Improving Attendance With Data: Evidence From Rural Education Research Networks

• In Event: Chronic Absenteeism: Measuring Impact, Owning the Problem, Improving Policies, and Seeing Change

Abstract

Researchers estimate that among U.S. Students, rates of chronic absenteeism, missing 10% or more of school days, approximate 10-15% each year. More recently, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released data from 2015/2016 indicating that nationally, 15.5% or nearly 8 million K-12 students missed 15 or more days of school per year, with considerable differences between subgroups and grade-levels (Chang, Bauer & Byrnes, 2018). Nationally, students within urban settings have greater levels of chronic absenteeism (17.9%) when compared with students in rural settings (14.5%), however this can vary greatly from state to state (Chang, Bauer & Byrnes, 2018). Missing 10 percent or more of instructional days has significant impact on student outcomes such as decreased: reading levels, overall academic performance, on-time graduation rates and post-secondary enrollment as well as increased dropout rates (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012; Chang & Romero, 2008). Questions remain for districts and schools regarding what low intensity strategies can be used to support student attendance.
Parent or family misconceptions regarding student absences and attendance have been proposed as one of many potential root causes for absenteeism. Interventions aimed at building family awareness of student absences have been found to reduce chronic absenteeism (Rogers & Feller, 20180. A recent study of an intervention aimed at increasing family engagement with the school using text-based communication resulted in decreased absences and chronic absenteeism rate among urban kindergarten students (Smythe-Leistico & Page, 2018). The extent to which a text or digital communication-based family engagement intervention may be effective in reducing absences K-12 and in rural settings is unknown.
The purpose of this presentation is to present findings from a study of a family engagement intervention for families of highly absent K-12 students in rural settings to provide evidence of intervention effectiveness to inform practice. The findings will be framed by findings from similar studies of different interventions conducted as part of the same project.
Ten school districts in two states will be engaged in a randomized controlled trial measuring the effects of a multi-faceted, weekly bi-directional digital communication-based intervention targeting families of K-12 students who missed at least 7.5% of school days in the prior year. Eligible participants will be randomized at the household level into intervention or control groups. Families will receive three types of weekly messages that align with four of Epstein et al. (2019) types of family engagement: Parenting- messages that support their child’s development, Communicating- messages about student progress and upcoming school events or opportunities, Learning at Home- messages about how they can support their child’s learning and Collaborating with the Community-messages that identify and help connect families to relevant community resources. Each message will include a prompt or opportunity for the family to respond. The intent of the messages is to establish relationships with families and provide an opportunity for bi-directional communication that allows for collaborative problem-solving of barriers to student attendance and achievement.
Bayesian inference methods to estimate the impact of this intervention on student attendance and the probability that the impact is different from the status quo.

Author

• Amber Humm Patnode, Center for Education Policy Research - Harvard University