Any ideas for getting primary school children into school on time?
November 25, 2013 10:16 AM Subscribe
The primary school (age 4-11) I teach in is in a socially disadvantaged area: about half of our pupils are on free school meals compared with around 18% nationally (England). Educational attainment is low. With the aim of improving student outcomes, the Local Educational Authority is awarding an innovation prize of £5000 to execute the project. One of the biggest problems that we face is low attendance - about 92% (of which only approximately 1-2% are absent owing to illness). Currently, actions to improve attendance such as weekly assemblies to celebrate good attendance, class awards and a rigorous follow-up of attendance issues, have only had mixed results. What do schools in the US do to ensure their children attend school regularly and come in on time? Rewards? Phone calls to parents? We are at our wits' end at our school, so I am calling upon you all for suggestions and advice. Thank you so much!
This is really extreme, but in This American Life's podcast on Harper High School, some of the students in the riskiest neighborhoods got rides from their teachers to get to school.
Can you be more specific about why students are late/absent? The most useful fix will be different if this is a transportation issue vs. a safety issue vs. a motivation issue.
posted by tinymegalo at 10:20 AM on November 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
Can you be more specific about why students are late/absent? The most useful fix will be different if this is a transportation issue vs. a safety issue vs. a motivation issue.
posted by tinymegalo at 10:20 AM on November 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
Do you know what factors are leading to the low attendance? If (for example) a large number of pupils are having to deal with public transit problems in getting to school, that would require a different approach from addressing students whose parents keep them home to care for younger siblings while the parents go to work
posted by rtha at 10:21 AM on November 25, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by rtha at 10:21 AM on November 25, 2013 [8 favorites]
Do you know why these 7-8% of students aren't attending? Understanding their obstacles is essential to designing effective interventions.
It isn't directly related to your issue, but one approach to understanding a problem and modifying behavior is Community Based Social Marketing. One of its proponents, Doug McKenzie-Mohr, has a website with a free online version of his book and a large database of case studies. While they're geared towards sustainability, there's a lot of generalizable content in his book that would help you design and test interventions.
posted by JackBurden at 10:22 AM on November 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
It isn't directly related to your issue, but one approach to understanding a problem and modifying behavior is Community Based Social Marketing. One of its proponents, Doug McKenzie-Mohr, has a website with a free online version of his book and a large database of case studies. While they're geared towards sustainability, there's a lot of generalizable content in his book that would help you design and test interventions.
posted by JackBurden at 10:22 AM on November 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
Seconding free breakfast and free lunch. It's also a human rights issue, imo, because nearly 16 million US children live in food insecure households. Sometimes school is the only place children have access to regular meals.
posted by spunweb at 10:22 AM on November 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by spunweb at 10:22 AM on November 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yes, rtha has it. Things like assemblies won't do anything but make kids who cannot attend due to family issues feel (further) like they've failed.
You need to do a study -- probably a large study -- of what the reasons are that children are not attending school. Then, put the social services in place to make sure those reasons are addressed.
posted by anastasiav at 10:24 AM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
You need to do a study -- probably a large study -- of what the reasons are that children are not attending school. Then, put the social services in place to make sure those reasons are addressed.
posted by anastasiav at 10:24 AM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Nth'ing rtha -- school attendance is a symptom, not a problem. Solve the problem rather than gaming the symptom.
posted by Etrigan at 10:27 AM on November 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 10:27 AM on November 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
Those kids are VERY young. That means that their parents are keeping them out of school. For whatever reason. You really need to address that reason.
Here are some:
1. If you're in an immigrant community, many of the parents will use their childrent to translate for them when interacting with the government. In the US, this would be for Food Stamps, Welfare, whatever.
2. The older kids may be kept out of school to watch the younger kids while the parent/s are out working.
3. Transportation may be an issue. If you don't have busses to pick kids up, or if the kids have to do a bunch of things in the am (Like bathe and dress younger siblings, feed younger siblings, or even scrounge around to find food) then they're more likely to miss the bus and thus, stay home.
4. They may be working in the family business.
5. It may not be safe for them to travel from home to school.
6. They may not like school and are being truant (VERY unlikely in your age-range.)
So, first, do an assessment and find out where these kids are! Then address THOSE needs.
I doubt very seriously that these children are trauant just to be out of school. There is a real, social need that they are filling.
Now, you can use the grant to address those needs.
1. Provide day care services on site for the siblings of your students. They can take them with them to school, plop them in, and take them back home after school.
2. A breakfast program may help. It for sure couldn't hurt. How about a food pantry? Perhaps you can take donations during the week, and open it up to parents on Friday (where the kids may be more unsure of getting a meal over the weekend.)
3. Work with the local police precinct to track the kids down and get them to school.
4. A lot of calls home, not to check up on truants, but to contact parents and really interact with them. It's not so easy to keep Gretchen home when we know Miss Grundy is counting on her being in class to be the milk monitor next week.
5. A Teacher-Mentor relationship with each child. Speak to the children about home as well as about school topics. Become a point of problem-solving for your students.
This is not a motivational problem, it's a social problem. You have to address the social issues that affect your students. If you can do that, you'll find that your absentee issues will evaporate.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:32 AM on November 25, 2013 [8 favorites]
Here are some:
1. If you're in an immigrant community, many of the parents will use their childrent to translate for them when interacting with the government. In the US, this would be for Food Stamps, Welfare, whatever.
2. The older kids may be kept out of school to watch the younger kids while the parent/s are out working.
3. Transportation may be an issue. If you don't have busses to pick kids up, or if the kids have to do a bunch of things in the am (Like bathe and dress younger siblings, feed younger siblings, or even scrounge around to find food) then they're more likely to miss the bus and thus, stay home.
4. They may be working in the family business.
5. It may not be safe for them to travel from home to school.
6. They may not like school and are being truant (VERY unlikely in your age-range.)
So, first, do an assessment and find out where these kids are! Then address THOSE needs.
I doubt very seriously that these children are trauant just to be out of school. There is a real, social need that they are filling.
Now, you can use the grant to address those needs.
1. Provide day care services on site for the siblings of your students. They can take them with them to school, plop them in, and take them back home after school.
2. A breakfast program may help. It for sure couldn't hurt. How about a food pantry? Perhaps you can take donations during the week, and open it up to parents on Friday (where the kids may be more unsure of getting a meal over the weekend.)
3. Work with the local police precinct to track the kids down and get them to school.
4. A lot of calls home, not to check up on truants, but to contact parents and really interact with them. It's not so easy to keep Gretchen home when we know Miss Grundy is counting on her being in class to be the milk monitor next week.
5. A Teacher-Mentor relationship with each child. Speak to the children about home as well as about school topics. Become a point of problem-solving for your students.
This is not a motivational problem, it's a social problem. You have to address the social issues that affect your students. If you can do that, you'll find that your absentee issues will evaporate.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:32 AM on November 25, 2013 [8 favorites]
Best answer: It's in the States, but Attendance Works is an organization that provides technical assistance and research on approaches to reducing school absenteeism and absence. You can read their research and policy recommendations and contact them for specific recommendations. They might also be able to put you in contact with someone in England who's more familiar with your institutional environment.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:37 AM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:37 AM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Trying to remember also - on the show formerly known as The Connection (I think it's called On Point) they mentioned (last week?) school that changed into more of a community center, offering social activities some nights, food banks one night a week, and seasonal help like free tax preparation.
posted by tilde at 10:40 AM on November 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by tilde at 10:40 AM on November 25, 2013 [2 favorites]
My school did TIP, which was basically locking down the school after the bell (each bell). Any kids coming in after the morning bell had to stop in the lobby to get a pass and get their tardiness/attendance recorded, and any kid late after a class bell had to go in the office and do the same thing. If you got one tardy you just got a warning, but it quickly spiraled out into detentions, suspensions and No Credits.
Ask me how I know. It also didn't work at all. I don't think punishments are the answer, even indirect shaming punishments like assemblies for the "good kids" who always show up.
Honestly, the thing that will get most people anywhere are food and booze. Booze is obviously inappropriate, but food might not be.
Also, as others have said, it's probably parents keeping kids home or kids needing to do stuff at home that is keeping them from school, so some kind of parental education (or reward) might be helpful -- except that I don't know how you educate the parents who need it, considering even their kids aren't showing up to school, so I doubt they will.
Is there a way to reward *parents* whose kids have good attendance?
posted by rue72 at 10:45 AM on November 25, 2013
Ask me how I know. It also didn't work at all. I don't think punishments are the answer, even indirect shaming punishments like assemblies for the "good kids" who always show up.
Honestly, the thing that will get most people anywhere are food and booze. Booze is obviously inappropriate, but food might not be.
Also, as others have said, it's probably parents keeping kids home or kids needing to do stuff at home that is keeping them from school, so some kind of parental education (or reward) might be helpful -- except that I don't know how you educate the parents who need it, considering even their kids aren't showing up to school, so I doubt they will.
Is there a way to reward *parents* whose kids have good attendance?
posted by rue72 at 10:45 AM on November 25, 2013
I've done some work on active commuting for kids. To summarize a bunch of research, low income kids face real challenges in getting to school. One big one is unsafe neighborhoods for walking. The problems can be violence or lack of infrastructure (cross walks, traffic lights, sidewalks, crossing guards).
Short-term: the "walking bus" or an adult supervised walking group to get kids to schools.
Long-term: advocate to fix the infrastructure. Get sidewalks, crosswalks and traffic lights. Walk every street within a mile of the school and figure out what's needed for kids to walk safely.
Good luck. Getting kids walking (or cycling) to school has tons of long-term positive outcomes.
posted by 26.2 at 10:51 AM on November 25, 2013 [7 favorites]
Short-term: the "walking bus" or an adult supervised walking group to get kids to schools.
Long-term: advocate to fix the infrastructure. Get sidewalks, crosswalks and traffic lights. Walk every street within a mile of the school and figure out what's needed for kids to walk safely.
Good luck. Getting kids walking (or cycling) to school has tons of long-term positive outcomes.
posted by 26.2 at 10:51 AM on November 25, 2013 [7 favorites]
Trying to remember also - on the show formerly known as The Connection (I think it's called On Point) they mentioned (last week?) school that changed into more of a community center, offering social activities some nights, food banks one night a week, and seasonal help like free tax preparation.
I heard something similar on NPR last week. About charter schools in Philadelphia.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:19 AM on November 25, 2013
I heard something similar on NPR last week. About charter schools in Philadelphia.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:19 AM on November 25, 2013
Response by poster: Thank you for the replies thus far. Lots of food for thought.
The school has 250 children.
It's not a transportation issue. The school serves the council estates dotted around it. The tiny minority who live more than 100m away can use the buses that come every 4-5 minutes at peak time. There is no charge in London for school children using public transport. The area is safe, particularly when it's light.
A large percentage of the school population is first generation immigrants, mostly from North Africa. There are a small number of ethnic British (about 10%).
I like the idea of free breakfast, but it's not feasible in the long-term. Funding, even if we got the £5000, would run out. The Local Education Authority simply would not approve it. It would require schools to hire additional staff, etc - too expensive.
Yes, the latecomers do have to report to the school office after which they enter the classroom. The school secretary says something like "late again! And you live round the corner!" but this has little impact.
posted by ashawill at 12:46 PM on November 25, 2013
The school has 250 children.
It's not a transportation issue. The school serves the council estates dotted around it. The tiny minority who live more than 100m away can use the buses that come every 4-5 minutes at peak time. There is no charge in London for school children using public transport. The area is safe, particularly when it's light.
A large percentage of the school population is first generation immigrants, mostly from North Africa. There are a small number of ethnic British (about 10%).
I like the idea of free breakfast, but it's not feasible in the long-term. Funding, even if we got the £5000, would run out. The Local Education Authority simply would not approve it. It would require schools to hire additional staff, etc - too expensive.
Yes, the latecomers do have to report to the school office after which they enter the classroom. The school secretary says something like "late again! And you live round the corner!" but this has little impact.
posted by ashawill at 12:46 PM on November 25, 2013
Number one thought is "ask the parents" - particularly since there seems likely to be a cultural component involved. If you have a Parent-Teacher's Association or School site council that involved parents, get their input. If not, you can invite parents to a special meeting (bi-lingual invitations if appropriate) to get their input on how to improve the school / attendance. You might also consider forming a PTA as part of your grant application.
Number two - don't rule out programs that have an on-going cost. Ask for the innovation grant for a pilot project, as proof of concept. If it works, it will be easier to get funding for an on-going program once you can demonstrate its effectiveness. (In the US, at least, there are ways to ask for targeted charitable donations outside of the school's regular budget.) Also, breakfast doesn't have to be hot - it could be juice and snacks in the classroom at the beginning of the day.
posted by metahawk at 1:32 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Number two - don't rule out programs that have an on-going cost. Ask for the innovation grant for a pilot project, as proof of concept. If it works, it will be easier to get funding for an on-going program once you can demonstrate its effectiveness. (In the US, at least, there are ways to ask for targeted charitable donations outside of the school's regular budget.) Also, breakfast doesn't have to be hot - it could be juice and snacks in the classroom at the beginning of the day.
posted by metahawk at 1:32 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Could the schedule be part of the problem? Sometimes it seems like school schedules are set with absolutely no consideration for the standard work schedule of adults in the area. If the parents' work schedules are in conflict with the start time and they can't ensure the kids get there on time, it may seem like it's not worth it to show up late so they just keep the kids out all day. Some high schools in the US have delayed start times and seen improved attendance and test scores.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 1:44 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 1:44 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
My son goes to an inner-city middle school with a broad mix of children from affluent homes and "off-reserve" aboriginal kids, and kids from lower-income backgrounds, including immigrants.
It's a great school with high levels of student engagement and achievement.
There are a number of factors:
- positive team of administrators and teachers that are devoted to their students
- recognition and celebration of First Nations (aboriginal) culture in the school, and this extends to inviting elders and cultural leaders into the school
- a free breakfast program for all students
- a top-knotch band program with cheap instrument rentals that integrates all students (there is the First Nations Program, an English-language program, a "late French immersion" program, and a "French immersion program"
- a lot of sports and noon-hour activities like clubs
I think the one common theme is engagement between teachers and students. The teachers also "own" the school, so there is less bullying and no violence.
School is a positive and interesting place to be, and the teachers are happy to see the students.
On the flip side, parents are responsible for attendance - there's an auto-dialer that contacts the home if students are absent, and parents are made to understand that attendance is mandatory.
At the same time, there is also engagement with parents, who are invited to all sorts of events, like plays and band concerts and open houses and stuff like that.
Engagement with parents and kids is key.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:46 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's a great school with high levels of student engagement and achievement.
There are a number of factors:
- positive team of administrators and teachers that are devoted to their students
- recognition and celebration of First Nations (aboriginal) culture in the school, and this extends to inviting elders and cultural leaders into the school
- a free breakfast program for all students
- a top-knotch band program with cheap instrument rentals that integrates all students (there is the First Nations Program, an English-language program, a "late French immersion" program, and a "French immersion program"
- a lot of sports and noon-hour activities like clubs
I think the one common theme is engagement between teachers and students. The teachers also "own" the school, so there is less bullying and no violence.
School is a positive and interesting place to be, and the teachers are happy to see the students.
On the flip side, parents are responsible for attendance - there's an auto-dialer that contacts the home if students are absent, and parents are made to understand that attendance is mandatory.
At the same time, there is also engagement with parents, who are invited to all sorts of events, like plays and band concerts and open houses and stuff like that.
Engagement with parents and kids is key.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:46 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
What do schools in the US do to ensure their children attend school regularly and come in on time?
Hoo boy. So, public schools in the urban and rural US are for the most part mediocre to horrible on nearly every measure of student achievement. For chronic attendance issues we usually resort to appalling, counterproductive tactics like shaming, calling the police, and then eventually letting the child either drop out, or graduate with a diploma but no real job skills.
Generally, if a student has 10 or more unexcused absences or an extreme tardy problem most US school districts must mandatorily report the parents to a local Child Protective Services-type of Hotline. Using the stick, not the carrot. And this does not work. At all.
The few beacons of hope in US schools which best serve the needs of at-risk youth (such as the KIPP schools) take a community-based approach, as others have said. They collaborate with parents. They ask them for buy-in. Sometimes students, parents, and teachers are required to sign a school contract agreeing to fulfill specific responsibilities, promising that they will do everything in their power to help the student succeed and go to college. Students have to call teachers at night if they have questions about their homework. The teacher visits the homes of each of their students, and gets to know the family. The school views the parents as people worthy of dignity and respect. They find out what the needs are, what is holding them back, and they offer services such as before or after school care, or meals, or winter hats and coats, etc.
I agree with @Ruthless Bunny's analysis here - this is a parenting issue and "this is not a motivational problem, it's a social problem." Getting their kids to school on time is simply not a TOP priority for these parents, and they have some valid reason for that - now you must find out WHY.
posted by hush at 1:56 PM on November 25, 2013
Hoo boy. So, public schools in the urban and rural US are for the most part mediocre to horrible on nearly every measure of student achievement. For chronic attendance issues we usually resort to appalling, counterproductive tactics like shaming, calling the police, and then eventually letting the child either drop out, or graduate with a diploma but no real job skills.
Generally, if a student has 10 or more unexcused absences or an extreme tardy problem most US school districts must mandatorily report the parents to a local Child Protective Services-type of Hotline. Using the stick, not the carrot. And this does not work. At all.
The few beacons of hope in US schools which best serve the needs of at-risk youth (such as the KIPP schools) take a community-based approach, as others have said. They collaborate with parents. They ask them for buy-in. Sometimes students, parents, and teachers are required to sign a school contract agreeing to fulfill specific responsibilities, promising that they will do everything in their power to help the student succeed and go to college. Students have to call teachers at night if they have questions about their homework. The teacher visits the homes of each of their students, and gets to know the family. The school views the parents as people worthy of dignity and respect. They find out what the needs are, what is holding them back, and they offer services such as before or after school care, or meals, or winter hats and coats, etc.
I agree with @Ruthless Bunny's analysis here - this is a parenting issue and "this is not a motivational problem, it's a social problem." Getting their kids to school on time is simply not a TOP priority for these parents, and they have some valid reason for that - now you must find out WHY.
posted by hush at 1:56 PM on November 25, 2013
Also, breakfast doesn't have to be hot - it could be juice and snacks in the classroom at the beginning of the day.
Just seconding this, if you are considering using food as a draw/reward for attendance.
In my district, they had "Saturday school," which was used as a kind of day care/detention/study hall that ran from about 10-2 on Saturday. You would *think* no kids capable of not showing up would show up, but attendance actually ran quite high (at least in perspective, as an attendee).
They provided snacks (including juice), which I definitely appreciated. They also provided a chance for younger kids to have more one-on-one time with adults and older kids, which I think was also a huge draw (both for the older kids getting to mentor and the younger kids getting mentored). Maybe some kind of mentoring/buddy system would also be helpful in your case? A kid will likely make a greater effort to get to school if he knows he's supposed to meet with his "mentor" or he doesn't want to let his "mentee" down.
posted by rue72 at 1:57 PM on November 25, 2013
Just seconding this, if you are considering using food as a draw/reward for attendance.
In my district, they had "Saturday school," which was used as a kind of day care/detention/study hall that ran from about 10-2 on Saturday. You would *think* no kids capable of not showing up would show up, but attendance actually ran quite high (at least in perspective, as an attendee).
They provided snacks (including juice), which I definitely appreciated. They also provided a chance for younger kids to have more one-on-one time with adults and older kids, which I think was also a huge draw (both for the older kids getting to mentor and the younger kids getting mentored). Maybe some kind of mentoring/buddy system would also be helpful in your case? A kid will likely make a greater effort to get to school if he knows he's supposed to meet with his "mentor" or he doesn't want to let his "mentee" down.
posted by rue72 at 1:57 PM on November 25, 2013
Best answer: Like them or not, there were laws passed to help schools deal with these issues in the UK. Sadly there are people who won't don't what they're meant to (even once they understand the obligation) unless forced so laws can provide a handy stick rather than the right carrot. It also then becomes partly the council's problem instead which might help.
posted by wackybrit at 2:03 PM on November 25, 2013
posted by wackybrit at 2:03 PM on November 25, 2013
When I was a volunteer reading teacher in a public grade school, I was astonished to learn that these young children were watching the late and late late TV shows. Not only is the content not fit for children, but the time is midnight and after. It must be hard for a child to get to school on time when he has had only 4 to 6 hours of sleep. As mentioned above, this is a parenting problem.
posted by Cranberry at 2:30 PM on November 25, 2013
posted by Cranberry at 2:30 PM on November 25, 2013
I would point out that poverty in the US is functionally very different than poverty in the UK. Reasons for poor attendance will have some overlap but not everything is applicable.
Magic Breakfast can help you establish a sustainable breakfast programme. You can also look at programmes to make the school a community resource, like uniform swaps or a fresh fruit and veg rewards programme; every week a child has full attendance, the family can pick up an allotment of fresh foods and veg (since that is where families make budget cuts first.)
posted by DarlingBri at 3:04 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Magic Breakfast can help you establish a sustainable breakfast programme. You can also look at programmes to make the school a community resource, like uniform swaps or a fresh fruit and veg rewards programme; every week a child has full attendance, the family can pick up an allotment of fresh foods and veg (since that is where families make budget cuts first.)
posted by DarlingBri at 3:04 PM on November 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Very out of the box, what about a lottery/raffle for attendance? The mechanics are that for every day a kid attends school, they get a randomized number ticket and once a week, there's a lottery with a medium prize (supermarket voucher or kids' DVDs or something pleasant for the parents) for the kids, maybe one prize per year. At the same time X number of tickets can be turned in to pick a range of small rewards (20 days = cute eraser set, save up 50 days for the big pack of colouring pencils!) so the kids are also motivated.
The lottery reward idea has been used successfully to increase public transit use in some places (research paper, general discussion. What seems to be key is the element of luck/randomness, a big pay-out for a small effort, not the frequent-flyer rewards alone.
posted by viggorlijah at 5:26 PM on November 25, 2013
The lottery reward idea has been used successfully to increase public transit use in some places (research paper, general discussion. What seems to be key is the element of luck/randomness, a big pay-out for a small effort, not the frequent-flyer rewards alone.
posted by viggorlijah at 5:26 PM on November 25, 2013
My district, which is a high poverty district in the US (around 2/3 receiving federal free lunches), instituted a program we call "Parent University." Parents in poverty, especially immigrant parents in poverty, do not know the social norms that middle-class teachers and administrators accept as inherent. What Parent University does is explain, in excruciating detail, what the expectations are (daily attendance!) and why it's important for their kids and how they can access help they might need to make that happen (food, childcare, transportation, etc.). It builds community among parents -- we have a large Gujarati-speaking immigrant community (for example), and we use that venue to connect new immigrants with immigrants of longer-standing who can help them navigate American school bureaucracy. We also always provide information for parents about GEDs (high-school equivalency), ESL classes for adults (English as a Second Language), and literacy classes for adults. We snare a HUGE number of men in the 15-25 age range who are "low literacy" but want to be able to read books to their little kids, and so enroll in literacy programs to learn to read picture books. Statistically, we know not a lot of these stories end with happy families and long-term parental engagement, but it is getting a very hard-to-reach population engaged in education and learning THE most crucial skill (basic reading), and a statistically significant number of them take classes and engage with their kids.
The point is that parents do not necessarily know what their children need to do to succeed in American/British schools, and those skills can be taught, and most parents will jump all over the chance to learn them. There is a cultural literacy that has to be imparted, and the community can help create norms where those cultural minorities (who may be majorities in your school) are urged to participate. Our Parent University program came from the grassroots participation of low-income parents, who know the best way to cajole other low-income parents into participating. You MUST provide a meal at a Parent University program, and you MUST have "target" parents helping prepare the program.
Another part of what principals and teachers do is just finding out what the needs are -- WHY is that student late to school? WHY does that student skip class? Sometimes it's because the parent needs the student to watch younger children and there's massive social service involvement, but sometimes it's at simple as, the family doesn't have an alarm clock and the electricity is frequently turned off. A battery-powered alarm clock completely fixes that problem, and we provide funds and flexibility for our social work staff to solve problems like that.
I'm happy to put you in touch with our people who run these programs if they can be of any help to you; memail me.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:16 PM on November 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
The point is that parents do not necessarily know what their children need to do to succeed in American/British schools, and those skills can be taught, and most parents will jump all over the chance to learn them. There is a cultural literacy that has to be imparted, and the community can help create norms where those cultural minorities (who may be majorities in your school) are urged to participate. Our Parent University program came from the grassroots participation of low-income parents, who know the best way to cajole other low-income parents into participating. You MUST provide a meal at a Parent University program, and you MUST have "target" parents helping prepare the program.
Another part of what principals and teachers do is just finding out what the needs are -- WHY is that student late to school? WHY does that student skip class? Sometimes it's because the parent needs the student to watch younger children and there's massive social service involvement, but sometimes it's at simple as, the family doesn't have an alarm clock and the electricity is frequently turned off. A battery-powered alarm clock completely fixes that problem, and we provide funds and flexibility for our social work staff to solve problems like that.
I'm happy to put you in touch with our people who run these programs if they can be of any help to you; memail me.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:16 PM on November 25, 2013 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I'm a governor at a UK primary school that had an attendance problem. A lot of what we tried has already been mentioned, but I think the really key things I'd highlight again are to understand the reasons for lateness - we had a large number of "casual latecomers" who responded well (after initial grumbling) to a tighter policy on timekeeping - publicising the need to start on time, shutting the door at 9am, assemblies to celebrate good attendance, and meetings where we've invited parents from less-engaged communities into the school to talk about the importance of education. Where possible we've used staff or TAs with native language skills to lead those meetings.
The harder issue was a small number of families with specific issues. As other posters have said, you have to engage with them one on one - we had the head invite them in to discuss progress and ask how the school could help with getting the children there on time. We've not used a punitive approach, although obviously in some cases we have to get the EWO involved if the children aren't getting access to education. We've been using the Achievement for All programme to help with some of the broader issues for those children and it's been very positively received in helping them engage more with school.
We do have a breakfast club - not free but subsidised. I imagine you might be able to structure something that made it very attractive to students from poorer backgrounds, but affordable for everyone?
Happy to discuss on memail.
posted by crocomancer at 7:16 AM on November 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
The harder issue was a small number of families with specific issues. As other posters have said, you have to engage with them one on one - we had the head invite them in to discuss progress and ask how the school could help with getting the children there on time. We've not used a punitive approach, although obviously in some cases we have to get the EWO involved if the children aren't getting access to education. We've been using the Achievement for All programme to help with some of the broader issues for those children and it's been very positively received in helping them engage more with school.
We do have a breakfast club - not free but subsidised. I imagine you might be able to structure something that made it very attractive to students from poorer backgrounds, but affordable for everyone?
Happy to discuss on memail.
posted by crocomancer at 7:16 AM on November 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
Thanks, Ruthless Bunny. I believe that was it.
"In my district, they had "Saturday school," which was used as a kind of day care/detention/study hall that ran from about 10-2 on Saturday. You would *think* no kids capable of not showing up would show up, but attendance actually ran quite high (at least in perspective, as an attendee). "
Yes, our local charter school is doing this - some of the lcoal elementary schools (magnet and not) have open hours on saturdays for library time, tutoring time, clubs time, sports time.
posted by tilde at 8:36 AM on November 26, 2013
"In my district, they had "Saturday school," which was used as a kind of day care/detention/study hall that ran from about 10-2 on Saturday. You would *think* no kids capable of not showing up would show up, but attendance actually ran quite high (at least in perspective, as an attendee). "
Yes, our local charter school is doing this - some of the lcoal elementary schools (magnet and not) have open hours on saturdays for library time, tutoring time, clubs time, sports time.
posted by tilde at 8:36 AM on November 26, 2013
Are children not attending at all, or are they late for school? And if children are not attending at all, are they taking trips back home?
posted by plonkee at 9:50 AM on November 26, 2013
posted by plonkee at 9:50 AM on November 26, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tilde at 10:18 AM on November 25, 2013 [5 favorites]