This week we want to share some upcoming policies that will affect student attendance next year. We also want to share some reasons why attendance is one of the most important parts of a student’s education.
Catholic schools in the Diocese of Baton Rouge follow legislation known at Bulletin 741 for non-public schools. This legislation helps guide school policies for our students. Next year Bulletin 741 will include an attendance change for students. Currently, students who miss 16 days or more in a school year may be retained. The policy does not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences. It does have a provision that leaves that decision to administration. Next year the number of days will decrease to ten.
While we would never want families to bring children to school sick and absences are understandable when children are ill, there are families that consistently abuse absences, including tardies and early check-outs. As a faculty, due to the number of absences, there have been many recent discussions about how missing school affects our school community.
Improving attendance can positively affect other academic and behavioral concerns. When students are more consistently present to participate in academic instruction and other class and school opportunities, work performance is optimal and they have increased academic success.
Mrs. Joseph shared an article by Sprick and Berg called
Teacher’s Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges,
published by ASCD
and we wanted to share some of the implications absences have or could have on students, teachers, families and society. We were surprised by some of the points discusses and thought you might be as well.
Students
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Absenteeism is problematic in Kindergarten and 1
st
Grade
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Absenteeism increased throughout middle and high school
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Students who are frequently absent are more likely to experience negative academic outcomes
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Students who miss 10% or more of the school year score lower than their peers on reading and math.
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Even sporadic absences can cause their children to fall behind
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Early absenteeism predicts later absenteeism
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As students progress through school, those with chronic absences have consistently lower GPA’s and test scores
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Students with higher levels of absenteeism are at a greater risk of dropping out
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Students who are chronically absent can become frustrated, and exhibit negative behavior.
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Students may find it difficult to make and build meaningful connections with teachers and other students
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Students do not learn conflict resolution skills or resilience
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Students may face alienation from peers
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Students may experience friendship shifts
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Students with chronic absences have higher rates of delinquent or risk-taking behaviors
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Students have poorer mental health and less likelihood of stable employment
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Most importantly, students do not develop habits of attendance and punctuality and dependability which are a must for maintaining a job
Teachers
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Providing make-up works takes considerable time and effort and often times it is rarely picked up from school
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Time is taken from planning meaningful and purposeful classroom activities
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Affects other students because those absent must be caught up
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It slows down instruction
Other Students
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Absent students may prevent a trusting class community from forming
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Peers may resent having to take assignments for their classmates
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Absent students may affect group momentum
Families and Communities
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Absenteeism causes increase stress
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It affects the relationship between families and schools
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Absenteeism can affect their jobs
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Absenteeism causes a lack of job preparedness
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Students who are absent have an increased chance of becoming a dropout. Dropouts cost the educational system an average of $240,000 per dropout due to lower tax contributions, greater reliance on government programs and assistance
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Students who are chronically absent have higher rates of criminal activity.
As noted, student attendance has wide-reaching implications for students, teachers and communities. Please carefully consider the next time you allow your child to be absent or check them in late or out early. Absences are meant for illnesses and emergencies. Let’s work together to give our students the greatest possibility for success in school and in life.
In Christ,
Cheri Gioe
