1. Gate Equity Webinar: Attendance
Krissy Johnson and Laurie Shannon, OSPI
Leslie vanleishout and rand Hodgson, north Thurston Public Schools
October 12, 2016

2. Attendance: Chronic Absenteeism, Truancy, and SSHB 2449
Un update for educators on the changes to the BECCA bill and attendance policies and procedures

3. Vision Mission Every student ready for career, college, and life
To provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.
Vision Mission

4. Performance Indicators

5. Agenda Discuss the changes to the BECCA Bill
What does the research on attendance show?
Discuss the changes to the BECCA Bill
Implementation expectations and challenges
What does this mean for Washington districts?
Conversation with North Thurston school district
Audience questions
9/19/2016
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

6. Attendance: What we know
DATA & Research summary
Krissy Johnson, OSPI
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

7. Polling Do you know the chronic absenteeism rate?
A. I know for my district
B. I know for my school
C. I know the state rate
D. I don’t know
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

8. Terms Defined
Chronic Absenteeism Missing 10% or more of school days for any reason – excused, unexcused, suspensions. This can mean more than 2 per month or 18 in a year. Truancy 5 unexcused full day absences in a month or 10 unexcused full days in a school year.
9/19/2016

9. Chronic Early Absence Connected to Poor Long- Term Academic Outcomes
Chronic absence in kindergarten
Lower levels of
literacy in first grade
Lower achievement as far out as fifth grade
Multiple studies show: high absence rates in kindergarten and first grade have significant impacts on students achievement in later grades as well as their attendance
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

10. The Effects of Chronic Absence on High School Success
Core GPA and attendance in eighth grade best predict whether students in high school pass and earn As or Bs
Studies show that 9th grade attendance is a more predictive indicator of dropping out than 8th grade test scores
Chronic absence has cumulative effects, the more a student is absent the more they fall behind, the more likely they are to be chronically absent in the future.
11/10/2018

11. Small improvements in attendance are associated with large improvements in later outcomes

12. Parents underestimate the number of year-end absences
Ad Council research commissioned by the CA Attorney General asked parents with students with a history of absence about their children’s absences in two ways:
Was your child absent an average of 2 or more days a month?
Was your child absent more than 10 days over the year?
60% of parents said their child was absent an average of 2+ days a month, but not 10+ days a year
Missed 10+ days annually 30%
Missed an average of 2+ days per month 90%
The math: If a child is absent an average of 2+ days a month, then he/she is absent far more than 10+ days a year

13. Schools inadvertently reinforce some absence-causing beliefs
Impersonal Letters:
Easy to disregard
Many parents felt the school miscounted—but parents couldn’t verify because they weren’t tracking absences
Many parents felt that the school didn’t understand them
Sending Work Home:
Parents thought that completing a makeup packet caught their child up for the missed day’s work
Teachers Not Addressing Absenteeism:
Most parents reported that they regularly communicate with their children’s teacher, but never about absences

14. What are the causes of absenteeism?
Myths
Barriers
Aversion
Disengage-ment
Absences are only a problem if they are unexcused
Ok to miss a day here or there
Attendance only matters in the older grades
Pre-K and K are seen as day care not learning
Chronic disease (asthma) or lack of health/dental care
Caring for siblings or other family members
Unmet basic needs: transportation, housing, food, clothing, etc.
Trauma
No safe path to school
Academic struggles
Being teased or bullied
Poor school climate, disproportionate school discipline, or unsafe school
Parents had negative school experience
Lack of engaging and relevant instruction
No meaningful relationship with school adults
More exciting to be with peers out of school vs. in school
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
10/10/2016

15. National Focus USED – Every Student, Every Day Initiative
Attendance Works
ESSA – School Quality and Student Success Accountability Measure & New Annual Reporting
Office of Civil Rights – Civil Rights Data Collection Data Release
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

17. Chronic Absenteeism in Washington
16% of Washington students were chronically absent in ‒15 (~174,000 students).
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 33%
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 26%
Low-Income: 22%
The rate of chronically absent students varies across districts
—from less than 5% to more than 40% of students in a district.
Disproportionately affects…

18. Truancy in Washington State
Tens of thousands of students are absent from school without a valid excuse.
Truancy has been linked to problems, such as dropping out, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, marital instability, criminality and incarceration.
The “Pipeline to Prison” impact.
Truancy is a “Pay now or Pay Later” issue.
Truancy is a school – court and community issue.

19. What do we know about students that are truant?
Truant students have been found to have had an increase in ACE’s, social and emotional difficulties.
Truant youth were 4-6 times more likely to have run away or been kicked out of their homes on multiple occasions.
39% of truant youth had a history of a psychological disorder or learning disability, and our truant youth reported a higher level of depression-anxiety, aggression-defiance, substance abuse, peer deviance, school disengagement, and family problems than non truant youth.

20. Questions?
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

21. SSHB 2449 Changes to the Becca law and implementation guidance
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

22. Polling How’s your progress on 2449?
We’ve implemented the needed changes
We have started making changes
We have a plan for how to make adjustments
I’ve never heard of it.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

23. Intent of the Law
SSHB 2449 recognizes the impact of missing school and creates a series of interventions in statute to address gaps in our current laws and promote promising and effective best practices around attendance.
Requires consistent practices and procedures for communication to families regarding attendance.
Requires schools and juvenile courts to work together to implement community truancy boards.
Recognizes that some truant students are best served when placed in a secure crisis residential center not a juvenile detention center.
Allows courts and schools to use screening tools to identify (and then address) root causes of truant behaviors.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

24. Notification of Attendance Policies and Procedures
NEW State law requires schools to notify parents (in the language in which they are fluent), annually or at the time of enrollment, of the benefits of regular attendance and the potential consequences of missing school for either excused or unexcused absences. This notification also must include:
The school’s expectations of parents to ensure regular attendance
The resources available to assist the child and parents;
The roles and the responsibilities of the school;
The consequences of truancy, including the compulsory education requirements of RCW 28A 225.
OSPI has developed a template letter (with translations) that schools may use here
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

25. New Conference Requirements in Elementary school
When a child has 5 or more excused absences in a month, or 10 or more excused absences in a year the district is required to schedule a conference with the child and parent to identify the barriers to regular attendance and supports and resources that may be available so that the child is able to attend regularly.
The conference must be scheduled at a reasonable time for all parties, if regularly scheduled parent conferences are scheduled within 30 days, that conference may be used.
The conference must include at least one district employee such as a nurse, social worker, counselor, teacher, or human services worker.
If the child has a 504 plan or an IEP, that team needs to reconvene for the conference.
A conference is not required if prior written notice, or a doctors note has been provided and a plan was put in place to ensure the child does not fall behind.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

26. Early Intervention
After two unexcused absences in any month the school must schedule a conference with the child and parents at a reasonable time to determine the causes of the truancies (a regularly scheduled parent teacher conference within 30 days can be used for the conference).
At that time the school shall take data informed steps to reduce or eliminate the absences.
The Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students (WARNS) is specifically called out as a tool to use to create a plan in alignment with the student profile.
At this time the WARNS is only a tool that can be used with secondary students (a middle school version is in pilot).
The school can use any other tool (including strength based interviewing) to assess the root causes of the truant behavior and create a plan that utilizes best practices or research based interventions.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

27. Washington Assessment of the Risks & Needs of Students (WARNS)
If you would like to start using the WARNS please contact Rachael Sanford at the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).
The AOC is continuing to support the WARNS while it is in transition to Washington State University.
The WARNS consent form, user agreement, Youth Survey and WARNS User Manual can be found here. WARNS
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

28. Attendance Records
Attendance records must follow the student when a student changes schools.
This must include:
The receipt from the parent that they had received attendance information;
Any assessment done with the child or family;
Any interventions attempted with the child and/or family.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

29. Changes for the Future
By the beginning of the school year all districts with greater than 200 students must have an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with their Juvenile Court jurisdiction to create a Community Truancy Board.
The CTB may be run by the juvenile court, the school district, or in collaboration together as determined in the MOU.
Sample MOUs available on the OSPI Truancy webpage.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

30. What is a Community Truancy Board?
A board composed of members from the school, court and local community in which the child attends school.
The purpose is to provide a supportive environment where a youth and family can openly discuss the reasons behind the child’s absences.
Provides an opportunity to identify interventions that can successfully reintegrate students back into the school setting which encourages and supports attendance and involvement.
Establishes a contract between all parties to improve the attendance issues.

31. CTB Goals
Improving school attendance by using best practices that incorporate the following:
Developing a system for finding solutions to prevent truancy.
Improving school engagement.
Reducing dropout rates.
Increasing access to outside service providers.
Using an interdisciplinary approach to collaborate and coordinate with local community businesses, non profit groups, schools, and court staff.

32. The Importance of Connection
School connectedness is a strong protective factor against delinquency.
School connectedness is linked to lower levels of substance abuse, violence and emotional distress.
Out of school elementary and middle school students contribute to dropout rates.
A student arrested in high school is twice as likely to drop out.
A student who appears in court during high school is four times as likely to drop out.

33. Opportunity to Start a CTB and Receive Training
OPSI is administering grants available to the Educational Service Districts (ESD) to help School Districts create and train effective Community Truancy Boards.
The grants have been posted and the training of trainers has been set for December 5th, 2016.
Districts that are selected by their ESD as participants will receive training from January through May culminating with their own first Community Truancy Board before the end of the 2017 school year.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

34. Additional Changes for the Future
A definition of truancy for the digital learning environment will be established as well as intervention protocols to ameliorate truancy in the Virtual School setting.
The cultural competence of the Community Truancy Boards will be studied and a report made to the legislature.
Additional HOPE beds (secure crisis residential settings) will be added to the existing beds by a minimum of ten beds per year through 2019 (subject to funding).
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

35. Questions?
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

36. Implementation with North Thurston
Leslie Vanleishout and rand Hodgson
North Thurston Public Schools
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

37. Questions How does 2449 support your work?
How does it challenge your work?
How are you handling these challenges?
What advice do you have for other districts just beginning to address attendance in a comprehensive manner?
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018

38. Resources
Book link
PSESD
Spokane CTB toolkit
OSPI analytics
OSPI Truancy
OSPI Attendance page
CEDARS Guidance
The guidance on reporting absences can be found both in the  CEDARS Manual (pp ) and the  CEDARS Reporting Guidance (pp ).
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
11/10/2018