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January 2007
Letter from the Director
Happy New Year!
It's that time of year when winter break has ended and new school sessions are beginning. Please take this time to reflect on what has worked to date and what can be improved. I encourage you to celebrate your successes and renew commitments to support hard to reach students and families. At this point in the school year there are some students who have developed a pattern of poor attendance and are in need of help. This edition focuses on truancy interventions and strategies to promote positive attendance and engagement. The featured article on “Soft Truancy ” comes from Steve Fraire from the San Diego County Office of Education. Hot Topics highlights what is happening nationally to address absenteeism. The Resources & Research section provides a list of strategies and recent NCSE articles on promoting positive attendance and school engagement.
To continue a conversation on school attendance, please consider joining the NCSE Truancy Listserv. Current subscribers have shared useful information on what their schools and communities are doing to re-engage students, connect with families and reduce truancy.
May the year ahead bring peace, wellness and positive outcomes for all students.
Judith Martinez, NCSE DIrector
info@schoolengagement.org
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Soft Truancy Awareness, Prevention and Treatment: Taking a Proactive Approach to Assist in Establishing Positive
Attendance Patterns
by
Steve Fraire
San Diego County Office of Education
Our children and youth are our most precious resource. In order for each individual to reach his (her) potential, education should be a top priority. This focus begins at home, and parents need to understand why it is important for their children to be at school, on time, consistently, and throughout the entire scheduled day. Because patterns begin early in life, beginning and staying on a positive path is the key to success.
Increase Awareness of School Attendance Requirements
“What are School Attendance Laws?” and “What are
Parent and Student Responsibilities?" Each state has compulsory education laws commonly referred to as codes. Example: In California, each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years, not exempted under certain provisions, is subject to compulsory full-time education (Ed Code 48200). In addition, a pupil in California is considered truant if he/she is absent without a valid excuse for three full days in one school year or tardy or absent for more than any 30 minute period during the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof. Parents and students must be aware, not only of state requirements, but also of school and district policies regarding attendance.
What is not addressed in the codes is what is often referred to as “Soft Truancy.” It is a fact that chronic truancy almost always begins with a pattern of “Soft Truancy” that is not corrected. What is “Soft Truancy?” Soft Truancy is a negative attendance pattern that often leads to direct violations of the Education Codes. “Soft Truancy” includes, but is not limited to: bringing your child late to school (under 30 minutes); picking up your child early for family outings, vacations, frequent medical or business appointments, or just trying to avoid traffic. It also includes: frequent excused absences; keeping an older child home to babysit a sibling or for their company; and irregular attendance in all forms.
Although there is no magic formula, the remedy is often found through early intervention and collaboration. There are strategies that yield positive results. I refer to them as “Awareness Tips for Parents” and they include:
· Be sure always to follow all District and Site Attendance Policies
· Students need to understand the importance of education – it should be a priority
· To get the best start in life, a child needs a good education
· If your child does not go to school, he or she will fall behind other students
· Important socialization begins at school
· If your child does not go to school, he or she can’t get the grades to graduate
· Young people who miss school are at higher risk of being victims or perpetrators of crime
· Tardies and leaving early should be the exception, not the norm
· Stay involved, pay attention, and when in doubt ask questions
At all levels of education-elementary, middle and high school- it is vital for school officials, parents, family members, involved adults and communities to work together and stay engaged in all endeavors. Together we can have an impact and we often never know when we make a difference. Let’s take care of “Soft Truancy” before it turns into the real thing!
Mr. Fraire is the Coordinator of the Child Welfare and Attendance Pupil Services Department in the San Diego County Office of Education. For more information, his email address is sfraire@sdcoe.net.
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Interventions to Reduce Truancy
From Linn Benton, Lincoln Education Service District in Oregon--They have developed a model for addressing truancy that looks systematically at 5 key levels of intervention systems.
1. Universal intervention systems: Schoolwide and classroom efforts to engage students, intentionally invite students, establish clear expectations, provide engaging instruction, etc.
2. Positive parent connection systems: How does the school intentionally invite parents into the process? How quickly does the school communicate with parents when problems first emerge? How does the school genuinely team with parents in encouraging attendance?
3. Consequence systems: Is it clear, reasonable, consistent? This is an essential piece, although often over-emphasized in schools and actually very weak without the other elements in place and working well.
4. Individualized assessment and support systems: If the above three are not proving effective with a student, it is time to conduct an assessment of the student to determine what is getting in the way of regular attendance and to develop a support plan.
5. Community and legal support systems: This is where other agencies and the courts have a role and many communities have strong, innovative programs at this level. Unfortunately, some communities focus here with their truancy prevention efforts and ignore the above elements.
In Oregon, they have developed tools and processes to help schools gather data (from teachers, students, parents, statistical data, observations, etc.) and assess themselves on each of the 5 levels and develop an action plan to improve practices at each level. They have found it essential to work on attendance issues systemically and not put all efforts into just one level with the belief that the answer lies in that one level. For more information on this process please email Scott Perry at Scott_Perry@lblesd.k12.or.us.
From Salt Lake School District--This school district provides truancy mediation for 1st - 9th graders. In 1st - 3rd grades the emphasis is on the parents, although the children attend the mediation as well. The mediator writes up a contract or memorandum of understanding, that states what each party has agreed to do to improve the student's attendance. Conservatively, 70-80% of families who have gone through the mediation process have not been referred to court. The most difficult part of this program is getting parents through the door. Even in cases where the students attendance has not improved significantly, there are great benefits from this approach – improved communication between school and family, services are offered to help support the family and important information about the family has been gained.
Editor’s Note: For more information on “truancy mediation” contact info@schoolengagement.org.
From St. Cloud, MN--In their school district, students are allowed 15 excused absences in a school year before parents are required to provide a doctor’s excuse. If a child under the age of 12 has more than 7 unexcused absences, the child and parent(s) are referred to our agency for an Educational Neglect assessment. The family will be assigned a Social Worker to assist them in eliminating barriers to getting their child to school, whether it means getting a complete medical evaluation or resolving transportation issues. This approach has been successful with families with chronic absenteeism.
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Grants.gov is a single comprehensive website that contains information about finding and applying for all federal grant programs. Grants.gov contains information about more than 800 available grant programs involving all 26 federal grant-making agencies. The website provides information in a standardized format across the agencies and includes the Federal Grant Opportunities feature to help applicants find grants.
Dollar General-Family Literacy Funding--The Dollar General Literacy Foundation will award grants to direct family literacy service providers. Proposals are due March 2, 2007.
U.S Dept. of Education: Charter School Program (CSP) Deadline - February 16, 2007
The purpose of the CSP is to increase national understanding of the charter school model and to expand the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the nation by providing financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools, and to evaluate the effects of charter schools, including their effects on students, student academic achievement, staff, and parents. The Secretary awards grants to SEAs to enable them to conduct charter school programs in their States. SEAs use their CSP funds to award subgrants to non-SEA eligible applicants for planning, program design, and initial implementation of a charter school, and to support the dissemination of information about, including information on successful practices in, charter schools.
The Finish Line Foundation
The Finish Line Youth Foundation focuses funding on organizations that provide opportunities for youth participation in the following areas:
Youth athletic programs – Community-based programs addressing active lifestyles and team building skills.
Camps – Established camps with an emphasis on sports and active lifestyles, especially programs serving disadvantaged and special needs kids.
Deadline: March 31, 2007
For more information email: Youthfoundation@finishline.com
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Youth Experiencing Success in School Initiative (YESS). Sponsored by Safe Schools/Healthy Students
Here is an example from Illinois on integrating community with schools to increase supports for students and families. The YESS program of Joliet Township High School District 204 developed a resource guide that provides information on YESS and the community partners involved. Community partners address areas such as,truancy with evidence based curriculums, mental health, violence, intramural sports, after school life skills programs, etc. The guide is provided to the teachers and parents of Joliet Township High Schools. For more information contact Kelli Bettenhausen, Project Director, kbettenhausen@jths.org.
Helping America’s Youth (HAY)
HAY is a nationwide effort to raise awareness about the challenges facing our youth, particularly at-risk boys, and to motivate caring adults to connect with youth in three key areas: family, school, and community. Provides links and information on national and federal resources.
Recent Reports by NCSE:
· Blueprints for Violence Prevention Programs That Reduce Truancy and/or Improve School Attendance--This report describes Blueprints for Violence Prevention programs that address truancy, school attendance, and/or student achievement concerns, and the evaluation studies that have tracked these programs’ outcomes. (January 2007)
· Developing a Report Card for Triple A Schools--Outlines the development of a report card to rate school engagement. Features research on school engagement and provides a summary of indicators identified at a community forum held in Colorado. (December 2006).
· Quantifying School Engagement: Research Report--This research report examines the validity and reliability of the NCSE School Engagement Survey. (December 2006)
· Truancy Fact Sheet--Gives basic definitions, discusses the extent of truancy as a problem, truancy as a risk factor, court and community responses, factors contributing to truancy, and components of effective truancy reduction programs.
Action Research to Study Homelessness and High Mobility in School Communities: A Collection of Essays 2005-2006 Features reports by Web-Based Professional Development (WBPD) participants representing four states. Includes the following sections:
1) Academic Achievement and Flexible Instructional Strategies
2) School Attachment and Access to Education Service
3) Student Attendance and Welcoming School Climate
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16th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy Achieving the American Dream Through Literacy
March 4-6, 2007
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Florida
This conference is for educators and community leaders working to advance the well-being of families through literacy. This year, the program promises to be an inspiring event packed with nearly 100 sessions focused on early literacy, English as a Second Language instruction, adult education, reading, parent involvement, community building, program management and more. Slated to speak at the Conference are actor James Earl Jones, Robert Goodwin, President & CEO of Points of Light Foundation, plus many others. General sessions will feature student speakers who share their stories of success through literacy.
Early registration ends February 2, 2007.
Eighteenth Annual National Youth-at-Risk Conference
March 4-7, 2007
Savannah, GA
The conference trains adults who serve youth to create safe, healthy, caring, and intellectually empowering educational environments that foster the well-being of all children and adolescents. To accomplish this mission, it offers over 100 presentations by nationally and internationally recognized presenters to over 1,000 conference participants from across the United States. Participants learn about current research-based educational programs and strategies which empower young people to overcome at-risk conditions that may threaten their safety, health, emotional needs, or academic achievement.
34th National Conference on Juvenile Justice
March 4-7, 2007
San Diego, CA
Sponsored by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National District Attorneys Association. This premier conference is the largest of its kind in the nation, providing cutting-edge training on dozens of topics related to juvenile and family courts.
National AfterSchool Association (NAA) Conference
March 21-23, 2007
Phoenix, Arizona
The NAA conference is designed for attendees representing youth-serving organizations, community learning centers, public schools, parks and recreation departments, faith-based programs, military bases … the full gamut of afterschool programming. Also, well represented are training, research and funding organizations, government agencies, and for-profit programs across the country.
Third International Conference on Bullying
I Am Safe – Protecting the Space We Call Childhood
April 2-4, 2007
Ottawa, Canada
This conference will raise awareness about bullying and victimization behaviors and share best practices from leading international experts. It will address critical areas relating to character education, special targeted groups, and highlight the critical involvement of youth and other stakeholders.
In addition to presentations from renowned international experts, there will be: live theatre, video presentations, plenary sessions and practical information. The conference will provide the opportunity for delegates to consider a move towards a holistic, integrated community model of bullying prevention.
SAVE THE DATE
Blueprints Conference 2008: Sharing in the Mission to Help Youth and Their Families
Center for the Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado
March 17-19, 2008
Adam’s Mark Hotel
Denver, Colorado
This conference highlights evidence-based programs and focuses on research to practice.
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NCSE is an initiative of the
Colorado Foundation for
Families and Children
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www.schoolengagement.org
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