1. How to Implement Strong Tier 2 Strategies and Supports
Meeting in the Middle:
Good Morning, I’m Kathy Gall the Attendance Promotion and Truancy Prevention Manager for the Albuquerque Public Schools. In this session we are going to dive into the critical importance of implementing Tier Two strategies in your school. We will also give you some ideas of effective Tier 2 strategies. You will have a bit of time to brainstorm ideas that will best fit your school, so when you go back to plan with your team, you will be ahead of the game.
How to Implement Strong Tier 2 Strategies and Supports

2. High Cost Catch the students now! Low Cost PROVIDE AS HANDOUT
I know that there are people here that are probably new to working this deeply in attendance, and I want to make sure that we are all grounded in the three-tiered model, so our discussion about Tier Two will make sense. The model is really more like a funnel (demonstrate). Keep in mind that I want you to think about two important elements to the model: school level systems and strategies, and student level strategies. When schools are implementing a targeted and comprehensive tiered approach, we should see both of these elements in place. For example, a school implements a system strategy to make sure that the school has consistent and accurate data (MAKE SURE TEACHERS ARE TAKING ATTENDANCE EVERY DAY EVERY PERIOD). They would also be implementing student level outreach and intervention strategies for groups and individual students. In this session we are going to talk about both of these elements, and this afternoon, you will be able to learn more about student level outreach and intervention in the breakout called Planning Attendance Strategies Across the Tiers (Who does What, When).
So, a tiered approach to school attendance focuses on attendance, attachment and achievement. It allows busy schools to target both school level and student level strategies toward student needs.
Low Cost

3. Foundations to the Approach
Strategies in all three tiers are critical
Prevention is key!
Build, foster, and maintain caring and supportive relationships
Integrate attendance into all staff and school functions, structures and partnerships
Although we are focusing on Tier Two in this session, it is really important that schools have strategies in each tier. When implemented effectively, it will allow you to build a culture of attendance for all students, families and staff, and then proactively identify and provide outreach and support to students as early as possible. This allows you to have a preventative stance and get students back in classrooms.
This approach is also about building relationships and a partnership with students and families. In the long run, we have seen stronger impact on attendance with this, than with the older punitive approaches.
Attendance has to be part of everything in your school and should not be seen as an add on. It IS the work of schools because if students are not there, they can’t learn. This may be a challenge in some schools, where teachers and other staff have come to see attendance work as the responsibility of the clerk, family liaison or counselor. So it is important that attendance messages and efforts are transparently integrated into all aspects of the school. Hopefully, someone from your team is in the other room participating in the Working SMART: How Leaders can Align Attendance with School Goals, Structures, and Functions session, because that is what they are focusing on.

4. Pair - Share Activity
Reflect on your school’s attendance strategies, messaging, and initiatives.
Which tier(s) do you think is/are your school’s strengths?
Which tier(s) do you think is/are your school’s areas for growth?
With an elbow partner, discuss your school’s strengths, growth areas, and possible reasons you’ve identified the tiers as you did.
Introduce the activity – track time – popcorn 3-5 (if there’s time)

5. Tier 2 Overview and Purpose
Intentionally and proactively decrease barriers for students at risk of or starting to show signs of absenteeism and to increase positive connections that motivate improved attendance.
Now that we have the overall picture of the tiered approach to school attendance, and maybe in your discussion you recognized that your school needs a bit more emphasis in Tier Two strategies, let’s give that our attention.
Tier Two is focused on students and families who need more encouragement and support.
The purpose or goal of Tier Two is to: Intentionally and proactively decrease barriers for students at risk of or starting to show signs of absenteeism and to increase positive connections that motivate improved attendance.

6. Critical Components Prevention Efforts Target Population Strategies
Students and families identified by assessing and addressing contributing factors and common barriers.
Disengaged students and families.
Target Population Strategies
Students with previous absence issues.
Target populations at high risk for absence issues.
Early Outreach and Intervention
Students starting to meet absence threshold – 3 to 5 days.
Tier Two is really about three things:
School Level Prevention - removing barriers to attendance that students could have
Targeted interventions that remove identified barriers – like unsafe routes to school - consider starting a walking school bus
Supports for Target Populations who are shown to have previous attendance issues or be at risk for attendance issues
Intervention strategies are focused on the at risk target populations.
Student Level Early Outreach and Intervention - Establishing a system to identify and provide early outreach to students who are starting to have significant absences.
Catch the students who are at risk of becoming chronically absent before they do!

7. Assessing and addressing contributing factors and common barriers
MYTHS
BARRIERS
AVERSION
DISENGAGEMENT
Absences are only a problems if they are unexcused
Sporadic versus consecutive absences aren’t a problem
Attendance only matters in the older grades
Lack of access to health / mental health or dental care
Poor transportation
Trauma
No child care
No safe path to school
Homelessness
Conflicting work / school schedules
Child struggling academically or socially
Bullying
Ineffective or inconsistent school discipline
Family had negative school experience
Undiagnosed or unsupported disability
Lack of engaging in relevant instruction
No meaningful relationships with adults in school
Vulnerable to being with peers out of school vs. in school
Poor school climate
National research, which is consistent with what we are seeing in APS shows that the factors contributing to students not attending are themed into four common areas.
There are a variety of ways to gather information specific to your school to further focus your strategies and interventions based on your school’s needs.
Word of mouth, survey, focus group, information from outreach to students/families, etc.

8. Strategies to Consider to Reduce Barriers
Myths
Give families and community information on the importance of attendance and add a specific call to action
Barriers
Offer contacts for health support
APS Medicaid Enrollment, Nurse for asthma or diabetes management support
Connect to Walk to School Companion (Walking School Bus)
Aversion
Build relationships with families, address bullying
Disengagement
Recruit into engaging before or after school and extracurricular activities
We know that we have families with barriers to school attendance who may not understand how to access support, families who see school as “the deliverer of bad news.”
Here are some strategies to overcome barriers.
Explain Attendance – recently I heard two parents talking in an elementary school office saying – I’m taking my daughter out – nothing happens the last hour of the day anyway. What can they learn?
Offer supports to overcome barriers
Build relationships with families and address bullying – kids might tell their parents they have a stomach ache, but really there is a bullying issue on the playground – by having a relationship with the family, you can come to the root cause and can offer supports to overcome this barrier
Entice kids to participate in before or after school and extracurricular activities – this helps kids make connections and engage

9. Target populations at high risk for absence issues
Start with subpopulation data!
Special Education, English Language Learners, Gender, Grade Levels, Transfer Students,
Identify barriers and issues unique to the population
Target strategies
Attendance conversations in IEP meetings
Family assembly for transfer students (build carpools, share their data, etc.)
Identifying target populations at high risk for absence issues starts with data. Once you’ve identified these populations, you can work with them to identify the barriers and issues that are unique to the population.
If you have identified special education students at risk for absence issues, make sure to discuss attendance at your IEP meetings.
Would a parent gathering help make connections for carpooling if you have a group of transfer students who aren’t making it to school due to lack of transportation?

10. Target Populations - Students with previous absence issues
Review/Update last year’s or develop an Attendance Success Plan
Make a personal phone call and/or home visit to parent/guardian during registration
Partner with families/students to develop a Student Attendance Success Plan
Assign caring mentors (staff and or community volunteers)
Check in at classroom, greet at curb, text, etc.
Refer family to appropriate school based resources and/or community support agencies
Supporting students with previous absence issues.
One of our social workers met up with a HS student and his family during registration. She knew from last year’s data that the student had attendance issues. She worked with the student and family to create a SASP to start off on the right foot. Way to be proactive!
Caring mentors. When students see that they have someone at the school who cares they will feel a connection and tend to come to school because they know they have someone there.
Refer to school based or community support agencies

11. Students starting to meet absence threshold – 3 to 5 days
Establish a system for identifying students, providing outreach/support and monitoring absences.
Identify which staff will make contact, at which absence threshold, and ensure it is documented in Synergy so that others can see.
Make calls to and/or meet with families to inquire about student’s absence and provide information regarding the importance of attendance. (Best if first contact is conducted by the classroom teacher).
Build strong and positive relationships with families while being clear about the consequences to their child, their classrooms, and the school.
Help the family identify the root cause for their child’s absences.
Partner with families/students to develop a basic Student Attendance Success Plan (as applicable).
Refer family to school based resources and/or community support agencies (as applicable).
Students at the 3-5 day threshold
Establish a system for identifying students, providing outreach and support and monitoring absences.
Schools need to decide:
Who will make the call or other contact with families – best if it is the classroom teacher first.
When will the calls be made?
Document all contacts in Synergy
Explain consequences of absences
Consider developing a basic SASP
This is School-wide and Personalized Outreach and Intervention to catch our students before they become chronically absent. Your team will dig deeper into this during the afternoon session called – Planning Attendance Strategies Across the Tiers (Who Does What, When) for APS. Remember that each team needs to send one person to that session.

12. Activity - Work individually, or as a team to fill in the following for your school:
Prevention / Reducing Barriers
Strategies for Target Populations
Early Outreach and Intervention
What are we already doing?
What should we consider doing?
Explain activity allow 15 minutes – Identifying the Tier 2 Components that you are doing and should consider doing – popcorn responses if time allows

13. Tier 2 Breakout Session Debrief
What is one thing you will take back to your school?
Share out – any ah ha moments or ideas?

14. The Key to Tier 2
Catch students who are at risk of becoming chronically absent before they do!
Prevent and remove barriers to attendance
Look at target population data and target strategies
Build a system for early outreach and intervention
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15. We are here to support you
We are here to support you! Your District Attendance Support Person is part of your attendance team. Please invite him/her to all attendance team meetings for your school.
Kathy Gall
Manager: Attendance Promotion and Truancy Prevention
Every school in the district has a person to support their efforts. Please make sure to use us to support your school’s efforts to improve attendance.