February Attendance Spotlight
Re-engaging students in the classroom
Wisdom High School’s Attendance Team shares best practices in this month’s spotlight
Do you know that you can use attendance data to conduct early interventions and secure needed support to monitor at-risk students? According to Attendance Works research, students who miss 10 percent or more of the current school year, starting in the first month of school, are at-risk for chronic absences.
Check out this week’s Weekly Teacher Download for strategies that are essential to re-engaging students in the classroom. It’s important that ALL school staff use these strategies to learn more about the needs of a student and adequately provide positive reinforcements which can keep a student from missing another day of school.
February Attendance Spotlight
This month, the Office of Student Support Services is recognizing Principal Jonathan Trinh of Wisdom High School and his three-person attendance team, led by At-Risk Administrator Kenya Washington. Collaboratively, the campus’ attendance team and Trinh have created yearlong events and resources that keep students encouraged to come back to school.
With a strong focus on ways to increase the school’s average daily attendance, as well as the graduation and completion rate, the team is using effective intervention strategies that range from daily accountability with students and parents to making their attendance expectations and goals readily available on the campus website.
Through strong parent engagement and accountability, the team has also been able to decrease the campus dropout rate. Not only is a student’s attendances tracked several times during the day, but absences from any class are quickly addressed in an effort to establish a course of action that ensures they don’t reoccur. The team also hosts spirited events that recognizes students for their efforts in striving for perfect attendance, as well as those improving their attendance record.
Yet, the school’s most impressive attendance best practice is their credit appeals process. Students who have lost course credit because of bad attendance can appeal by agreeing to a strict attendance contract and by making-up work in grad lab or after school tutorials. This further engages the students and holds them accountable to attend class and also excites them to return to school.
Many of the team’s best practices align with the resources provided by the Office of Student Support Services in the Weekly Teacher Download. It is important that campus leaders identify strategies and provide resources that will help keep students motivated and encouraged to come to school.
