1. Attendance
Jessica Noble

2. The Importance of Attendance
Poor Attendance is:
An early warning sign of potential dropouts
Predictive of academic failure
A drag on pace of instruction
Costly for each school and surrounding community
A flag for student dis-engagement
All school absences reduce learning, but absences happen for different reasons, and need different solutions.
Suspensions and Expulsions – school-imposed
Excused absence – illness, doctor’s visit, court, etc.
Unexcused absence – skipping school, sibling or elder care, no note, etc.

3. Attendance Statutes: 72-1111
Subject to the other provisions of this section, every parent or person acting as parent in the state of Kansas, who has control over or charge of any child who has reached the age of seven years and is under the age of 18 years and has not attained a high school diploma or a general educational development (GED) credential, shall require such child to be regularly enrolled in and attend continuously each school year (1) a public school for the duration of the school term provided for in K.S.A , and amendments thereto, or (2) a private, denominational or parochial school taught by a competent instructor for a period of time which is substantially equivalent to the period of time public school is maintained in the school district in which the private, denominational or parochial school is located.

4. Attendance Statutes: 72-1111
If the child is 16 or 17 years of age, the parent or person acting as parent, by written consent, or the court, pursuant to a court order, may allow the child to be exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section. (b) If the child is 16 or 17 years of age, the child shall be exempt from the compulsory attendance requirements of this section if (1) the child is regularly enrolled in and attending a program recognized by the local board of education as an approved alternative educational program, or (2) the child and the parent or person acting as parent attend a final counseling session conducted by the school during which a disclaimer to encourage the child to remain in school or to pursue educational alternatives is presented to and signed by the child and the parent or person acting as parent.

5. Truancy Statutes:
Each board of education shall designate one or more employees who shall report to the secretary of social and rehabilitation services, or a designee thereof, or to the appropriate county or district attorney pursuant to an agreement as provided in this section, all cases of children who are less than 13 years of age and are not attending school as required by law, and to the appropriate county or district attorney, or a designee thereof, all cases of children who are 13 or more years of age but less than 18 years of age and are not attending school as required by law.

6. Truancy Statutes:
Whenever a child is required by law to attend school and is enrolled in school, and the child is inexcusably absent therefrom on either three consecutive school days or five school days in any semester or seven school days in any school year, whichever of the foregoing occurs first, the child shall be considered to be not attending school as required by law.
186 days= school year
Missing 7 days= truant
Non-truant= above 96% attendance rate

7. 6th Grade Attendance Predicts Dropouts
Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium

8. 9th Grade Attendance Predicts Graduation
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

9. Baltimore’s Attendance Levels
Unlawfully Absent 20% of days on roll if enrolled for at least 90 days.
ADA Masks Chronic Absence ( Kansas ADA 09/10= 94.93%)
Even when average daily attendance rates at a school are fairly high, some students may still be missing significant amounts of school.
Attendance Rate of 90%
Attendance Rate of 95%
Attendance Rate of 80%
5 or fewer absences
Note: Chronic Absence is a measure that includes both excused and unexcused absences whereas truancy only measures unexcused absences.

10. Attendance Levels of Students Taking 2009 Math Assessment
255,124 students (33% are at less than 95%) (9% are less than 90%)
Less than 80%= 51.4%
80-90%= 64.5%
90-95%= 72%
95-97%= 75.6%
97-100%= 77.6%

11. 4th Grade Science Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
3 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

12. 7th Grade Science Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
7 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

13. 11th Grade Science Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
8.5 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

14. 4th Grade Math Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
3 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

15. 7th Grade Math Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
7.5 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

16. 11th Grade Math Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
11 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

17. 4th Grade Reading Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
2.5 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

18. 7th Grade Reading Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
7 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

19. 11th Grade Reading Assessments
Average Attendance Rate
10 days difference between academic warning and exemplary

20. Attendance of 2009 dropouts
2006:
2007:
2008:
2009:

21. Superintendent’s Survey
Strength
Ok for now
Could be better
Urgent gap
Don’t know
Attendance and absences for each student are accurately recorded on a daily basis by trained staff and parents are alerted when children miss school.
75.6%
22.2%
2.2% 0%
Attendance data is entered daily into an electronic data base which tracks information using a unique student identifier.
84.4%
13.3%

22. Superintendent’s Survey
Strength
Ok for now
Could be better
Urgent gap
Don’t know
Attendance data is used, as part of an early warning system, to identify high risk students and families in need of outreach, support and intervention.
55.6%
37.8%
6.7% 0%
Good attendance and chronic absence levels are calculated for each school, grade and NCLB sub-population on a regular basis.
35.6%
40%
22.2%
2.2%

23. Superintendent’s Survey
Strength
Ok for now
Could be better
Urgent gap
Don’t know
Good attendance and chronic absence levels are publicly reported and regularly shared electronically via school report cards, data dashboards, etc.
28.9%
42.2%
22.2%
4.4%
2.2%
Data on chronic absence are used to target and allocate district or community resources with potential to reduce barriers to attendance.
11.1%
46.7%
37.8% 0%

24. Superintendent’s Survey
Strength
Ok for now
Could be better
Urgent gap
Don’t know
Underperforming schools with high levels of chronic absence are required to address the issue in school improvement plans through positive universal strategies as well as targeted interventions.
33.3%
46.7%
15.6% 0%
4.4%
All schools are required to establish attendance teams to review data, set attendance targets and take action.
17.8%
35.6%
31.1%
11.1%

25. Superintendent’s Survey
Strength
Ok for now
Could be better
Urgent gap
Don’t know
Educators receive professional development that familiarizes them with early warning signs of drop-out including chronic absence and how to address them.
15.6%
40%
37.8%
6.7% 0%
District policy and budget makes improved attendance and reducing chronic absence a priority for schools and administrators.
26.7%
53.3%
20%

26. Recommendations for Practice from Attendance Counts
Create attendance data team to regularly review patterns of good attendance & chronic absence by grade, classroom and sub-population.
Offer attendance incentives school-wide.
Educate parents, starting ideally in pre-K, that attendance matters & encourage them to help each other get to school.
Reach out to chronically absent students & their families & find out barriers to attendance.
Partner with community agencies and parents to promote attendance & address barriers.
Include strategies to improve attendance in annual school improvement plan.

27. Recommendations for Policy from Attendance Counts
Adopt standard attendance, chronic absence and truancy measures at local, state and federal levels.
Calculate & report on chronic absence and other attendance measures by district, school, grade & sub-population. Include in data dashboards and electronic communications.
Establish school & district attendance teams to review data and develop programmatic and policy responses.
Address chronic absence in school improvement plans.
Offer incentives for schools, educators and community partners (e.g. preK, afterschool, etc.) to improve attendance and reduce chronic absence.
Invest in professional development to help educators recognize chronic absence as an early warning sign and adopt strategies for improving attendance.
Use chronic absence to guide allocation of relevant community resources

28. Deep Thoughts
Are there measures that could be taken to more efficiently track student attendance at the state and local level?
Does the Superintendent’s survey identify any areas for improvement?
How can we address chronic absenteeism and truancy beyond the four walls of school?

29. Contact Information
Jessica Noble
Education Program Consultant
Kansas State Department of Education