Goals for the Attendance Plan

1. A school's response for this section should be in SMART format for improving attendance for each category reported in the data tables.
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic/Rewarding
• Timely
2. Address early grades at your school level (K & 1, 6th Grade, 9th Grade). Analyze school-wide data to determine needs at grade levels and times of year when challenges occur more often.

School attendance data are provided reporting percent of students with satisfactory attendance, at-risk attendance, chronic absenteeism, and severe chronic absenteeism. The two-year trend allows for comparison of attendance over time and an indication of how strategies implemented to improve attendance are working.

Goal 1: In 2017/18, the grade level with the most students with chronic and severe cronic absence was Kindergarten with 26 total students (23 chronic absence and 3 severe chronic absence) in the 2nd semester. In Kindergarten, our goal is to reduce the number of students with chronic absenteeism by 10 students (about 10%) for the 2018/19 school year.

Goal 2: Overall chronic absence in 2017/18 was 12.55% (10.74% chronic, 1.81% severe chronic). Our goal is to reduce overall chronic absence by 5% (about 42 students).

Goal 3: In 2017/18, 5th grade had the highest level of students with satisfactory attendance with 65.57% of students attending 95% or more school days. The goal for satisfactory attendance is to increase the percentage of students attending 95% or more in every grade level by the end of 2018/19.

Tier 1 Strategies for Attendance

Tier 1 Strategies for Attendance - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 1 is aimed at 100% of students, parents, school staff, and community stakeholders. This is where you cast a wide net. Strategies are general to reach the largest audiences and include all employees and stakeholders.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

Monitor Data

• The attendance clerk will monitor attendance-taking procedures weekly.
• School counselors will monitor BASIS and Data Warehouse to identify students for school-wide recognition.

• School staff will be encouraged to contact parents by phone or email to remind parents about the importance of attendance.
• The attendance phone line will be checked and cleared daily by the attendance clerk.

• School-based attendance recognition events will occur throughout the school year.
• The administrator responsible for attendance will ensure that students  have opportunities to participate in District-wide attendance recognition events.

• Attendance will be included on all student report cards.
• School staff will host a transition meeting for students coming to Kindergarten.  Families will learn about the importance of regular attendance for the child's academic success.

• This school provides free breakfast for all students, every day
• A bike rack enclosed in a lock gate is available for students that arrive by bicycle.  The rack is locked after school begins and is unlocked and monitored by staff after school.

Tier 2 Strategies and Interventions to Improve Attendance

Tier 2 Strategies and Interventions to Improve Attendance - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 2 identifies students using early warning indicators to make connections with students and families at the onset of the school year or emergence of patterns of non-attendance. Early warning indicators include prior year chronic absenteeism, 3 or more absences in the first 4 weeks of enrollment, more than 10% of school days absent in any time period from the beginning of enrollment.

- Tier 2 represents between 10-20% of students at all schools in Broward County. This is true at individual schools and across the District.

- Chronic Absenteeism: Absent for 10% or more school days. These absences include excused, unexcused, and suspensions as days of instruction missed.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

Monitor

• Teachers will monitor attendance using Pinnacle and consult with support staff for help in redirecting absenteeism behavior.
• The leadership team will identify students that have enough absences to be considered chronically absent.
• School counselors, will monitor with the leadership team to help identify students that may have a need for wap-around services.

• School counselors will reach out by phone to speak with parents of chronically absent students to identify if any support is needed for the family.
• Staff will help identify any family needs and connect the family with services.

• We will work with students and families to set attendance goals and time frames to help improve attendance for at-risk students.
• Recognize these students routinely for good and improved attendance.  Positive reinforcement and trusting relationships with staff improves attendance.  

• Counselors will form relationships with at risk students to encourage better attendance.
• Parent-teacher conferences with support staff will be scheduled to discuss absences and challenges to identify barriers we may be able to assist with.

• Involve the school nurse to follow up on medically related absences and train staff to recognize signs of illness.
• Connect families with school social worker to provide insight about the social worker's role, establish a relationship, and provide clinical support and services.

Tier 3 Interventions

Tier 3 Interventions - Address all five core ingredients. Tier 3 is the highest level of intervention and support for students that are absent 20% or more school days during the year.

- At most schools, Tier 3 interventions are utilized for about 5% (or less) of the student population.

Tiered plans will include strategies and interventions for the 5 core ingredients.

• Monitor Data
• Engage Students and Families
• Recognize Good and Improved Attendance
• Provide Personalized Outreach
• Remove Barriers

Monitor data

• Identify students with chronic absenteeism
• Leadership team with monitor non-attendance report from OptiSpool, data from BASIS to identify students that are missing too many days.

• Refer students to appropriate service agencies
• Utilize best practices from schools within the District that have been able to decrease chronic absences and increase satisfactory attendance
• The Broward Truancy Intervention Plan may initiate truancy letters to hold 5-day or 10-day meetings with the parents, principal, District representative, and State Attorney's office for the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

• Appropriate positive reinforcements will be included in attendance success plan
• Tangible incentives may be utilized to help parents and students improve attendance

• Ensure positive and regular contact with family
• Check in on "Attendance Success Plans" and communicate with parents at regular intervals

• Implement agreed upon family intervention plan and monitor for progress
• For cases of suspected abuse, neglect or endangerment, contact the appropriate agencies to report