June 17th, 2010
The American Prospect magazine includes an article on chronic absence in a special issue just released on early literacy. This article highlights two cities that have shown remarkable progress in improving attendance, progress that started with tracking the numbers.
In a Providence, R.I., elementary school, the data showed that one in five of their students was missing a month of school each year in excused and unexcused absences. The teachers looked for patterns and found a clear one: Many of the students had parents who worked overnight shifts, then fell asleep before bringing their children into school. So the school opened an early breakfast programs, allowing parents to drop the kids off earlier–and then go to sleep. Beyond that, the team at Making Connections, an Annie E. Casey Foundation initiative, started using the chronic absence data to tip them off to children and families in need of further support. With a federal grant, they provided additional help.
Baltimore also used its data to administer broad systemic reform that has helped cut middle school chronic absence in half. The school district created K-8 and 6-12 campuses, finding new ways to engage students in those critical middle years. They also cut back on the use of suspensions (which count as excused absences) to punish students for truancy (unexcused absences).
The article is part of a full special report on early literacy that includes pieces on the importance of pre-K, health programs and other approaches to ensuring all children are reading well by the end of third grade.
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