Blackboard Connect Webinar: Meet Students and Parents on Their Terms through Social Media Tools
Improving Attendance: How the Blackboard Connect Service Can Help Your School
-
Upload
blackboard -
Category
Education
-
view
1.381 -
download
1
description
Transcript of Improving Attendance: How the Blackboard Connect Service Can Help Your School
Improving Attendance: How the Blackboard Connect Service Can Help Your School Dr. Gwen Miller, Principal, J.R. Tucker High School
Rita Morehead, Principal, School 17, Yonkers Public Schools
Scott Law, Assistant Principal, Paramount West High School
Cheryl Parris, Sales Engineer, Blackboard Connect, K-12
Making their daily lives more convenient and secure
Keeping them informed and aware
2
Engaging and assessing learners at all levels
Enrich the experience through devices they love
3
Our Vision:
• Close the gap between the way students live and the way they learn
• Empower district leadership to communicate directly and effectively
• Engage parents in their child’s academic progress
• Deliver a 21st Century educational experience
4
• Fully-hosted notification and alert solution for reaching millions in minutes through Voice, Email, SMS, Text, TTY, Wireless, and PDA capabilities
• 2,600 clients in K-12, Higher Education, and Government
• 470 million messages delivered in 2009. 99.99% uptime, serving:– 1 in 5 K-12 students– 1 in 6 Higher Ed students– 4 million+ citizens
Keeping them informed and aware
4
6
Attendance –Critical to your Success
• 1.7 Million attendance messages sent during 08-09 school year
• Connect supports your district’s efforts to raise attendance (ADA, single count day, count period)
• Meet your needs with daily or period attendance
• Seamless integration with your student information
HENRICO COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Blackboard Connect Client Spotlight
7
Overview of county and school
• Henrico County Public Schools – located in Richmond, Virginia
• 67 schools in district• 49,407 students
• J. R. Tucker High School
• 1,666 students• Economic
Deprivation: 25.1%– Asian: 9.8%– Black: 18.1%– Hispanic: 7.7%– Other: 4.2%– White: 60.1%
8
How are we using this for attendance?
• At the end of the day, the attendance secretary has calls go out to all households where absent students reside. Students from the VA Home for Boys and Girls and 11 group homes attend Tucker.
• At the end of each day, the principal’s secretary goes into the program and selects all students with unexcused tardiness. A wake-up call which the principal pre-recorded goes to those households one hour before the first bell on the following school day.
• Calls go out regarding important school and PTSA events.
9
Results
• Our absences decreased by 50%
• Unexcused tardiness decreased by at least 60%. We went from an average of 70 per day to an average of 30 per day. On many days, we have below 20!
• Parental participation at major events has increased tremendously.
• Parents constantly compliment us on the effective way that we use this program.
10
YONKERS PUBLIC SCHOOLSBlackboard Connect Client Spotlight
11
Student Population – 24,956in Grades Pre-kindergarten through Twelve
24.3%African American 5.9%Asian51.4%Hispanic 0.2%Native American 18.1%White
72.8% of the students are eligible for Free/Reduced
Breakfast/Lunch15.2% of the students are Limited English Proficiency 13.3% are Special Needs Learners
2009-2010 Budget: $487,051,292 Personnel: 3,845 total staff
2,164 Teachers & Administrators1,681 Civil Service support staff
40 school facilities
School 17 Rita Morehead, Principal
Student Population – 43628.7% African American5.3% Asian50.2% Hispanic15.8% White
Personnel: 2 Administrators 32 Teachers
197 Blackboard Connect calls in 2008-2009 143 Automated
Attendance calls 54 Community
Outreach calls 125 Blackboard
Connect calls in 2009-2010 79 Automated
Attendance calls 41 Community
Outreach calls
One of Six District Goals The Yonkers Public Schools is maintaining an environment that welcomes parents/guardians and the community. Parental/Guardian involvement influences student achievement and is integral to the district focus, a “Community of Learners,” implemented through the Superintendents’ Non-Negotiable Goal for administrators. Daily use of the Blackboard Connect system for attendance purposes.Weekly use of the Blackboard Connect system to inform and update parents and students, and to support PTA activities and school events.
Achieving the goal…2,196,458 Blackboard Connect calls were made in 2008-
2009, an increase of 16% over the prior year. For the current school year, 1,122,509 calls were made through February 25, 2010.
100% of the District’s schools made 5,551attendance calls in 2008-2009.
PARAMOUNT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Blackboard Connect Client Spotlight
15
Paramount West Demographics
Paramount West Demographics
Paramount High School West Campus
Serving Paramount, Bellflower, South Gate and
Long Beach
9th Grade Campus
1,490 students, 64 teachers, 3 administrators
Connect ImplementationConnect ImplementationDaily Attendance Messages
Daily automated call to 60-100 students who have missed one or more periods during the dayGeneric message with detail of absence and contact info
Saturday School notificationAny student with an absence is invited to attend Saturday school tutorial session (4 hours)500+ students receive paper invites and Blackboard Connect reminder messages detailing the tutorial and absence info
Daily Attendance Message
Daily Attendance Message
Daily communication with parents requiring less than 10 minutes of preparation by Attendance Office.
Reduction in suspected truancy by constant parent notification.
Outreach with contact information results in 2-5 parent call backs to Attendance Office per day.
Call log is used as evidence in truancy hearings.
Saturday School Notification
Saturday School Notification
Pre Blackboard Connect
Post Blackboard Connect
100 or less students invited each week
500+ invites
6 hours per week making parent calls
Less than 30 minutes to prepare list and send
messages
Average attendance was30 students per Saturday
Average attendance 155 students per Saturday
Year average Attendance <94%
Year average Attendance >96%
Recoup $34, 200 Recoup $176,700
Challenge: Increase Attendance Rates & Parental Involvement
Parental outreach through multimodal communications
Solution: Blackboard Connect™
Result: 9X return on investment
“I thought that the [Blackboard Connect] service would pay for itself if attendance brought the ADA up...The system paid for itself many times over and has become an integral part of our communications plan.”
- Brian Marshall, Superintendent, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, CA
La Mesa-SpringValley School District
Blackboard
Case Study
• 12,700 students, K-8
• 21 Schools• Blackboard Connect
client since Feb. 2006
• Automated attendance notification yielded an ADA increase of $450,000 in state funding in the first year alone.
DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS?
21
Thank you! Dr. Gwen Miller, J.R. Tucker High School
Rita Morehead, School 17
Scott Law, Paramount West High School
Blackboard Connect
www.blackboard.com/connectfork12
(800) 424-9299 ext. 422