1. Absenteeism The Data and the Humanity
Use data to support very human efforts
Brian Sousa Administrator II - Student Data and Achievement Riverside County Office of Education Student Programs and Services Division

2. Case Study: Riverside County Community School
School Profile
Enrollment: 350 students on average
Mandated by the state to provide education to areas of “gaps”
Highly transient nature to enrollment
Compared to the county as a whole, a notably higher percentage of the following subgroups:
Hispanic
African American
Foster Youth
English Learners
Socio-economically Disadvantaged
Special Education
Male
Cover what a service gap is

3. How we get our Students?
63% of students come to us by way of expulsion

4. Understanding our Schools:
Considerations that are somewhat unique to community schools:
We do not expel
We seldom suspend
Students are often severely credit deficient
Diagnostic assessments reveal that high school age students often initially place within elementary levels for Reading and Mathematics
Very high threshold of tolerance
Punitive actions show little motivation for improvement
We are often a last resort and continue attendance intervention beyond the SARB
As a result of LCFF, districts are more inclined to keep students on the “bubble”

5. Flashback 2014-2015: Our attendance rate: 67.7% Analysis of the issue:
Silver lining: Nowhere to go but up!
Analysis of the issue:
All resources going into school climate
SART/SARB was non-existent for most of the year
SSTs were used as the only real form of attendance intervention
No sense of ownership by site staff
No one was doing anything with attendance data
Taking of attendance was not a priority and not enforced by site leadership

6. Enter 2015-2016: My first year over attendance intervention
Defined goals:
Develop an MTSS process that puts attendance at the root of intervention
Develop a shared culture of awareness
Re-imagine staff roles
Make site staff and leadership accountable
Use data to monitor attendance
Implement Attention 2 Attendance (A2A) notification system

7. MTSS: Developed a model suitable for alternative education:
Three areas of consideration:
Attendance
Socio-emotional (behavioral)
Academic
Three tiers of support:
Universal supports (Tier I)
Targeted/Small group supports (Tier II)
Intensive individual support (Tier III)

8. MTSS (continued): Monthly collaborative meetings with all site staff
Tasked with intervening at the first sign of trouble
Data indicators (Attendance, gradebook scores, discipline records)
When a student is brought up for discussion the following norms exist:
Examine attendance trends
Review report card/progress reports/gradebook detail
Discuss behavior as well as any known sources that can derail attendance and studies
Example – Student: John Q
Teacher: John had nearly perfect attendance but has missed six days in the past two weeks. He had seven classroom disruptions recently and has not turned in any assignments in the past week.
Instructional Assistant: John told me his father was released from prison recently. He told me that his father and brother have been trying to recruit him in their gang.
Principal: We need to start the intervention by setting a meeting with the family. We will resort to a home visit if need be. We will offer extra time to make up assignments and explain to the family their legal obligation to get John to school.
Start with data and work into the particulars

9. Staff Roles and Culture:
Developing a shared DNA:
Used the implementation of MTSS along with the integration of data into intervention discussions to push new cultural awareness
Re-iterated that classroom staff is responsible for initial calls home and that the calls are to be noted in attendance notes
Re-purposed the Community/Dropout Prevention Specialist (CDPs) position to focus on attendance as a primary goal and school climate as a secondary
More home visits
Less student breakfasts and guest speakers
Tasked the CDPs with monitoring classroom calls and providing timely family interventions by phone, in school, or at the students home
Provided Principals with training on how to monitor attendance and trends for individual students

10. Attendance by the Numbers:
11.6% growth over 2 years

11. A New Set of Challenges for 2017-2018:
Declining enrollment has led to staff reduction
CDPs have been stretched thin
Realities that not all interventions yielded success
CALPADS STAS data, A2A, parent portal, and dialer all need to compliment each other to continue attendance rate growth

12. Enter the STAS:
Now have the ability to see historical attendance rates
Beginning
New enrollees can be checked for prior year attendance records
CALPADS data can help determine suitable placement
Classroom-based instruction versus independent study options
Knowledge of student attendance issues in the past can serve as a flag for interventions at the first sign of trouble

13. Summary/Sharing:
We cannot perform adequate intervention if we do not monitor and use data to develop a suitable plan
Technology bolsters efforts, but does not replace humans
Absenteeism is everyone’s problem and a team with varied skillsets are the best bet in combatting the issue
Any districts who would like to share their use of data and how it is used to increase attendance, please share so we can learn from one another

14. Questions? Thank you for your time
Brian Sousa