A potentially easy solution to reducing chronic absenteeism – write a letter in simple language to parents about number of days misses.
“Modified truancy notifications that used simplified language, emphasized parental efficacy, and highlighted the negative incremental effects of missing school reduced absences by 0.07 days compared to the standard, legalistic, and punitively-worded notification—an estimated 40% improvement. This work illustrates how behavioral insights and randomized experiments can be used to improve administrative communications in education. ” Read research from Harvard Kennedy School.
School Attendance, Truancy & Chronic Absenteeism: What Parents Need to Know – 10 practical tips that every parent should know about.
California sample Letter to Parents sets a collaborative tone along with suggestions of what parents can do. It’s important that letters not be punitive or blaming since that tends to shut down engagement of parents.
Chinook School Division in Saskatchewan put together this terrific 2 page graphic to build the habit of good attendance early. It’s great to show parents how missing 20 or 40 days per year adds up and lowers student achievement.
Attendance Works has some of the best research and resources in order to “advance student success by reducing chronic absence.” The site search function will take you to the information you’re looking for on absenteeism.
A group of school boards in Northwestern Ontario collaborated on a campaign “I’m Here” with resources for addressing chronic absenteeism. Check out the headlines/messages along with the Call to Action for messaging to parents and staff and students.
Engaging parents requires a shift in our approach to parents away from punishment and the blame game as illustrated in this blog from Attendance Works by Jane Sundius Reducing Chronic Absence Requires Problem Solving and Support, Not Blame and Punishment
Newsletter items for parents are illustrated by this Attendance Matters Bulletin from Hawaii.
Grand Rapids Michigan parent campaign :Strive for less than Five.
Health and attendance are connected as is illustrated in these 2 short videos which can be used with parents.
The Power of Positive Communication Setting a goal of positive contact with every student’s family helped a middle school teacher deepen relationships and boost her own morale. Read Edutopia article
“Reminding parents how many days of school their kids have missed and the importance of regular attendance may be a simple, low-cost way to help curb absenteeism in elementary schools, a new study suggests. Researchers found that sending families personalized letters stressing these two points resulted in a 14.9 percent reduction in chronic absenteeism in the 10 rural, suburban and urban school districts in California they studied. The authors claim the study, published in December 2018 in the American Educational Research Journal, presents “experimental evidence on how to improve student attendance in grades K-5 at scale and has implications for increasing parental involvement in education.” Read full article
Responding Calmly to Upset Parents When an angry email shows up in the inbox, it can be tempting to respond in kind. These five tips from a middle school principal lead to better responses. Read article
The Power of the Positive Phone Call Home Calling students’ parents or guardians with good news encourages more good behavior and creates strong teacher-student bonds. Read article