Increasing Student Achievement by Focusing on Student
Attendance
Slide 2
Slide 3
Comprehensive High Schools 3 Academies/Specialty High Schools 2
Middle Schools 8 Elementary Schools 20 Early Childhood Schools - 3
A portrait of Irving Independent School District
Slide 4
Irving Independent School District 2013 2014 Total student
enrollment 35,259 13% African American 72% Hispanic 10% White 5%
Other Economically Disadvantages 81% At-risk 70% Enrolled in
Bilingual/ESL 39% Attendance Rate 2013 2014 95.7%
Slide 5
Attendance Success Initiative (ASI) Replaced and commercial
program used by the district in years past Eleven administrators
selected to pilot the program Instructional leaders Parent/student
advocates Experienced in the community Program rationale
Instructional implications Average Daily Attendance (ADA) Changes
in truancy law
Slide 6
Attendance Success Initiative (ASI) Housed on campuses
throughout the district Supervised by campus operations Caseload
selection process All levels Pk-12 Students with attendance 60 89%
At-risk of failure, retention, and dropping out ~150 kids per
manager Free to travel and conduct home/community visits as needed
Open communication with campus principals
Slide 7
Distinctly different from truancy officers Prevention vs.
punishment Incentives vs. consequences Parent and student support
Access to administrative resources and tools Technology Global
access (grades, attendance, facilities, demographics) Customized
reports Dashboard Attendance Success Initiative (ASI)
Slide 8
ASI Dashboard
Slide 9
ASI Pre and Post Cognos Report
Slide 10
ASI Six Weeks District Report
Slide 11
Based on our 2 nd period ADA
Slide 12
From an instructional lens, by paying attention to second
period attendance what were we missing? Attendance Success
Initiative (ASI)
Slide 13
Avoid Smokescreens Looking at overall campus percentages can
give a false sense of security.
Slide 14
Current Campus Attendance Rates Campus NameCurrent Attendance %
Bowie Middle School 96.85% Crockett Middle School 97.44% Travis
Middle School 97.11% Lamar Middle School 97.54% Austin Middle
School 97.65% Houston Middle School 97.49% DeZavala Middle School
97.45% Johnson Middle School 97.44%
Slide 15
MAJOR QUESTIONS How are attendance issues really impacting
instruction? Are we missing RTI opportunities? How does RTI fit
into early student attendance trends? How can isolating attendance
issues improve student performance?
Slide 16
Data Trends Lets look at our sample campus file. Note the
impact that attendance has on the various courses represented. What
do you notice?
Slide 17
Attendance Trends Johnson Middle School Sample Campus File
1
Slide 18
Attendance Trends Travis Middle School
Slide 19
Why is this important? Too many of our students are
slipping...
Slide 20
Why is this important? Gaps in knowledge must be bridged.
Slide 21
The STAAR & AYP Connection Index 1 & Index 2 Student
Groups The Growth Measure Level II Scores & Level III Scores
Required Improvement Student Groups The Growth Measure Math,
Reading, Participation AYP
Slide 22
The STAAR & AYP Connection 4 Student Groups 1.Special
Education 2.Economically Disadvantaged 3.Limited English Proficient
4.Hispanic
Slide 23
An AYP Example
Slide 24
An AYP Example Hispanic Group Needed 84% to Meet Standard 83%
of the Tested Students Met Standard Missed Required Improvement by
7 Students
Slide 25
An AYP Example Seat Time Missed On the referenced campus... 140
Periods worth of seat time has been missed in Read 6, ELAR 6, ELAR
7, ELAR 8 (combined) already in 1 st 6-weeks.
Slide 26
A STAAR Example Index 1
Slide 27
A STAAR Example Index 1 Cont. Seat Time Missed: ELAR227 Periods
Math80 Periods Science82 Periods Social Studies27 Periods All
Combined = 416 Periods of Seat Time Missed
Slide 28
Lost in Transition
Slide 29
The Effects of Attendance Improvements
Slide 30
What is your school-wide plan?
Slide 31
Comments & Questions How does this information change the
way we look at the impact of attendance?
Slide 32
Recommendations for next year Need to keep your ADA period in
mind when.. Working the master schedule Consider STAAR and EOC
tested subjects Look at student habits and schedule on individual
basis Senior outs may need to change some schedules if they cant
get to their 2 nd pd class Continue to monitor student attendance,
pay attention to why students are absent to their ADA period
Slide 33
Recommendations for next year Re-educating students and parents
about being in school at least 90% We do this by. Back-to-school
meetings talk about attendance policy and the 90% rule Not good
enough just to pass your classes need to be in school 90%, a.k.a
seat time APV policy attendance policy violation and consequences
Last option - going to court for non-attendance
Slide 34
Recommendations for next year Attendance procedures need to be
understood by all Teachers need to understand the importance and
impact of ADA before school year starts Attendance is a school wide
effort everyone needs to own this as well as speak the same
language Attendance clerks need to code properly Attendance must be
at the forefront with staff, students and parents must be present
to win
Slide 35
Recommendations for next year Attendance staff must communicate
vertically Transitions must be managed- elementary students going
to middle school and middle school students going to high school
Each campus should share information with the receiving school
regarding all student issues including attendance Plan meetings
during the current school year to include parents, students and
current year teachers to discuss needed interventions for the
coming year
Slide 36
Other Added Values McKinney Vento Homeless Program Project Pass
Connect with the community Bring assistance to students F/R lunch,
clothing, laptops, transportation Face of the district we do home
visits to verify their living situation and to see if they qualify
Continue to make home visits throughout the year
Slide 37
Other Added Values The HOME VISIT Very powerful tool log all of
our visits Cant get in contact with parents Truancy Dropout
recovery Courtesy visit for the campus, verify address McKinney
Vento Most important we go to the parents in most cases they dont
expect that we will do a home visit
Slide 38
Attendance Initiatives Parent and Student Conferences review
attendance and grades Making parents aware of attendance laws,
getting credit and going to court Attendance Contract Attendance
Tracker Make personal phone calls to students in the morning Text
students using Google Voice All of our contacts are documented in
eSchool
Slide 39
Resources www.attendanceinstitute.org Dr. Elaine Allensworth
UChicago CCSR