Posted on: July 27, 2019 / Categories: Summer 2019, Uncategorized
Have you ever tried to hit a moving target? I am a definitely a supporter of accountability and I believe everyone who strives to improve is. I also know that accountability and progress tracking are both a large part of the improvement process, of which I am also a supporter. However, lately I have felt like the target for school improvement is moving in a direction that I feel inadequately prepared to hit. For years, school administrators have been working to improve student achievement (measured, for the sake of argument – although that is a whole other blog topic – by state wide standardized tests), and the targets set up by the departments that govern those schools were set to be continually moving upward to show continued growth. I get that…I really do! In fact, I want that. Yes, it’s a moving target, but our aim needs to be moving all the time in order to stay sharp and meet student and community needs. But then, in 2018, the target not only moved again, the bulls-eye on the target completely changed shape. In the Commonwealth of Virginia the Standards of Accreditation changed to include a new factor in school accreditation: Chronic Absenteeism. It’s a complicated equation outlined in the Departments annual Standards of Accreditation Impact on Schools Report. It is important to note the difference between truancy (regulated and enforced by the Commonwealth of Virginia) and Chronic Absenteeism. The following figure from the Attendance Works Website uses a diagram to show this difference.
Virginia is certainly not the only educational system using chronic absenteeism as an indicator for success, the map below, also taken from the Attendance Works Website shows a breakdown of other states using it to determine school success. Educators have complained for years that “we can’t teach them if they are not here.” There is certainly adequate data to support this claim. In a study of Philadelphia Schools in regard to the correlation between absences and achievement, the “data shows declines in reading and math test scores become exacerbated as a consequence of the combined effect of missing school in general and missing school out of truancy.” I can’t imagine that anyone is surprised by this. Other studies support this same claim. One study in Chicago drilled down to the very beginning of a child’s educational career by studying the effects of chronic absenteeism in preschool. This study proves what you might suspect, chronic absenteeism in preschool can prevent students from reaching early learning milestones. So we know (as we always have) that chronic absenteeism can have a negative effect on student achievement. Research also shows that it can lead to other problems even into adulthood such as diminished health and even involvement in illegal activities other poor choices.
So, is chronic absenteeism really a problem? If a student is chronically absent it means that they miss 10% or more of the school year (that’s the equivalent of 18 or more days) regardless of the reason. (Sidenote: The last part, “regardless of the reason” is also a topic for another day.) How many students are actually considered chronically absent in The United States today? Data from the Department of Education’s Discipline Crime and Violence Reports are collected annually and the chart below shows the most recently published data on students who are chronically absent in the United States by ethnicity. You can see that students of different races and ethnicities experience chronic absenteeism at different rates.
So what does that mean for me as an elementary school administrator? Let’s dig down a bit more, shall we? Is it only those of us at the elementary level that are experiencing chronic absenteeism? According to data from the US Department of Education, all grade levels experience chronic absenteeism, and the highest percentages are at the high school level. See the table below for more information.
So we can see that there is, indeed, a problem. And we’ve already established that this problem hinders our overall goals of improving student achievement. But how do we we, as educational leaders use this data to improve student achievement in our school? How do we hit this new target? I’m the principal of an elementary school so, while I try to always think globally, I have to also think specifically about how this looks at my school. And so I continue drilling down into this data.
Washington County is a small rural school division in the southwest corner of Virginia, part of Region VII. As I considered how the new chronic absenteeism standard would effect my school (Meadowview Elementary) I needed to see where we stood in relation to the rest of Virginia. The chart below gives a snapshot of that data, by Economic Status, Disability Status, ELL Status and Homeless Status. You can compare the data by location (state, division, school) and by year to see trends established since the SY 2015-16.
Another demographic to look at when considering the rate of chronic absenteeism is the breakdown by race. At Meadowview Elementary (MES) the diversity is limited so while you may see a significant difference in data statewide, division wide and at MES, the population/CA ratio is fairly equivalent. In fact, most other races would be considered “null” at Meadowview Elementary due to a number of population that is less than 50 students. Another note to point out is that of the large percentage of white students identified as chronically absent, over half are also considered economically disadvantaged (see chart above). This population of students is the one that has been historically chronically absent.
So, okay, now I’m getting closer to figuring out what this means for us at MES. We see that we are about average, slightly higher in some areas, than the state and division averages, but in order to really use that data to help us improve, I continue to dig. My next question to help me find ways to change chronic absenteeism in my school, is WHY are my students chronically absent? Research will tell you that the most common reasons or excuses for student chronic absenteeism are bad grade, bullying, illness, mental or emotional health issues, caring for a sick family member, and difficulty with housing or food. Educator Jeff Watson would also challenge that beyond these reasons, teacher engagement and school culture play a role in the increased rates of chronic absenteeism. To determine if these reasons were also specific to our school, my office staff and I analyzed the excuses that had been turned in by these particular students in the last three years. Much of the current research is specific to High School students, and our school is K-5, so the excuses/reasons given for us were done so by parents, not necessarily by students. The frequency of the events are mapped based on the written excuses or documented phone calls by parents, or by verbal excuses given either by students or parents when they returned to school. There has not been a systematic approach for collecting or documenting this data up to the point (at our school) beyond the normal daily attendance record collections. If you look closely at the data below, you will see data over they three years has not changed significantly, but changes do indicate an increase, rather than a decrease in chronic absenteeism. You can also see that the most common excuse given at Meadowview Elementary School is student stomach ache.
I’ve spent a lot of time pondering this, especially the overwhelming number of students who have complained of stomach aches when missing school. The Child Mind Institute indicates that signs of trauma often manifest themselves in young students as stomachaches and/or headaches. When a student doesn’t understand how to articulate exactly what is wrong, they use one or the other of these symptoms to describe how they are feeling. Walkly and Cox (2013) not only describe these symptoms but they also outline the ten principles of compassionate schools that can build capacity for changing not only academic achievement of students of trauma, but also the tendencies toward chronic absenteeism.
One study shows that the use of communication in the form of messages to parents brought some success to schools in Philadelphia. A systematic approach in decreasing the number of students who are chronically absent and, thereby, increasing student achievement, has to begin with explicit plan for implementation. This example of such a plan outline on the Attendance Works Website, is the beginning to what we will use to make these types of changes at Meadowview Elementary School. 
So, as we begin to turn our attention toward chronic absenteeism as an indicator of student success (and an indicator or school accreditation in Virginia), and try to find a way to hit the new bullseye, we have to use the data that is available to us in our decision making. I now know that of those students considered chronically absent at Meadowview Elementary School, ___% of them complain often of headaches/stomachaches. I also know enough about those students to recognize that there may be a correlation between these symptoms and a traumatic event or environment. Addressing the effects of trauma and providing those families with what they need through communication, access to community resources, and an empathetic system of support could be key to hitting this target.
Explicitly teaching our faculty and staff to build a culture of belonging, not condemnation, especially when students are repeatedly absent is another way to shift the focus on chronically absent students. The administration will also need to be much more diligent in their efforts to keep the appropriate paperwork going that supports the identification and documentation of these types of absences. This will make conferences with parents and students much more meaningful.
There is no magic bullet for this challenge of chronic absenteeism, but there is plenty of data out there that can help to determine a needs assessment and help to build a plan success in each school if one is willing to find it and analyze it. Only through the data can we stop that target from moving and begin to feel as though we can aim for success!Tags:Chronic Absenteeism, leadership, moving target, student achievement, Summer 2019, Trauma