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 chronic absentees was 12th grade with a total of 154 .This year 2018/19 12th graders continue to have the most chronic absenteeism, so far with 254 in total by second semester. Our goal is to reduce that number by 10% for the remaining school year 2018/19 taking into account the occurence of 2/14 and anxiety it has bought to our student population 

Goal 2: Overall chronic absence for 2017/18 was 560 (16.25 %) and 122 (3.54%)  for severe chronic. Our goal is to reduce that overall chronic absenteeism by 15% in all grades by the end of the school year.

Goal 3: In the 9th grade, there is a significant change in satisfactory attendance from the first semester to the second. The percentage of students Chronically Absent increased by 2%. This is an indication that students must be reminded of the importance of positive attendance. Additionally, teachers will be required to accurately record student attendance on a daily basis. It is evident that the challenge with attendance occurs during the second semester. Therefore, we will require Personalization teachers to reiterate the importance of regularly school attendance.

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

A. Monitor Data

• Look  and monitor each month's attendance record.
• Administrator/ attendance clerk to monitor attendance taken by teachers
• Guidance counselors to continiously monitor on basis  to identify students that need more interventions.
• Establish a school plan for reducing chronic absence based on an analysis of strengths and challenges around school climate and attendance practices

• Cultivate an environment where students feel respected and safe
• Provide enrichment activities for students, such as field trips, assemblies, and dances

• Reinforce positive, welcoming experience in the front office
• Keep school clean and clear of health hazards that contribute to asthma and respiratory disease
• Explain expectations for attendance, and how absences can affect your grades
• Celebrate individual progress through weekly, monthly and periodic recognition using bulletin boards, certificates, verbal and written acknowledgement)

• Place calls home each day that a student is absent 
• Include attendance on report cards and in report card conferences
• Parent conferences with guidance/ Social Workers
• Home visits

• Family and community engagement to host parent night to inform parents about services
• Free breakfast
• Involve Social Workers for families in need of resources
• Provide activities and afterschool programs that motivate students to be in 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

A.Monitor Data

• Attendance clerk will monitor weekly attendance and share information to all administrators by grade level.
• Teachers will monitor attendance in pinnacle and report discrepancies to guidance.
• Look for qualitative data to access the underlying cause for a students continued absence (especially at our school after 2/14)

• School counselors and social workers to make connection with parents for a personal "plan" for their child.
• Attendance and achievement improve when educators get involved
• Engage students and families in workshops or training for  social and emotional competencies
• information via email, text, parent links to ensure safety measures and aliviate the the stress related in coming to school

• Recognize students routinely for good and improved attendance
• Allow teachers to celebrate good attendance in class
• Refer families to appropriate services e.g. social services, human resources, housing, and health services
• Makes home visits and connect families with needed resources
• Recognize good and improved attendance weekly

• Identify academic needs of the student and develop a plan to provide appropriate tutoring and coaching services
• Determine if the student has make up work that is needed to keep up their grade point average and ensure the student and their family understand what make up work is due.
• Nurture teacher interest and capacity in helping to reach out to chronically absent students and their families
• Help parents understand and avoid legal consequences of extreme chronic absence
• Suggest a home visit and/or conference to address barriers to attendance
• Evaluate whether students with persistent chronic absence need an appropriate Tier 3 response

• Provide families with information on community resources that can help overcome barriers
• Connect families with school-based resources that can support good attendance
• Schedule Parent/School Staff Conference to discuss absences (Principal, Vice Principal, Teacher, Guidance Counselor, etc.) 

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

A. Monitor Data

• Review attendance and identify students have a history of missing school and follow up for Tier 3 intervention
• Monitor daily attendance for those students already on Tier 3.
• Connect students with chronic mental health issues to appropriate agencies or providers.

• After the horrific event that took place at this school, I wholeheartedly believe that the key to reducing chronic absence is taking time to ask and understand why students missed school in the first place.
• Meeting and taking a positive, problem solving approach that engages families and students in looking for solutions that will inspire collaboration in attending school.
• Safe, positive, engaging learning environments motivate daily attendance even when it isn't easy to get to school. Students and families are more likely to show up for school if they know they can turn to the adults in the building for help and support, especially during hard times. That's what we do at MSD.

• Positive reinforcements to support students improved attendee such as, rewards , field trips,assemblies and recognitions
• Develop strategies based on student interest.

• Follow through on commitments of support to the families
• Ensure academic and emotional support as well as safety and security
• Connect students with chronic physical and mental health issues to medical providers
• Ensure continued positive and regular contact with the family 
• When the student misses school ensure assigned personnel is following up on each absence
• Utilize lessons learned from working with families and students in tier three to inform tier one and two prevention and intervention efforts
• Determine if the student and their family is or should be agency involved. If they are, work to set up a meeting to coordinate services

• Identify those barriers such as, health, transportation and or housing
• Refer students and families to appropriate service agencies e.g. social services, human resources, counseling, housing, and health services
• Review attendance daily and ensure that Tier 3 students are in school each day. Follow up on each absence for each student identified for Tier 3 intervention
• Identify which, and how many, students have a history of missing 20% or more of school and/or at-risk due to other major challenges