Report: High School and Attendance Essay

Introduction Like another(prenominal) drills just about the nation, beechwood grove modal(a) School is experiencing a serious business with attention. This has been cited as a problem and nighthing that privations to be cargon fored so that beech Grove Intermediate puke achieve the attending rate they want to be dress a Four-Star status prep are. Currently, the attending at beechwood Grove Intermediate is averaging around 95 share. The rate needs to profit to 97 percent for the coach to achieve Four-Star status. Beech Grove Intermediate does give way an attending indemnity however, other strategies could be apply to increase the attendance.attendance is an all-important(a) part of childrens and nurtures e realday responsibilities, and poor attendance habits amaze lifelong consequences. more schools around the nation report low attendance and high tardiness grade. This problem needs to be addressed in exhibition to help our children do well in school and become liable adults. Children who ar habitually late or chronically absent swing out on much that is l earn in school. Even being 5 to 10 minutes late each day creates a situation where children can lose a considerable amount of clip that is being spent on their schooling.Also, it is known that children with poor attendance rates in elementary and high school continue to show problems of tardiness and level(p) proficiency later in life once they go to college or pursue a career. Changes in the attendance platform at Beech Grove are needed, and the following report is intended to propose simulated military operation for increasing the attendance rate at Beech Grove Intermediate School. Methodology For this report we surveyed teachers from sise local elementary and secondary schools to redeem an desire of what other schools were doing to increase their attendance.We received 50 completed questionnaires. We alike searched scholarly databases such as ERIC to find relevant names on the problem of increasing attendance. These articles outline several solutions to increasing attendance in schools. redirect examination of the Literature This review of recently published literature on attendance addresses causes, effective policies, parental contact, community involvement, teacher/ assimilator relationships, and reinforcing stimuluss and inducements to increase pupil attendance. Causes of Absenteeism.All the literature suits that absenteeism is an all too common problem for schools around the country. This can be traced to a range of causes from unsupportive school environment to poor health of the student. According to John Doughtery (1999), home dynamics mash a key role in absenteeism. The parents are the key to how a great deal a child attends class (Doughtery, 1999, p. 10). Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen (1996) add up with this and inclining parent influence on absenteeism as number two on their list for reasons for absence.They go on to st ate that lack of caring by the parents, or parents who are not home to realize the child off to school are major reasons for students not to go to class, especially with younger students (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 96). other than home life, illness of the child is overly wedded as a common reason for absenteeism in the literature. Also, appointments and spends are listed as top reasons in the literature as well. Doughtery attests to this in saying, It is now common practice for students to send away school for general appointments to avoid tests and assignments (1999, p.10).Two authors storied that homeless students or students who live in a family that move genuinely frequently are more likely to be chronically absent from school (Epstien, Sheldon, 2002, p. 311). some(a) of the authors also agree that if a student is not succeeding in school then they are less likely to want to come to school. This also goes along with schools that do not give praise to students or interact with the students so that no one feels left out, and help to see that e actuallyone succeeds (Doughtery, 1999, p. 10).In short, all of the authors agree that parental involvement and student-teacher interaction is very important in keeping absenteeism down. Effective Policies and Parental Contact As schools seek new programmes and ideas for increasing student attendance, one of the two about frequently mentioned tactics in the literature are having an effective attendance policy and increasing communication with parents and guardians. According to Dan Vandivier (2003), a high school whizz, attendance policies moldiness be stringent and must also be persistently adhered to.He states that policies must be fair and also kick in flexibility to accommo encounter mitigating circumstances (Vandivier, 2003, p. 81). Vandiviers new attendance policy no longer distinguished between excused and unexcused and allowed disposition discretion in dealing with excessive absences for legitimate r easons (Vandivier, 2003, p. 81). Dougherty (1999) agrees that schools must take a clear fair attendance policy that is up to date and standardized and communicate it. Many studies surrender also shown a correlational statistics between increased parental contact and increased attendance (Smerka, 1993 Epstein & Sheldon, 2002).Smerka (1993) observe that after mailing notices to all parents informing them of the success of the attendance program and asking for their support, the consummate attendance rate increased to 13. 9 percent (p. 96. ) He claimed that the key to good attendance is promoting it everywhere to everyone (Smerka, 1993, p. 96). Another national also found that the degree to which schools overcame the challenge of communicating effectively with families was relate to gains in student attendance and declines in chronic absenteeism (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002, p. 315).The study noted that providing families with someone to talk to at the school about attendance or oth er unloosens was effective in increasing attendance (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002, p. 315). In admission to just now having contact with parents, many authors agree that it is the responsibility of the parents to monitor their students absenteeism (Dougherty, 1999 Ford & Sutphen,1996 Kube & Radgan,1992). Dougherty (1999) says that parents must be responsible for their childs daily attendance and promptly inform the school attendance social function when the student is absent (p.11). cardinal study shows that increasing communication with parents and involving them in the students education are strategies for increasing attendance. This study also cited the use of a letter to parents informing them of the policy and encouraging them to deal the importance of good attendance with their children (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 96). Another study also verbalise that parents must be responsible for the students daily attendance and they must stress the importance of daily attendance to their children (Kube & Radgan, 1992).Creating effective attendance policies that are reviewed and renewed regularly and establishing parental contact are very important stepping stones for increasing attendance in schools. Community Involvement fleck it is not crucial to the success of an attendance program, many of our authors agree that square(a) community involvement can positively impact attendance rates. Many schools influence with businesses in the community to offer incentives for students with good or perfect attendance (Raising School attendance, 2002).John Daugherty (1999), an education professor at Linden-wood College, refers to programs which offer a series of incentives for attendance, ranging from fast-food coupons to entertainment centers which were offered at a brush off from local businesses (p. 16). A different form of contribution is noted in Bob Maggis (1991) case study of a school in Missouri. A local company contributed $500 to fund their mentoring/ adoption pro gram. visual perception how successful the project was, the company doubled the amount it contributes to the program. Another article suggests that schools work with law enforcement and local businesses.The author states, With their support, children who should be in school leave alone be in school (Raising School Attendance, 2002). Joyce Epstein and Steven Sheldon from The Johns Hopkins University agree, saying, develop productive school-family-community connections has become one of the most comm but embraced policy initiatives in schools and school districts (2002, p. 308). There are seasons when the community involvement takes a much more negative but still necessary angle. Often, students will be habitually absent and schools are now working to address that issue.Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen, social work professors at the University of Kentucky, mention that in some states or districts parents of students will face fines or even lock in time if they fail to adhere to atte ndance laws (1996, p. 95). Dougherty suggests other tactics, such as implementing natural law sweeps, involving local agencies and the media and notifying juvenile authorities (1999). Of course, these tactics are usually implemented in only severe cases of absenteeism. Community involvement and support can be a wonderful addition to attendance policies if tailored to find out the schools needs and the students desires.Teacher/ educatee Relationships While family and community involvement both play important roles in maintaining good student attendance, our sources all agree that student-teacher relationships are also very important. Several authors encourage one on one meetings, or mentoring students who have attendance problems. In fact, at least one study (Maggi, 1991) is use entirely to this practice and with great results, spell others (Raising school attendance, 2001 and Vandiver, 2003) simply add it into their attendance programs.Authors agree that to curb poor attendance teachers should speech students every day about the importance of attending school daily. Kube and Ratigan (1992) insist, Teachers must let students know that they are missed when they have been absent. They must procure that important learning experiences occur each day in their classes (p. 3), while Dougherty (2003) concurs and adds, And they must value and reward good attendance (p. 76). According to the literature, the teachers are also responsible for coming up with new and creative ship canal to entice children into coming to school every day.These enticements run the gamut from Vandivers (2003) idea of being exempt from having to take the final exams if the student has perfect attendance to Ford and Sutphins (1996) strategy of giving tokens to students with good attendance so that they could cash them in on prizes at the end of the week (p. 98). In the end, authors agree that in order to keep attendance under control, educators need not only to regularly come up with new an d in advance(p) ideas to keep students coming to school but to consistently tell the students how important it is for them to be present every day.Rewards and Incentives Research has shown that attendance increases when schools incorporate incentive programs into their attendance policies. Bob Maggi (1998), headland at Jarrett High School, began a program which encouraged teachers to adopt a student. Maggi (1998) claimed that A $500 grant from southwestern Bell Foundation was distributed to the adopting teachers to be used to their discretion for birthday or holiday gifts, for taking student out for dinner or a show, or to buy a sweatshirt or dance ticket (p. 12).It only took one year for Jarrett High School to receive the results they were searching for. Terrance Smerke (1993, p. 95), principal of Aurora Middle School, along with other schools found it effective to reward the children with positive letters of their accomplishments (Best Practices for School Attendance, 1998). Acc ording to Janet Ford, PhD, and Richard Sutphen, PhD, both assistant professors, other types of incentives are posting students names in the student residence or reading them over the public address system (1996).One observation mentioned in the article Raising School Attendance (2002), was that Monday and Friday are typically the days with the highest absenteeism. Planning special events for these days could improve attendance. Vandivier (2003), principal of tally Rivers High School, and John Dougherty (1999), professor of education at Linden-wood College, agree that rewards such as movie tickets, food coupons, and gift certificates will increase attendance.The article How do you improve student attendance, claims that one way to wage increase attendance is to put all the students names with perfect attendance into a drawing (2001, p. 26). Ann Kube, math teacher at North Scott High School, and Gary Radigan, formula at Ankeny High School, agree that incentives encourage students to attend school regularly (1992). As most of the authors stated, incentives have been proven to increase attendance. Punishments/Consequences All of our authors agree that absenteeism has negative consequences for students, schools and society.In the article Early Intervention to Improve Attendance In Elementary School for At risk Children, Janet Ford and Richard V. Sutphen wrangle the effects on students. They say that non-attendees generally fall behind their peers in academic achievement and the development of social competence (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 95). Consequences for parents include fines and jail time consequences for schools are loss of funds, and for society higher rates of unemployment, destitution and lack of preparation to enter the work force (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 95).Dougherty agrees that habits of absenteeism and tardiness affect work performance when youngsters become adults (1999, p. 7). In Dan Vandiviers article entitled ameliorate Attendance, A Formu la that Worked he discusses an attendance policy at Twin Rivers High School in Brosely, Montana. Policies stated that students that miss more than six days in a semester are not considered to have earned credit, and no distinction is made between excused and unexcused absences (2003, p. 81). As for students and specific punishments our authors disagreed with suspension.Dougherty states, that suspending a student is giving them what he wants, a vacation (1999, p. 9). As most of the authors conclude, there is some form of punishment given to a student that misses excessive days. Conclusion In conclusion, the above search findings all agree that attendance is a very important issue for students. The literature indicated that the following topics are important factors in increasing attendance effective policies, parental contact, community involvement, teacher/student relationships, rewards and incentives, and punishments/consequences.