As I am finishing my final semester in pursuit of my
Bachelor’s in Education, my Mentor Teacher (MT) is finishing his final semester
in pursuit of his Master’s in Education. This unique situation has allowed us
to learn and work alongside each other on a different level.
I am bringing new, fresh ideas to him and he is providing me
with the insight of a seasoned teacher, but also a returning students. For his
final semester project, he is analyzing the idea of chronic absenteeism in our
school building.
This was particularly interesting to me because I feel like
it is something that could easily pass between the first-year teacher cracks.
This semester I have been so focused on planning and learning how to correct
behavior that I often forget to even record attendance until the end of the
day.
But, school starts with attendance. If a student does not
come to school, the learning process can’t even begin and things like planning
and correcting behavior no longer apply.
My MT has shared his thoughts and resolutions for chronic
absenteeism with our middle school team and I found myself very interested in
it’s repercussions. So, I decided to take the initiative to further research it
on my own.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as “missing 10 percent or
more of a school year—approximately 18 days a year, or just two days every
month” and it seems to be a national problem considering “5 to 7.5 million
students are chronically absent” (O’Brien 3).
At the secondary level, especially at the middle school
level, chronic absenteeism is a sign that a student will most likely drop out
of school all together. But, regardless, missing school at any level has
consequences for our students. Such consequences include, lower academic skills
(i.e.—reading, writing), lower test scores, lower chances of attending college,
and lower chances of breaking the cycle of poverty (WYPR Glenn 2).
Basically, it keeps our students at a lower level of
achievement in all aspects of life. As an educator, when the idea of chronic
absenteeism was brought to my attention, I automatically thought of 2-3
students that are not in my class near enough. And, unfortunately, I think most
educators have the same problem.
Identifying our chronically absent students is usually
simple, but the more important question is how do we prevent absences and help
these students?
My MT has presented valuable suggestions to address this
problem. Many of them are most effective at a school wide level, but it
definitely wouldn’t hurt for us educators to begin implementing them in our
classrooms.
To start, it is important to collect data on the students
that miss school regularly. This could be as simple as tallying each day that a
student is absent.
Once data is collected, analyze why you think this student
might be missing school. Consider their socioeconomic status, culture, and
personal/family traits. Do not be afraid to take a student-by-student approach
and work on solving issues that keep certain students from attending school.
For example, these issues may be housing instability, poor transportation,
childcare challenges, bullying, etc. (O’Brien 8).
At my school, students often miss school simply because they
are not held accountable for attending and they do not wake up. So, a few
teachers in my building started buying the students reliable alarm clocks, or
even doing ‘wake up’ calls to make sure the students are awake and preparing for
the school day.
In my opinion, the most important thing educators can do is
to create and foster an environment where students feel welcomed, safe and
appreciated. In an effort to do this, educators can communicate with students.
In my future classroom, I would like to develop positive reward or incentive
programs to encourage attendance. The rewards could range from candy and snacks
to positive calls home and special class privileges.
Also, my mother was a truancy coordinator in the district
that I work for now. Her program focused on providing students with adult role
models or mentors for each student to meet with on a weekly basis. This idea,
paired with positive rewards such as going out to lunch with their mentors
proved very successful.
There are many things ways to tackle chronic absenteeism.
So, future and current teachers, between your planning and teaching make time
to focus on one strategy to help your students stay in school and stay
motivated.
Resources
Glenn, Gwendolyn. "Empty Desks: The Effects of Chronic Absenteeism." Audio blog post. News.wypr.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
O'Brien, Anne. "Addressing Chronic Absenteeism." Edutopia.org. N.p., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
