It's Simple as ABC: Keeping Students

on Track for Success

Our agenda

Panel discussion (10:15 – 11:00)

Audience Q&A (11:00 – 11:20)

Table exercise – Actions to Move the Field Forward

(11:20 – 11:45)

Our panelists Moderator: Lyndsay Pinkus, Director, National and Federal Policy Initiatives, Data Quality Campaign (moderator)

Panelists

Hedy Chang, Director, Attendance Works

Doug Elmer, Director, Diplomas Now

Joanna H. Fox, Deputy Director, Capacity Building, Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Martha Abele Mac Iver, Research Scientist, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University

Maria Santos, Deputy Superintendent for Instruction, Leadership and Equity in Action, Oakland Unified School District

Julie Turner, Dothan City Schools, Al

Julie Turner

Dothan City Schools

Putting the Pieces Together

Building a Realistic Dropout Prevention Program Based on Community and

School Partnerships

Dothan City Schools 2009

• Dothan City Schools has two high schools.

• Dothan High School and Northview High

School had a combined enrollment of 2,636 students 9-12.

• Dothan City Schools had 115 dropouts and a dropout rate of 16.79%.

Community Support

Billboards , Public Service Announcements, Mentoring programs for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and other community organizations, organizes community and faith-based groups to help schools, donations to help Dothan City Schools fund school improvement efforts, donations for all DCS teachers when classroom funding for supplies was cut

Alabama Graduate Tracking System

• Report that pulls from the student data base pulls based on

three indicators of failure (attendance, discipline infractions, and a grade below seventy)

• AGTS is printed out the last working day of the month each month

• Guidance Counselors meet with students during protected time once per week until student shows improvement in all areas

• Graduation Coaches begin meeting with a student if he/she does not show improvement after two weeks of meeting with the counselor

• Parental Involvement Specialists team with the graduation coaches to re-engage parents in their student’s education

Dothan City Schools Drop Out Prevention Summary

• Made changes in instructional methods to better engage students and provide a relevant curriculum

• SLOWLY changing the culture of Dothan, AL that makes dropping out NOT okay

• Change in the culture of schools to accept help from the community (REALIZING WE ALL HAVE OUR CHILDREN IN COMMON)

Dothan City Schools Drop Out Prevention Summary

• Early intervention through AGTS report (Pre-K through 12th grade)

• Student must complete three essays before he/she is granted potential drop out meeting with counselor

• Counselor schedules practice GED exam for student and tries to solve any issue student has to cause him/her to drop out

• Student takes practice GED

• Student has second meeting with counselor to discuss results of GED and schedule a meeting with a school administrator

• Administrator meets with student to discuss alternatives to dropping out (Example Accelerated Recovery Center)

• Student schedules time to meet with graduation team

Dothan City Schools 2011

• Dothan City Schools has two high schools.

• Dothan High School and Northview High

School had a combined enrollment of 2,492 students 9-12.

• Dothan City Schools had 3 dropouts and a dropout rate was .49%.

Doug Elmer

Director, Diplomas Now

EARLY WARNING INDICATOR (EWI) SYSTEM AND TIERED INTERVENTIONS

•A team of adults tightly integrated into

the design of the school and working

closely with teachers and administrators

to provide whole school, targeted, and

intensive supports at the appropriate

intensity and scale

• An accessible, user-friendly data

system that supplies timely, relevant

student data and can track interventions

and their outcomes

Coordinating EWI and School Level Data and Action Cycles

Mission, Vision,

and Goals

Core Education

Plan (Tier I)

EWI Data

Design and Implement Tier II /III

Supports

Trend Analysis

Key Takeaways from Diplomas Now’s work with the ABCs

• Two key polarities to manage--trend analysis is the key to managing these polarities – Asset based mission building (Tier I) vs. providing

extra supports/interventions (Tier II and III)

– Whole School Reform v. Individual Intervention

• Integration of teams is critical (teachers, admin, student support staff, external partners) – Providing context to data

– Leveraging all resources

– Integrating approaches

Key Takeaways from Diplomas Now’s work with the ABC’s

• Life is not sequential--interventions work in parallel and need to be coordinated

• Sometimes an F is just an F

Hedy Chang

Attendance Works

Addressing

Chronic Absence:

Why It Matters,

What Can You Do

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Average Daily Attendance: The percentage of enrolled students who attend school each day.

Satisfactory Attendance: Missing 5% or less in an academic year.

Chronic Absence: Missing 10% or more of school in an academic year for any reason—excused or unexcused.

Severe Chronic Absence: Missing 20% or more days of school per year – approximately two months of school.

Truancy: Typically refers only to unexcused absences and is defined by each state.

Defining Key Terms

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Moving into Action Requires Knowing If Chronic Absence is a Problem

Most Schools Only Track Average Daily Attendance and Truancy. Both Can Mask Chronic Absence.

Variation in Chronic Absence for Schools with 95% ADA in Oakland, CA

5.8%

9.3%

12.4% 12.5%

14.2%

17.3%

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

16.0%

18.0%

20.0%

98% ADA = little chronic absence, 95%ADA = don’t know; 93% ADA = significant chronic absence

23% of K-12 students in Oregon were chronically absent in 2009-10

Percentage of Oregon students who are chronically absent, by grade Source: ECONorthwest analysis of ODE data, 2009-10.

Grade

0-5% days missed in K

5-10% days missed in K

10-20% days missed in K

> 20% days missed in K

0-5% days missed in 5th

5-10% days missed in 5th

10-20% days missed in 5th

> 20% days missed in 5th

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

200

210

220

230

240

There is a clear and consistent relationship between early attendance and later achievement

Average reading RIT scores for two cohorts of Oregon students, by absence rates in kindergarten and 5th grade Source: ECONorthwest analysis of ODE data, 2009-10.

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Note: Since state funding is based upon attendance, this is not just a matter of achievement but of resources.

Chronic Absence Affects 1 of 9 OUSD Students

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

% O

f A

cti

ve S

tud

en

ts

Grade Level

% Chronically Absent Students 2010-11 School Year

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0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

% O

f A

cti

ve

Stu

de

nts

Grade Level

% Chronically Absent Students By Ethnicity 2010-11 School Year

AfricanAmerican

Asian

Latino

White

African American and Latino Students Most Affected

25

50%

19%

31%

Chronic Absence By Level (Total # Chronic Absence in 2011: 4,639 Students)

Elementary Middle School High School

Half of Oakland’s Chronically Absent Students Are in Elementary School

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Elementary Absenteeism

Concentrated in West

Oakland

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Patterns Change Substantially By High School

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Schools + Communities CAN Make a Difference

Characteristics of Successful Attendance Initiatives

Partner with community agencies to help parents carry out their responsibility to get children to school.

Make attendance a priority, set targets and monitor progress over time.

Examine factors contributing to chronic absence, especially from parent and student perspectives.

Clearly communicate expectations to parents.

Begin early, ideally in Pre-K.

Combine universal strategies that create an engaged learning environment & build a culture of attendance with targeted interventions.

Offer positive supports before punitive action.

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Recovery

Programs

• Case management and wrap-around services

• Referral as last resort for court -based intervention Recovery

Programs

Strategies for 3 Tiered Approach

• Early outreach, support, mentoring for

student with poor attendance.

• Identify and remove barriers • Attendance contracts

• Safe & supportive school environment

• Engaging classroom environments

• Parent education about why attendance

matters and how to help each other get

students to school.

• On-going attention to attendance data

• Recognition for good and improved attendance

• Collaboration with afterschool & early

childhood

• School-based health supports

Intervention

Programs

Universal/Preventive

Programs

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Variation Helps Identify Good Practice

and Need for Intervention

Chronic Absence Levels Among Oakland Public Schools in 2009-10

Audience Q&A

Table discussion

What actions can be taken by local practitioners, by

local, state, or federal policymakers, by research,

technical assistance providers, or by the public and

the advocacy community?

Nominate a spokesperson

10 minutes to discuss

Each table: 1 minute to report out to group

It's Simple as ABC: Keeping Students

on Track for Success