• Referral as last resort for court-based intervention

• Early outreach, support, mentoring for students with poor attendance

• Identify and remove barriers

• Attendance contracts

• Safe and supportive school environment

• Engaging classroom environments

• Parent education about why attendance matters and how to help each other get students to school

• On-going attention to attendance data

• Recognition for good and improved attendance

• Collaboration with afterschool and early childhood

• School-based health support

Recovery

Programs

Strategies for 3 Tiered Approach

Intervention

Programs

Intervention

Programs

Universal/Preventive

Programs

Intervention Programs

Universal/Preventive Programs

Recovery Programs

Universal strategies are part of tiered interventions

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Positive Messaging

Capacity Building

Actionable Data

Shared Accountability

Ingredients For Success &Sustainability in a District

Is accurate, regularly

reported and easily

obtained

Ensures monitoring & incentives to reduce chronic absence

Expands ability to interpret data and adopt best practices

Conveys importance of building a habit of

attendance & what is chronic absence Strengthens

Family/School Relationship

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Own the Issue

Mobilize the

Community

Drive With Data

The Superintendents Call to Action

Taking a Bottom Up Approach to Policy Change

To sign‐up for the Call to Action, or to learn more, please visit: www.attendanceworks.org/superintendents‐call‐

to‐action

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Absenteeism in the Chicago Public Schools: Exploring the Earlier Years

Stacy Ehrlich and Elizabeth SoriceUniversity of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research

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What CPS wanted to know

1. What is the extent of absenteeism among CPS students in the early grades (preschool – grade 3)?

2. Who exhibits chronic absenteeism?

3. Why are students absent from preschool?

4. How is attendance in preschool related to learning outcomes in preschool?

5. How is attendance in preschool related to outcomes in later grades?

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Preschool programs and children in CPS, 2011‐12Program Total Slots % Total Preschool

SlotsClassrooms Schools

Preschool for All (State‐funded) 14,900 47.9% 393 240

Community Partnerships (CPP)* 7,178 23.1% 481 229

Head Start 7,300 23.5% 246 129

Child‐Parent Centers (CPC) 1,200 3.9% 30 10

Tuition‐based Preschool 540 1.7% 27 17

* Not included in our analyses

Data retrieved from Office of Early Childhood Education, CPS (updated June, 2012): http://www.ecechicago.org/about/glance.html

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Hispanic AfricanAmerican

White Asian Other

• 88% qualify for free and reduced lunch

• 29.4% qualify for English Language Learners (ELL) services

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Preschool students miss much more school than students in K‐3rd grade

Data included in these analyses were obtained from the Chicago Public Schools. Data cleaning and analyses were conducted by the Consortium on Chicago School Research. Please direct any data questions to CCSR.

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Absence Rates by Age in 2008‐09, 2009‐10 and 2010‐11

2008‐2009

2009‐2010

2010‐2011

Longitudinal analyses, following the same children over time, look similar. The largest increase in attendance is from age 4 to 5.

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More preschool students are chronically absent than students in kindergarten and beyond

48%

41%

23%

17%14%

12%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Age 3 Age 4 Age 5 Age 6 Age 7 Age 8

Percent of students

Proportion of Students in the Chicago Public Schools who were Chronically Absent, 2010‐2011

20+ %

10% < 20%


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Roughly 1/3 of chronically absent 4‐year‐olds continue to be chronically absent in kindergarten

Age 4

Chronically absent

Left CPS

Non-chronically

absent

Age 5

(6.9%)

(85.7%)

(7.5%)

(33.5%)

(52.6%)

(13.9%)

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A quarter of chronically absent preschool students are still chronically absent two years later

Age 6

(4.8%)

(82.3%)

(13.0%)

(24.2%)

(56.6%)

(19.4%)

Age 4

Chronically absent

Left CPS

Non-chronically

absent

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Extent of Early Absenteeism: Key Trends

Preschool students miss more school than do students in kindergarten and the primary grades

- Absence rates decrease substantially from age 4 to age 5

While not all chronically absent preschool students continue to be chronically absent in kindergarten, 33% of them do

- This continues into early elementary school: Roughly a quarter of chronically absent preschool students are still chronically absent in 1st grade

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African Americans more likely to be chronically absent than race/ethnic other groups


31%

60%

33% 33%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

White AfricanAmerican

Latino Asian

Percent of Chronically Absent Preschool Students by Race/Ethnicity

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Preschool students from high poverty neighborhoods more likely to be chronically absent than students from moderate/low poverty neighborhoods

Is race or poverty driving these differences?


40%

62%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Low/Moderate Poverty High Poverty

Percent Chronically Absent Preschool Students by Neighborhood Poverty

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African American Preschool Students more likely to be chronically absent even after taking into account poverty

31%

57%

33% 32%

64%

43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

White African American Latino Asian

Percent Chronically Absent by Race/Ethnicity and Poverty

Lighter = Low/Moderate Poverty Darker = High Poverty


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Students enrolled in Child Parent Centers more likely to be chronically absent than students in other programs


69%

46%

41%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Child ParentCenter (4.2%)

Head Start(32%)

Preschool ForAll (62%)

Tuition Based(2.1%)

Percent of Chronically Absent Preschool Students by Program Type

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Who misses school more?

African‐American and high‐poverty children attend preschool less regularly

Attendance also differs depending on the program

- Child‐Parent Centers have lower attendance than other programs

- Partially due to who they serve; do not have information on programmatic activities that may influence attendance

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What are the reasons why students are absent from preschool?

What the most common reasons why preschool students are absent?

Are reasons for absences different for students with different background characteristics or in different programs?

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Reasons for Absences: Data Source

Teacher logs, 3 times over school year (3‐week periods)

60 randomly selected, representative preschool classrooms

Time 1: October 31st – November 18th

Time 2: January 30th – February 17th

Time 3: April 23rd – May 11th

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Attendance over the course of nine weeks

Over these three timepoints (nine weeks), school was in session for an average of 32 days

The average student in our sample was absent 3.4 daysover that same time period, which is an absence rate of 11.7%

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Medical‐related reasons account for more than half of preschool absences

"Other" includes: school phobia, lack of sleep, religious observances, weather, safety issues, and a general other category.

4.0%

54.2%

3.5%

7.5%

3.3%

10.3%

12.2%

5.0%

Reasons for Absences

WellnessAppointmentSick (non‐chronic)

Sick (chronic)

Logistics

Vacation

Family

Don't Know

Other

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African American students are they are more likely to be absent for reasons other than illness

"Other“ reasons include: school phobia, lack of sleep, religious observances, weather, safety issues, and a general other category.

1% 1%

4%

7%6%

3%

1%

2%

1%

1%

2%

1%

1%

1%

2%

1%

1%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

White(n=157)

African American(n=456)

Latino(n=475)

Asian(n=31)

Reasons for Absences, by Race/Ethnicity

Other

Don't Know

Family

Vacation

Logistics

Sick (chronic)

Sick (non‐chronic)

WellnessAppointment

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High‐poverty students are absent more with more illness, family, and transportation‐related reasons


1% 1%

4%

6%8%

1%

1%

2%

1%1%

1%

2%

1%

1%

2%

1%

1%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

Low poverty(n=141)

Moderatepoverty(n=851)

High poverty(n=178)

Reasons for Absences, by Poverty Level

Other

Don't Know

Family

Vacation

Logistics

Sick (chronic)


WellnessAppointment

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Child‐Parent Centers have highest rates of sick‐ and family‐related absences; tuition‐based have higher rates of vacation


1%

10%7%

6%

2%

2%

2%

1%1%

1%

3%

1%1%

1%

3%

2%

1%

2%

1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Child‐ParentCenters(n=42)

Head Start(n=266)

Preschool for All(n=806)

Tuition‐based(n=56)

Reasons for Absences, by Program Type

Other

Don't Know

Family

Vacation

Logistics

Sick (chronic)


WellnessAppointment

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Early implications

While many students will have better attendance rates as they get older, there is reason to focus on chronic absenteeism in preschool

Providing solutions around transportation may help improve attendance for those in most need (Full‐day vs. half‐day programs? Parent carpools?)

Other reasons – particularly family‐related reasons –need further research to understand whether there are social supports that can help reduce absences within these families

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Continuing work

Teacher responses to CPS survey

Teacher perspectives on: (a) how integrated preschool is with elementary grades, (b) the role of the teacher as an educator, (c) parent involvement, (d) attendance policies, and (e) importance of preschool

Parent survey (n=633)

Follow‐up parent interviews (n=40)

To better understand: (a) experiences with preschool program, (b) importance of preschool, and (c) reasons for absences

Links between absences and outcomes (in preschool and in early elementary years)

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a) Scale and scope of the problem

b) Grand Rapid’s main strategies for addressing chronic absence

c) Impact to date

d) Implications for early childhood

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The Grand Rapids Story

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Chronic Absence Ranged from @ 2% to over 20% across districts in Kent County.

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Chronic absence Associated with Significantly Worse Achievement in Grand Rapids

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• Superintendent and Principal Leadership

• District and Building Attendance Policy

• Teacher/Staff Buy‐in

• Regular Attendance Meetings

• Parent Outreach

• Attendance Incentives

• Interagency Casemanagement

• Year End Assessment

Critical Ingredients For Success in Grand Rapids

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0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

50.0%Axis Title

Absenteeism Trends Overtime in KSSN Schools

Alger Middle

Burton Elementary

Coit Creative Arts

Harrison Park

Martin Luther King

Sibley

Documents

What is Chronic Absence? Why Does it Matter?ilcommunityschools.org/images/Forum/Workshop Materials...10/23/2012 5 9 9th Grade Attendance Predicts Graduation for Students of All Economic