Effects of an Early Warning System on Attendance and Performance Outcomes for Elementary and Middle School Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 5:25 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Evaluations of Programs Supporting Students and Families (Table 7)

Abstract

Early warning response systems (EWS) enable schools to monitor student data to identify those who are off the path to high school graduation, organize a team of staff to match interventions to identified students, and implement interventions. This paper examines outcomes of students from schools participating in an EWS from a large U.S. city. The findings show that the EWS program had significant positive effects on elementary and middle school student attendance and performance in ELA and math compared to students in the schools not in the program. These positive effects were true even after controlling for past attendance and performance. These findings provide evidence that early warning systems in earlier grades could be effective for increasing attendance and performance.

Author

• Marcia H. Davis, Johns Hopkins University