Examining District Structures/Processes Around Chronic Absenteeism to Improve Student Outcomes

A District Collaboration with CORE

Tammy Pearce and Julia Lamons

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Agenda

• Understanding Chronic Absenteeism
• Why is it important?
• The Chronically Out-of -School Indicator in District and School Accountability
• A Collaboration between Johnson City and CORE
• District Expectations
• Systematic Structures
• Available Tools/Resources
• TDOE Website (Attendance Toolkit)
• Visibility Tool
• District Networking

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Understanding Chronic Absenteeism

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Why is Monitoring Chronic Absenteeism Important

Guiding Beliefs about Attendance

Link Between Chronic Absenteeism and Academic Outcomes in Tennessee

• All students should have the opportunity to learn.
• Student attendance is linked with academic outcomes.
• Districts and schools have access to rich attendance data that can be monitored throughout the school year in order to minimize barriers and maximize learning time.

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• Tennessee students who are chronically absent in kindergarten are 15 percentage points less likely to reach proficiency in either third grade math or ELA.
• Tennessee students who are chronically absent in ninth grade are 30 percentage points less likely to earn an on-time diploma (62% vs. 92%).

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What is Chronic Absenteeism in Tennessee

• The percentage of students who have missed 10 percent or more of instructional days for any reason including excused or unexcused absences as well as out-of-school suspensions.
• The number of days can differ for each student, it is based on enrollment.
• Only students enrolled 50 percent of the instructional days of the year in the district or school, respectively. This rule is not applied for state-level reporting.
• NOT the same definition as Truancy

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2023-24 Federal Accountability Protocol

Pages 35-36

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Link Between Chronic Absenteeism and Academic Outcomes in Tennessee

• Student groups are also monitored.
• Economically disadvantaged students are 3x more likely to be chronically absent than non-economically disadvantaged students.
• Similar trends exist with other historically underserved student groups including students with disabilities.

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• 2023-24 Federal Accountability Protocol

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• Tennessee students who are chronically absent in kindergarten are 15 percentage points less likely to reach proficiency in either third grade math or ELA.
• Tennessee students who are chronically absent in ninth grade are 30 percentage points less likely to earn an on-time diploma (62% vs. 92%).

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Chronic Absenteeism is an indicator in Federal District and School Accountability

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2023-24 Federal School Accountability Chronic Absenteeism Calculations

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A Collaboration between Johnson City Schools and First CORE Data Analyst

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Examining District and School Structures and Processes

• District Expectations
• Systematic Structures/Process for Data Collection/Review/Action
• (i.e., secretary cheat sheets)
• Attendance Polices/Procedure Review
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Positions
• Collaboration with Juvenile Court Systems, Doctor’s Offices, External Partnerships

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District and School Accountability Files

• District and School Accountability Files can be utilized to identify potential chronic absenteeism trends in grade levels, student groups, etc.

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Student Level Accountability Files

• Student level accountability files can be utilized to identify potential chronic absenteeism students for intervention and trends by grade level, classroom, etc.
• Identify trends!
• Color Code files to be proactive!

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Utilizing Multiple Data Resources Together to Tell Our Story

• Look at multiple data points to tell your story!
• Risk Mitigation
• Proactive Approach
• Monitoring for Intervention/Action

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Steps to Supporting Schools

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Step 1: Review chronic absenteeism data to identify schools for support.

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Step 2: Explore additional sources of data for the schools �identified to learn more about the contributing factors.

Quantitative data:

• Average daily attendance
• Student group attendance data
• Grade-level attendance data
• Discipline data
• Coordinated school health data
• Visits to school nurses

Qualitative data:

• Feedback from student and family support services
• Feedback from student and parent focus groups
• Feedback from non-traditional sources

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Step 3: Use data to identify the issues.

• There are a myriad of potential issues at play. Here are some of the most common examples:
• Chronic health conditions
• Discipline
• School climate

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Questions to Consider

• What barriers might be present that keep a child from attending school?
• Why might a child avoid coming to school?
• Why might a child be disengaged at school?

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Important Considerations

• Chronic heath issues
• Access to needed health or dental care
• Discipline practices
• School climate, including bullying
• Access to transportation
• Homelessness
• Trauma
• Academic performance and social experiences/connectivity
• Undiagnosed disability
• Access to engaging and relevant instruction
• Access to meaningful relationships with adults
• Family members’ school experiences

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Together, we must shift the focus from compliance to support.

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Resources/Tools

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Resources

Chronic Absenteeism

InformTN

Orion - TDOE Single Sign On

Data Downloads & Requests

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Attendance Works

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Data Reports

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Questions?

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Thank you! ��Tammy Pearce- Johnson City School �PearceT@jcschools.org��Dr. Julia Lamons- First CORE Data Analyst�Julia.Lamons@tn.gov�

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