Absenteeism, Tardiness, and Early Dismissals: Addressing Students Missing Time In Class Ashleigh Stambaugh Salem College May 2,2016

Introduction Attendance issues have always been a problem placed on teachers in the 21 st century Addressing attendance earlier should be a priority for teachers and other education professionals. Previous research focuses mostly on full day absences, not tardies and early dismissals

Current Policies for Attendance Davidson County School Board (DCSB) policy on attendance is as follows: “Attendance in school and participation in class are an in integral part of academic achievement and the teaching-learning process. Through regular attendance, students develop patterns of behavior essential to professional and personal success in life. Regular attendance by every student is mandatory. The State of North Carolina requires that every child in the State between the ages of 7 (or younger if enrolled) and 16 attend school. Parents and legal guardians are responsible for ensuring that students attend and remain at school daily (Davidson County School Board (DCSB), 2015, p. 21).” The maximum number of absences before a student is considered eligible for retention is sixteen (Davidson County School Board (DCSB), 2015).

Past Interventions Parent contact/notification At 6, 8, and 10 unexcused absences Home visits Mediation Starts at 8-10 absences Truancy Court Filed after 10 absences or more than 2 absences after mediation

Research Question and Hypothesis Does Absence, Tardiness, Early Dismissals negatively affect Student Performance? Students with a high frequency of Attendance related issues will have a lower performing status than those who have not missed any or very little instructional time in the same classrooms. Does addressing Student Success Skills in a small group affect the attendance rate of individuals who have high attendance issues already? Students in the Success Skills group will have less attendance issues than students who were not allowed to join the Success Skills group.

Participant Characteristics 19 Students Total picked from 3 rd,4 th,and 5 th grades 10 Female 9 Male 8 in 3 rd grade 4 in the 4 th grade 7 in the 5 th grade Only 6 students were a part of the Success Skills group 4 in the 3 rd grade 1 in the 4 th Grade 1 in the 5 th grade

Research Design Students were labeled to a group A, B, C, or D Group A was 4 th and 5 th grade students who attended Success Skills group Group B was 3 rd grade students who attended Success Skills group Group C was 3 rd grade students who did not attend Success Skills group Group D was 4 th and 5 th grade students who did not attend Success Skills group Grades and Attendance was monitored for all students for 1 st 2 nd and 3 rd quarter Grades monitored were Reading, Math classroom grades as well as benchmarks Success Skills groups met for 6 weeks during the 3 rd quarter

Results and Discussion

Examining Trends in Attendance Each student’s attendance was tracked over the course of three quarters, in each quarter the researcher counted every instance that the student was absent, late and counted as tardy, or picked up early and counted as an early dismissal for the day. Second Quarter In the second quarter, the students in the Success Skills groups (A and B) had a higher percentage of time present and on time in school than the students in groups C and D. Third Quarter In the third quarter, only one student from group A or B was present and on time less than seventy-five percent of the time. In groups C and D only six students were present and on time more than seventy-five percent of the time. In the third quarter the students in groups A and B were thirty-seven percent more likely to be present and on time than the students in groups C and D. This was determined by using the following formula the number of students who were present less than 75% of the time divided by total students in groups C and D subtracted by the number of students who were present less than 75% of the time divided by total students in groups A and B (or (7/13) – (1/7) = 37%).

Raw Attendance Data 1 st Quarter studentabsences for 1 st QuarterTardies for 1 st QuarterEarly Dismissals for 1 st QuarterDays Present and on time % of Time Student was Present and on time A A B B B B C C C C D D D D D D D D D

Raw Attendance Data for 2 nd Quarter studentAbsences for 2 nd QuarterTardies for 2 nd QuarterEarly Dismissals for 2 nd QuarterDays present and on time % of Time Student was Present and on time A A B B B B C C C C D D D D D D D D D

Raw Attendance Data for 3 rd Quarter studentabsences for Q3Tardies for Q3ED for Q3Days Present and on time% Present and on time A A B B B B C C C C D D D D D D D D D

Comparison of Student A1 and D1 A comparison was done of the attendance trends a student in group A and a student in group D had, the chart is shown to the right: When the student A1 was participating in the Success Skills Group, her attendance improved and she had very few instances where she was absent, late or picked up early. In comparison, student D1 did not participate in the Success Skills Group and his attendance instances stayed at least as high as his 1 st quarter instances.

Comparison of Student B3 and C1 A comparison was done of the attendance trends of a student in group B and a student in group C; the chart is shown to the right: The student B3 who participated in the Success Skills Group had very low instances of absences, tardies, and early dismissals after being invited to the group. Student C1 had an increase of absences and tardies after being invited to the group and denying to participate; the instances of tardies increased exponentially in the third quarter even though her early dismissals stayed relatively low.

Student Growth Comparison from 2 nd to 3 rd Quarter One focus all education stakeholders have is student performance and growth. It is how they determine if a student needs more individualized teaching, or re-teaching on a subject and if a student should be tested for EC. Some students showed growth or decline, while others had very minimal if any change.

1 st Quarter Data

2 nd Quarter Data

3 rd Quarter Data

Discussion Data showed that students who had a more intense intervention with their attendance issues had better grades overall than students who did not receive the more intensive interventions. Students in groups A and B had better overall grades when compared to their absences, tardies, and early dismissals than the students in groups C and D. The trend in absences will continue until an intervention has been done, whether that be a Success Skills group like what was used in this study, or more in-depth conversations with parents have been completed. Other interventions that could be used are discussed next.

Suggestions for Future Research Attendance issues seems to be an issue that all schools face no matter what area or socio-economic level they serve. Consistent and persistent phone calls to parents about excessive absences early in the school year may change the behavior of students in a more rapid manner than just talking to the students, especially at the Elementary School Level. Keeping track of phone calls made to parents on top of sending letters when students have 6, 10 and 12 absences might be beneficial to see if a trend is corrected with more persistent contact made to the parents

References Davidson County School Board (DCSB) (2015). School Board Policy Manual. Retrieved from ix%20%20-%20Students%20( ).pdf Stambaugh, A. (2016) Absenteeism, Tardiness, and Early Dismissals: Addressing Students Missing Time In Class. (Unpublished Masters Thesis) Salem College, NC

Questions?