Attendance Study Guide

10 Facts About School Attendance

1. Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school. 
2. Chronic absence appears to have doubled by the end of the 2021-22 school year. It now affects nearly one out of three students (or 16 million vs. 8 million students in the 2018-19 school year). 
3. Absenteeism and its ill effects start early. 
4. Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade. 
5. By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.
6. Missing 10 percent of the school, or about 18 days (just two days a month) in most school districts, is considered chronic absence and negatively affects a student’s academic performance. 
7. Students who live in communities with high levels of poverty are four times more likely to be chronically absent than others, often for reasons beyond their control, such as unstable housing, unreliable transportation and a lack of access to health care. 
8. When students improve their attendance, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating. 
9. Attendance improves when schools engage students and parents in positive ways and when schools provide mentors for chronically absent students.
10. Most school districts don’t look at all the right data to improve attendance. They track how many students show up daily  and how many skip school without an excuse, but not how many are missing so many days (excused and unexcused) that they are headed off track academically. 

From Attendance Works:https://www.attendanceworks.org/chronic-absence/the-problem/10-facts-about-school-attendance/

ODE Attendance Support

Each Child, Our Future, Ohio’s shared plan for ensuring each student is challenged, prepared and empowered for his or her future by way of an excellent prekindergarten through grade 12 education. The time a child spends in school is precious and should ensure all aspects of a child’s well-being are addressed, including the physical, social, emotional and intellectual aspects. Ensuring Ohio students are in school every day is a crucial first step

Attendance in Ohio

• Ohio’s Attendance Laws FAQ 
• Keeping Ohio Students Present, Engaged and Supported
• Supporting Student Attendance with ESSER and ARP Funds
• List of Absence Intervention Team Requirements
• State Board of Education Model Policy
• Excessively Absent Written Notification for Families
• Habitually Truant Written Notification for Families
• Absence Intervention Team Communication Documentation- Habitually Truant
• Absence Intervention Plan Template
• Determination of Implementation of the Absence Intervention Plan
• Documentation for Filing a Truancy Complaint
• Student Attendance Requirements at Internet or Computer-Based Community Schools

Other Resources

• Stay in the Game! Network
• USDOE: Every Student, Every Day: A Community Toolkit to Address and Eliminate Chronic Absenteeism
• Ohio’s Evidence-Based Clearinghouse
• Sign up to receive Family and Community Engagement newsletter.

ENGAGE Ohio Overview

Attendance Recovery Program: ENGAGE Ohio is offered to school districts to assist their students and families by providing intensive outreach, engagement and enhanced support. The program is being offered through a partnership between Education Service Centers (ESCs) in Ohio and Graduation Alliance.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW: ENGAGE Ohio assists school districts in connecting with and supporting students and families during these changing and challenging times. Students and families must overcome many challenges to succeed in today’s disrupted learning environments and require significant ongoing support, not just routine solutions.

The program starts with a multimodal outreach strategy designed to reach eligible students and families whom schools have referred via phone, mail, text or social media. Once Graduation Alliance connects with families, students are given the opportunity to work with a dedicated coach throughout the school year. The coach helps to identify and mitigate the obstacles they are facing, helps the student learn the skills necessary to succeed in the remote learning environment, monitors the student’s pace and progress and provides the support the student needs to stay engaged, helping them continue their educational journey and progress toward graduation

WHICH STUDENTS QUALIFY?: There are many reasons why a student might be struggling right now. Even those who were successful in their classes before the public health crisis may be struggling now. This is not their fault, nor is it the fault of their teachers or their schools. The learning environment has shifted in profound ways and many students are struggling with this change. The program is open to students in grades k-12.

ONGOING SUPPORT LEVELS: Graduation Alliance’s Ongoing Support interventions are delivered through Academic Coaches and vary based on the Ongoing Support Level to which the student is assigned. The engagement with students might range from daily outreach to periodic check-ins with students and their families.

For more information about the ENGAGE Ohio attendance recovery program, please visit the ENGAGE Ohio website.