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: Overall chronic absenteeism in 2017-2018 for all grades is 12.92% (11.18% chronic, 1.74% severe chronic).  The goal for the 2018-2019 school year is to decrease the overall schoolwide chronic absenteeism by at least 1% for the year at Dolphin Bay Elementary School.   
Goal 2:  In 2017-2018 the grade level with the most students with chronic absenteeism was Kindergarten with 30 total students (26 chronic absence and 4 severe chrnoic absence).  In Kindergarten, our goals is to reduce the number of students wtih chronic absenteeism by 5%for the 2018-2019 school year.
Goal 3:  In 2017-2018, 5th grade had the highest level of students with satisfactory attendance with 64.49% 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 2018-2019.  

 

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

• School administration will ensure that all teachers have completed the Brainshark training for taking classroom attendance at the elementary level (K-5).  School administration maintain a record of teachers that have completed the training.
• Monitoring attendance-taking procedures will take place weekly by the IMT and as requested by school administration.
• Twice each quarter, School Counselor and School Administration will monitor BASIS and Data Warehouse to set goals for students in school-wide recognitions
• At the beginning of each month, the administrative team will request the IMT to provide a report for current year attendance categories to monitor improvement and direct the attendance initiatives.

• Provide an engaging curriculum that draws students to school.
• Offer programs before and after school to engage students.
• Provide enrichment activities for students, such as field trips, assemblies, and dances.
• Greet students and families at the door in the morning.
• School staff will be encouraged to reach out to parents by phone or email to remind parents about the importance of attendance in the early grades.
• Front office staff will meet monthly to discuss customer service responsibilities and adapt procedures for ensuring a welcoming environment when visitors enter the front office (students, parents, guests, District staff).
• Messages on the school website will be positive and supportive.
• The Attendance Phone line will be checked and cleared daily by the IMT. 

• School administration will ensure that students have opportunities to participate in District-wide Attendance recognition events (certificates, Miami Heat games, Florida Panthers, Miami Marlins, etc.)
• School-based attendance recognition events will occur throughout the school year. These will include quarterly certificates and school-based attendance recognition and may be combined with honor roll assemblies

• School staff will host a transition meeting for students moving from Pre-K into Kindergarten (Kindergarten Roudup).
• At the Kindergarten Roundup, families will meet the team of teachers, tour the school, and learn about the importance of regular attendance for their child’s academic success through their senior year.
•  Attendance will be included on all student report cards.
• Integrate information about chronic absence into parent programs and communications throughout the school year.
• Place calls home each day that a student is absent.
• Include attendance in parent-teacher conference.

•  This school provides free breakfast for all students, every school 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.
• The Title 1  Liaison will host parent nights throughout the year to inform parents about services, programs, and District policies.
• Develop and Implement a school climate initative aimed at improving approaches to student discipline and creating a more welcoming environment.  

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

• Each week, the school leadership team will review the non-attendance report from Opti-Spool during leadership meetings. During the meeting, the school leadership team will identify students and teachers will be notified which of their students might be at-risk.
• The school leadership team will utilize BASIS each week to identify students that have enough absences to be considered chronically absent.
• Teachers will monitor attendance using Pinnacle and BASIS and consult with support staff for help in redirecting absenteeism behavior.
• School Counselor and School Social Worker will monitor attendance with the school leadership team to help identify students that may have a need for more wrap-around services.

• School Counselor and School Social Worker, as part of the school leadership team, will reach out by phone to speak with parents of chronically absent students to identify if any support is needed for the family.
• If needed, parents and student will work with the School Counselor or School Social Worker to develop a personalized “Student Success Plan for Attendance” to make sure the child doesn’t miss too many days and get back on track with good attendance since there is a correlation between good attendance and academic achievement.
• Conduct home visits and/or conferences to address barriers to attendance.
• Help parents understand and avoid legal consequences of extreme chornic absence.
• Staff will help identify any family needs and connect the family with services (food pantry, clothing assistance, literacy programs, transportation).

• School leadership will work with students and families to set attendance goals and time frames that are attainable to help improve attendance for at-risk or chronically absent students.
• Teachers will engage students in tracking their own attendance daily. 
• Recognize students routinely for good and improved attendance because positive reinforcement and trusting relationships with staff improve attendance. 

• Our school will utilize an "Attendance Buddy" program that pairs either an adult or responsible student with atrisk students to form relationships that encourage better attendance.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences with school leadership will be scheduled to discuss absences and challenges to identify the barriers we may be able to assist with. 
• Refer families to appropriate services (social services, human resources, housing, and health services).
• Work with students and families to develop strategies for improved attendance. 
• Make home visits and connect families with needed resources.

•  Involve public agencies, community partners, and resources as needed to address barriers identified through parent conferences, communications with family, or other sources.
• Involve the school nurse when necessary to follow-up on medically related absences and train staff to recognize signs of illness.
• Connect families with the School Social Worker and School Counselor to provide insight as to the role of the School Social Worker and School Counselor, establish a relationship, and provide clinical support and services.
• Provide families with information on community resources that can help overcome barriers.  

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

• Identify students with a history of severe chronic absenteeism (missing more than 20% of a school year).
• The school leadership team will monitor the non-attendance data from BASIS to identify students that are missing too many school days.
• The school leadership team will follow up on the absences for each student identified for Tier 3 intervention.
• Attendance data is one of the main metrics brought to discussion for Collaborative Problem-Solving Team (CPST) and Response-to-Intervention (RtI) because attendance data may help uncover bigger issues the student or family are experiencing.

•  Refer students to appropriate service agencies (social services, human resources, counseling, housing, the HEART team for homeless education, or health services).
• Share data with appropriate agencies and ensure that agencies are using chronic absence as an indicator for assisting families.
• Utilize best practices from schools within the district that have been able to decrease chronic absences and increase satisfactory attendance.
• Work with families to avoid legal consequences to the extent possible.
• The Broward Truancy Intervention Plan (BTIP) may initiate truancy letters to hold 5-day or 10-day meetings with the parents, principal (or designee), District representative, and State Attorney’s Office for the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

• For the students at Tier 3, appropriate positive reinforcements will be included in their “Attendance Success Plan” to support continued improved attendance. The "Attendance Success Plan" pwill be developed with the parents, School Counselor, School Social Worker, and school administration and the plans and goals will be shared with the child’s teachers.
• Incorporate and utilize tangible incentives to help students and parents improve attendance. 

•  Ensure continued positive and regular contact with the family.
• Check-in on “Attendance Success Plans” and communicate with parents at regular intervals. If the plan is not referenced regularly with positive reinforcement, the plan is not being supported.
• Consult with the School Social Worker and School Counselor as a resource for helping families with attendance problems.
• When the student misses school, ensure the assigned personnel is following up on each absence.

• Implement agreed upon family intervention plan
• Monitor the agreed upon family intervention plan for progress.
• Connect students with chronic physical and mental health issues to medical providers.
• For cases of suspected abuse, neglect or endangerment, contact the appropriate agencies to report.