Albuquerque rethinks approach to often-absent elementary students
| Albuquerque, N.M.
Danielle Burnett, a truancy prevention social worker in Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico, spends her days figuring out why students miss school. Her job is to identify the underlying reasons and help families change course.
Some students don鈥檛 show up because their parents can鈥檛 afford school uniforms. Ms. Burnett can get these students vouchers for free pants and tops.聽
Many parents keep their children home for minor colds or stomachaches. Burnett encourages them to send kids to class unless they have a fever or are throwing up, and she reminds them that the school nurse can help with health decisions.
Sometimes it鈥檚 simply a matter of educating parents about the importance of attendance. In the early grades, parents can be lulled into thinking class time isn鈥檛 that important聽鈥� even though these grades lay the foundation for students鈥� literacy and math skills for the rest of their lives.
鈥淭he culture of attendance is huge,鈥� Burnett says. 鈥淚f parents weren鈥檛 taught that it鈥檚 important, then their kids are not going to be taught that.鈥�
A communitywide effort to reduce chronic absenteeism is underway in Albuquerque 鈥� and in many other places in the United States 鈥� as what was once a hidden problem has been brought into the spotlight. Schools historically tracked 鈥渁verage daily attendance,鈥� counting the total number of students present on any given day. This masked the fact that a single group of students tends to account for the vast majority of daily absences. In Albuquerque and elsewhere, schools are starting to track attendance student-by-student 鈥撀燼nd are being more vocal about the problem. But it鈥檚 a complex one to solve.聽
鈥淚n a community like Albuquerque, where you鈥檝e got such high poverty rates, there鈥檚 a different standard around how quickly we can move the needle on chronic absenteeism,鈥� says Angelo Gonzales, executive director of Mission: Graduate, an organization advising the school district. He adds that all the factors associated with poverty make quick solutions difficult.聽
For many years, the attendance focus in schools in the US was on reducing truancy, which can be seen as more serious than chronic absenteeism. But researchers have emphasized more recently that it doesn鈥檛 matter whether a student has an excused absence or not; missing class puts them at risk of falling behind.
Reducing chronic absenteeism has increasingly been at the heart of school improvement strategies over the last few years. In 2016, the Obama administration highlighted it with that it called 鈥渁n unprecedented look at a hidden educational crisis.鈥�
Thirty-six states will soon consider the broader problem of chronic absenteeism as part of their school accountability frameworks, according to created by FutureEd, a Georgetown University think tank.聽
鈥淭his work really takes everyone,鈥� says Daphne Strader, Albuquerque Public Schools鈥� director of coordinated school health, who works to reduce various barriers to learning, including frequent absenteeism.
The poverty connection聽
At the elementary level, students largely rely on their parents to get them to school, and educators know that the consequences of poverty have a lot to do with student absenteeism. Of the Albuquerque district鈥檚 nearly 91,000 students, 69 percent were considered economically disadvantaged during the 2016-17 school year. At Alamosa Elementary School 鈥� where district social worker Burnett spends half her time 鈥� all 548 students were, according to Johanna King, Albuquerque Public Schools鈥� communications director.
鈥淭here are just so many other factors that these families have to deal with,鈥� says Carrie Ramirez,聽an Alamosa first-grade teacher. Ms. Ramirez has seen students struggle with embarrassment when their absences mean they can鈥檛 keep up with peers.
This is only the second year Alamosa Elementary has been tracking attendance student-by-student. And a core element of its initiative is raising awareness about the problem. About one in four students has missed more than 10 percent of school days so far this school year, according to data Burnett tracks. Researchers say that hitting this threshold triggers a cascade of negative effects. Missing that much school聽鈥� roughly two days per month聽鈥� hurts a student鈥檚 chances of reading on grade level, passing classes, and graduating.
Besides the 26 percent of Alamosa students who are already chronically absent, Burnett鈥檚 data show that another 27 percent are considered at risk of becoming so.
Under the guidance of Mission: Graduate 鈥撀燼n initiative of the United Way of Central New Mexico that brings together schools, government agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and community members to collectively work toward common education goals 鈥撀� Albuquerque Public Schools is drawing on best practices for improving attendance. Instead of focusing exclusively on students who miss the most days of school, the district has , with all students getting some type of targeted attention.
At the first tier, schools are supposed to be fostering a positive culture of attendance for all students and collecting consistent data to track absenteeism. The second-tier prioritizes prevention, and school attendance teams tailor special initiatives for groups of students who miss school regularly. The third tier is the most individualized. Students who routinely miss school get individual assessments and attendance success plans geared toward their unique needs and circumstances.
Besides the districtwide focus, Alamosa is among 10 elementary schools getting additional grant funding from the United Way. This comes with extra support and data-tracking to combat and monitor chronic absenteeism.
These efforts are starting to produce results. School attendance data show that the portion of Alamosa students who were chronically absent from the start of the school year through mid-January is 5 percentage points below last year鈥檚 rate overall.
Bonuses for attendance provide a major incentive for students, even those who might only miss a day here or there. Students who don鈥檛 have any missed days or tardies don鈥檛 have to wear their uniforms on Fridays. Entire classes that have perfect attendance for a given week get a popcorn party.
鈥淚 have parents saying 鈥楳y kid is dragging me to school on time,鈥� 鈥� says Ulrike Kerstges, Alamosa Elementary鈥檚 principal. 鈥淭hey want to earn the dress-down day and the popcorn.鈥�
Replicated elsewhere
Attendance Works, a national nonprofit that has led the charge to reduce chronic absenteeism, advocates a strategy similar to the one Albuquerque has designed. Cecelia Leong, associate director for programs, said this comprehensive focus on building awareness, prioritizing prevention and designing case-by-case interventions is a critical shift for school districts, which have traditionally responded only to students with the most frequent absences and the most severe challenges, like homelessness, chronic illness, and family dysfunction.聽Those students, Ms. Leong says, deserve attention, but without pairing that work with prevention on a larger scale, schools and districts cannot have a major impact on overall chronic absenteeism numbers.
It鈥檚 like public health, Leong explains. A widespread focus on prevention can reach far more people and improve outcomes overall.聽聽
She has seen progress in school districts that have good data systems, committed leadership, and a comprehensive strategy for addressing chronic absenteeism. Districts in , and , as well as schools in and Meriden, Conn., are among the success stories Attendance Works cites nationwide. John Barry School (grades pre-K to 5) in Meriden, for example, reduced its chronic absenteeism rate from in the 2014-15 school year to in 2015-16.聽
Leong is convinced it will take creative, comprehensive solutions to make a dent in the chronic absenteeism problem nationwide.
And the stakes are high.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to achieve your mission as a school district to educate children if they鈥檙e not there,鈥� she adds.
At Alamosa Elementary, parents have to be partners in prioritizing attendance, and administrators try to emphasize this collaborative spirit. Dr. Kerstges, the principal, says it鈥檚 important to talk to parents early, when their children have just a few absences instead of dozens. And it鈥檚 important to be understanding.
鈥淲e are not blaming,鈥� Kerstges says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not, 鈥楪et your heinie over here or else,鈥� it鈥檚, 鈥楬ow can we help you?鈥櫬犫��
This story was produced by ,聽a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.
