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Gate Equity Webinar: Attendance

Gate Equity Webinar: Attendance. Krissy Johnson and Laurie Shannon, OSPI Leslie vanleishout and rand Hodgson, north Thurston Public Schools October 12, 2016. Attendance: Chronic Absenteeism, Truancy, and SSHB 2449.

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Gate Equity Webinar: Attendance

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  1. Gate Equity Webinar:Attendance Krissy Johnson and Laurie Shannon, OSPI Leslie vanleishout and rand Hodgson, north Thurston Public Schools October 12, 2016

  2. Attendance: Chronic Absenteeism, Truancy, and SSHB 2449 Un update for educators on the changes to the BECCA bill and attendance policies and procedures

  3. VisionMission Every student ready for career, college, and life To provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.

  4. Performance Indicators www.k12.wa.us/AboutUs

  5. Agenda • What does the research on attendance show? • Discuss the changes to the BECCA Bill • Implementation expectations and challenges • What does this mean for Washington districts? • Conversation with North Thurston school district • Audience questions OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  6. Attendance:What we know DATA & Research summary Krissy Johnson, OSPI OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  7. Polling • Do you know the chronic absenteeism rate? • A. I know for my district • B. I know for my school • C. I know the state rate • D. I don’t know OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  8. Terms Defined Chronic Absenteeism Missing 10% or more of school days for any reason – excused, unexcused, suspensions. This can mean more than 2 per month or 18 in a year. Truancy 5 unexcused full day absences in a month or 10 unexcused full days in a school year.

  9. Chronic Early Absence Connected to Poor Long- Term Academic Outcomes Chronic absence in kindergarten Lower levels of literacy in first grade Lower achievement as far out as fifth grade • Multiple studies show: high absence rates in kindergarten and first grade have significant impacts on students achievement in later grades as well as their attendance http://www.attendanceworks.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Chronic-Absence-Research-Summary-1-pager-2.19.14withlinks.pdf OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  10. The Effects of Chronic Absence on High School Success • Core GPA and attendance in eighth grade best predict whether students in high school pass and earn As or Bs • Studies show that 9th grade attendance is a more predictive indicator of dropping out than 8th grade test scores • Chronic absence has cumulative effects, the more a student is absent the more they fall behind, the more likely they are to be chronically absent in the future. http://www.attendanceworks.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Chronic-Absence-Research-Summary-1-pager-2.19.14withlinks.pdf

  11. Small improvements in attendance are associated with large improvements in later outcomes https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/looking-forward-high-school-and-college-middle-grade-indicators-readiness-chicago

  12. Parents underestimate the number of year-end absences Missed an average of 2+ days per month 90% • Ad Council research commissioned by the CA Attorney General asked parents with students with a history of absence about their children’s absences in two ways: • Was your child absent an average of 2 or more days a month? • Was your child absent more than 10 days over the year? • 60% of parents said their child was absent an average of 2+ days a month, but not 10+ days a year Missed 10+ days annually 30% The math: If a child is absent an average of 2+ days a month, then he/she is absent far more than 10+ days a year

  13. Schools inadvertently reinforce some absence-causing beliefs • Impersonal Letters: • Easy to disregard • Many parents felt the school miscounted—but parents couldn’t verify because they weren’t tracking absences • Many parents felt that the school didn’t understand them • Sending Work Home: • Parents thought that completing a makeup packet caught their child up for the missed day’s work • Teachers Not Addressing Absenteeism: • Most parents reported that they regularly communicate with their children’s teacher, but never about absences

  14. What are the causes of absenteeism? Myths Barriers Aversion Disengage-ment • Chronic disease (asthma) or lack of health/dental care • Caring for siblings or other family members • Unmet basic needs: transportation, housing, food, clothing, etc. • Trauma • No safe path to school • Absences are only a problem if they are unexcused • Ok to miss a day here or there • Attendance only matters in the older grades • Pre-K and K are seen as day care not learning • Academic struggles • Being teased or bullied • Poor school climate, disproportionate school discipline, or unsafe school • Parents had negative school experience • Lack of engaging and relevant instruction • No meaningful relationship with school adults • More exciting to be with peers out of school vs. in school www.attendanceworks.org OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  15. National Focus • USED – Every Student, Every Day Initiative • Attendance Works • ESSA – School Quality and Student Success Accountability Measure & New Annual Reporting • Office of Civil Rights – Civil Rights Data Collection Data Release OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  16. http://www2.ed.gov/datastory/chronicabsenteeism.html

  17. Chronic Absenteeism in Washington • 16% of Washington students were chronically absent in 2014‒15 (~174,000 students). • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 33% • Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 26% • Low-Income: 22% • The rate of chronically absent students varies across districts —from less than 5% to more than 40% of students in a district.

  18. Truancy in Washington State • Tens of thousands of students are absent from school without a valid excuse. • Truancy has been linked to problems, such as dropping out, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, marital instability, criminality and incarceration. • The “Pipeline to Prison” impact. • Truancy is a “Pay now or Pay Later” issue. • Truancy is a school – court and community issue.

  19. What do we know about students that are truant? • Truant students have been found to have had an increase in ACE’s, social and emotionaldifficulties. • Truant youth were 4-6 times more likely to have run away or been kicked out of their homes on multiple occasions. • 39% of truant youth had a history of a psychological disorder or learning disability, and our truant youth reported a higher level of depression-anxiety, aggression-defiance, substance abuse, peer deviance, school disengagement, and family problems than non truant youth.

  20. Questions? OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  21. SSHB 2449 Changes to the Becca law and implementation guidance OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  22. Polling How’s your progress on 2449? • We’ve implemented the needed changes • We have started making changes • We have a plan for how to make adjustments • I’ve never heard of it. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  23. Intent of the Law • SSHB 2449 recognizes the impact of missing school and creates a series of interventions in statute to address gaps in our current laws and promote promising and effective best practices around attendance. • Requires consistent practices and procedures for communication to families regarding attendance. • Requires schools and juvenile courts to work together to implement community truancy boards. • Recognizes that some truant students are best served when placed in a secure crisis residential center not a juvenile detention center. • Allows courts and schools to use screening tools to identify (and then address) root causes of truant behaviors. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  24. Notification of Attendance Policies and Procedures • NEW State law requires schools to notify parents(in the language in which they are fluent), annually or at the time of enrollment, of the benefits of regular attendance and the potential consequences of missing school for either excused or unexcused absences. This notification also must include: • The school’s expectations of parents to ensure regular attendance • The resources available to assist the child and parents; • The roles and the responsibilities of the school; • The consequences of truancy, including the compulsory education requirements of RCW 28A 225. • OSPI has developed a template letter (with translations) that schools may use here http://www.k12.wa.us/attendance/ OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  25. New Conference Requirements in Elementary school • When a child has 5 or more excused absences in a month, or 10 or more excused absences in a year the district is required to schedule a conference with the child and parent to identify the barriers to regular attendance and supports and resources that may be available so that the child is able to attend regularly. • The conference must be scheduled at a reasonable time for all parties, if regularly scheduled parent conferences are scheduled within 30 days, that conference may be used. • The conference must include at least one district employee such as a nurse, social worker, counselor, teacher, or human services worker. • If the child has a 504 plan or an IEP, that team needs to reconvene for the conference. • A conference is not required if prior written notice, or a doctors note has been provided and a plan was put in place to ensure the child does not fall behind. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  26. Early Intervention • After two unexcused absences in any month the school must schedule a conference with the child and parents at a reasonable time to determine the causes of the truancies (a regularly scheduled parent teacher conference within 30 days can be used for the conference). • At that time the school shall take data informed steps to reduce or eliminate the absences. • The Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students (WARNS) is specifically called out as a tool to use to create a plan in alignment with the student profile. • At this time the WARNS is only a tool that can be used with secondary students (a middle school version is in pilot). • The school can use any other tool (including strength based interviewing) to assess the root causes of the truant behavior and create a plan that utilizes best practices or research based interventions. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  27. Washington Assessment of the Risks & Needs of Students (WARNS) • If you would like to start using the WARNS please contact Rachael Sanford at the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). • Rachael.Sanford@courts.wa.gov • The AOC is continuing to support the WARNS while it is in transition to Washington State University. • The WARNS consent form, user agreement, Youth Survey and WARNS UserManual can be found here. http://www.courts.wa.gov/wsccr/docs/WARNSUserManual.pdf#search=WARNS OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  28. Attendance Records • Attendance records must follow the student when a student changes schools. • This must include: • The receipt from the parent that they had received attendance information; • Any assessment done with the child or family; • Any interventions attempted with the child and/or family. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  29. Changes for the Future By the beginning of the 2017-18 school year all districts with greater than 200 students must have an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with their Juvenile Court jurisdiction to create a Community Truancy Board. The CTB may be run by the juvenile court, the school district, or in collaboration together as determined in the MOU. • Sample MOUs available on the OSPI Truancy webpage. http://www.k12.wa.us/GATE/Truancy/default.aspx OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  30. What is a Community Truancy Board? • A board composed of members from the school, court and local community in which the child attends school. • The purpose is to provide a supportive environment where a youth and family can openly discuss the reasons behind the child’s absences. • Provides an opportunity to identify interventions that can successfully reintegrate students back into the school setting which encourages and supports attendance and involvement. • Establishes a contract between all parties to improve the attendance issues.

  31. CTB Goals Improving school attendance by using best practices that incorporate the following: • Developing a system for finding solutions to prevent truancy. • Improving school engagement. • Reducing dropout rates. • Increasing access to outside service providers. • Using an interdisciplinary approach to collaborate and coordinate with local community businesses, non profit groups, schools, and court staff.

  32. The Importance of Connection • School connectedness is a strong protective factor against delinquency. • School connectedness is linked to lower levels of substance abuse, violence and emotional distress. • Out of school elementary and middle school students contribute to dropout rates. • A student arrested in high school is twice as likely to drop out. • A student who appears in court during high school is four times as likely to drop out.

  33. Opportunity to Start a CTB and Receive Training • OPSI is administering grants available to the Educational Service Districts (ESD) to help School Districts create and train effective Community Truancy Boards. • The grants have been posted and the training of trainers has been set for December 5th, 2016. • Districts that are selected by their ESD as participants will receive training from January through May 2017 culminating with their own first Community Truancy Board before the end of the 2017 school year. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  34. Additional Changes for the Future • A definition of truancy for the digital learning environment will be established as well as intervention protocols to ameliorate truancy in the Virtual School setting. • The cultural competence of the Community Truancy Boards will be studied and a report made to the legislature. • Additional HOPE beds (secure crisis residential settings) will be added to the existing beds by a minimum of ten beds per year through 2019 (subject to funding). OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  35. Questions? OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  36. Implementation with North Thurston Leslie Vanleishout and rand Hodgson North Thurston Public Schools OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  37. Questions • How does 2449 support your work? • How does it challenge your work? • How are you handling these challenges? • What advice do you have for other districts just beginning to address attendance in a comprehensive manner? OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

  38. Resources • Book link • https://pacificnwpublish.com/products/FBAAT%3A-Functional-Behavior-Assessment-of-Absenteeism-and-Truancy.html • PSESD • https://www.psesd.org/services/learning-and-teaching/dropout-prevention-and-re-engagement/truancy/ • Spokane CTB toolkit • http://www.modelsforchange.net/publications/475 • OSPI analytics • http://www.k12.wa.us/DataAdmin/PerformanceIndicators/DataAnalytics.aspx • OSPI Truancy • http://www.k12.wa.us/GATE/Truancy/ • OSPI Attendance page • http://www.k12.wa.us/attendance/ • CEDARS Guidance • The guidance on reporting absences can be found both in the 2016-17 CEDARS Manual (pp. 98-101) and the 2016-17 CEDARS Reporting Guidance (pp. 46-47). OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

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