EVERY DAY COUNTS
Attendance Improvement
and Truancy Reduction (AITR)
1
DISCLAIMER
We have way to many slides to get through in 50 minutes but it has been a while since we have been together it was impossible to decide what to leave out so I squeezed it all in but we will fly by some of the slides as they are really guides to help build the big picture and bring all of the new faces in the room up to speed on truancy reduction in the Dallas ISD
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THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

Across America, about 7 million students miss
one month each of school every year. That’s 135
million days of lost time in the classroom!
Source: R. Balfanz, The Importance of Being in School, 2012


In the Dallas ISD, 11,776 students missed that
much school in 2012-2013.
406,475 days of school were missed by these Dallas
ISD students last year.
3
IMPLICATIONS OF POOR ATTENDANCE

Chronic absenteeism can have a pronounced
negative impact on students of poverty.
Source: Ready, 2010



Students who miss just ten or more days of school a
year are 20% less likely to graduate from high
school.
Source: Mac Iver & Mac Iver, 2010
Such students are 25% less likely to enroll in
college.
Source: Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012
Chronic absenteeism is often higher in urban than
rural schools.
Source: Sheldon & Epstein, 2004
4
RESIDUAL IMPACT FROM POOR
ATTENDANCE IN THE BEGINNING GRADES
Students chronically absent in Pre-K and K are:
50% more likely to be chronically absent in 1st grade
 45% more likely to be chronically absent in 2nd grade
 26% more likely to be retained.

Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium Fund 2010
Chronic absenteeism in kindergarten can be
negatively correlated with academic success in 1st
grade.
Source: Chang & Romero, 2008
Students chronically absent in kindergarten
and in 1st Grade are much less likely to read
proficiently in 3rd grade.
Source: Applied Survey Research and Attendance Works April 2010
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THIRD GRADE MATH SCORES, BY K/1ST COMBINED
ATTENDANCE AND READINESS LEVELS
480
460
440
420
400
380
360
340
Good
Moderate
Poor
Chronic
Attendance
Low Skills
High Skils
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Source: Attendance in the Early Grades Applied Survey Research 2011
CLEAR AND CONSISTENT RELATIONSHIP
Kindergarten attendance is a predictor of
future attendance through 5th grade.
Fifth grade attendance is similarly a
predictor of attendance through 10th
grade.
This is another study indicating there is
a clear and consistent relationship
between attendance and later
achievement scores.
Source; Oregon Department of Education 2009-2010 Analysis by ECONorthwest
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRONIC
ABSENTEEISM AND DROPPING OUT
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0
1
2
3
4
Every year of chronic absences results in a higher
likelihood a student will drop out of school.
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Source: www.utahdataalliance.org/downloads/chronicabsenteeismresearchbrief.pdf
UNPACKING ATTENDANCE TERMS…
Average Daily Attendance
• The % of students who attend school daily
• Snapshot at a specific window of time
Attendance For Credit
• The percentage of time a student must attend
a class to receive credit for passing grades
Truancy
• Unexcused days or parts of days
• Signals the need for legal intervention at
defined thresholds per the mandated
compulsory school attendance laws
Chronic Absence
• Missing more than 10% of school for any reason
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LOSING STUDENTS THROUGH ATTENDANCE GAPS
Days of
Nonenrollment
Attendance
for
Truancy
Credit
ADA
Chronic
Absence
10
Dallas ISD Snapshot of Seat Time Lost
Pre K
Kinder
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Unexcused
Absences
34,288
58,866
52,872
47,440
41,292
37,451
36,882
Excused
Absences
51,415
68,043
56,497
46,305
39,165
35,458
32,447
ISS
3
58
46
52
86
126
189
OSS
263
668
933
1,131
1,698
1,591
2,149
*Data inclusive of ADA periods only provided by MIS
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
Unexcused
Absences
290,286
333,757
346,020
458,359
343,156
319,216
339,124
Excused
Absences
225,434
219,371
233,421
208,168
191,344
188,536
176,209
ISS
50,171
46,325
40,203
53,432
31,414
18,753
12,390
OSS
74,627
73,427
64,722
28,422
18,464
11,301
6,797
*Data inclusive of all periods provided by MIS
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TIME LOST NOT ACCOUNTED FOR…
Pre K
Tardy 21,526
Kinder
37,258
1st
2nd
40,450
35,649
3rd
4th
30,744 27,563
5th
26,256
*Data inclusive of ADA periods only provided by MIS
6th
Tardy 144,615
7th
179,739
8th
9th
10th
162,700
159,881
11th
129,696 117,119
12th
106,733
*Data inclusive of all periods provided by MIS
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WHY DO STUDENTS MISS SCHOOL?
Barriers
Aversion
Discretion
•Lack of or
unreliable
transportation
•Child is
struggling
academically
•Parent and/or
students do not
understand that
attendance
matters
•Lack of access to
health care
•Lack of engaging
instruction
•No safe path to
school
•Child is being
bullied
•School lacks a
culture of strong
attendance
B
A
D
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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2TQB33dAlU
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PARENT AND STUDENT PERCEPTIONS ABOUT
MISSING SCHOOL
A POLL OF 13-19
YEAR OLDS FOUND:
A RESEARCH STUDY OF
PARENTS FOUND:
• Less than 1/2 think
missing school will affect
their ability to graduate
from high school or find a
good job.
• Most have no idea that
there is a connection
between absences in
elementary school and
future drop out rates.
• Only 38% think missing
school will inhibit them
from keeping up with
their school work.
• Most think it is okay to
be lenient in elementary
school, as long as, they
are strict in high school.
• Only 1/3 think missing
school will affect their
preparation for college.
• Most think missing
school now and then is
okay but missing school
repeatedly is a problem.
Source: Ad Council, 2010
Source: Get Schooled, 2012
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ATTENDING SCHOOL…IT’S THE LAW



Unless specifically exempt, a child who is at least 6
years of age, or who is younger than 6 years of age
and has previously been enrolled in 1st grade, and
has not yet reached his or her 18th birthday must
attend school.
Pre-K and Kinder students are subject to the
Compulsory Attendance Laws while they are
enrolled in school.
A student aged 18 or older and enrolled is required
to attend school. Attendance for credit applies, but
truancy can not be enforced.
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RESOLVING AN ATTENDANCE CONCERN


Schools are responsible for the initial efforts to address
poor attendance and truancy.
This includes several statutorily required duties
that start with the basics:





Communicating with parents/guardians
Providing the beginning of the year notice with
State, district and local policies to staff, students and parents
in a language and format they can understand
Accurate recording absences for each day/period
Determining which absences are excused or unexcused
Conferences following a formal warning notice
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ACCURACY OF RECORDS…
DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES

Principal is ultimately responsible for ALL the attendance
records at the campus.

Teacher is responsible for maintaining a true and correct
accounting of all students physically present in his or her
classroom every day for every class period.

Registrar is responsible for obtaining an enrollment form
for every student, every year. The information must be entered
in Chancery and updated when new information is received.
Proof of residency information must be obtained annually.

Attendance Office is responsible for entering excuse
notes daily, teacher correction forms daily, fieldtrip and other
school rosters daily (example; ISS roster).
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CONSEQUENCES FROM INACCURATE RECORDS
Rolling over
data
• Wrong guardians
• Wrong contact
information
Taking
attendance too
early
• Too many absences
• Need for teacher
corrections
• Office overrides
Accepting late
notes
• Policy violation
• Reinforces
behavior
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ATTENDANCE IMPROVEMENT TAKES PLACE
FIRST AT THE CAMPUS
Make attendance a
priority, set targets
for each student,
classroom and grade
and monitor progress
 Partner with
community agencies
to help families carry
out their
responsibilities to get
children to school

Engage parents and
students in identifying
and addressing school,
family, and
community issues that
contribute to missing
school
 Offer positive
supports before
punitive actions

Begin early, ideally in Pre-K
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TACKLING POOR ATTENDANCE AT THE CAMPUS
Prevention
Efforts
aimed
at all
students
Intervention
Recovery
Efforts
Targeted
aimed at
individualized
select
efforts at
groups
select
of students
individual
students
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CAMPUS TRUANCY PREVENTION
Create a culture of attendance
that is valued by all staff,
parents and students.
PTA
Parent
Conferences
Teacher/Parent Direct
Communication
Effective processes for notes/tardies/early
release, UIL and field trips
Share district, campus and classroom rules at the
beginning of the year and reinforce regularly
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EDUCATING PARENTS ON ATTENDANCE
POLICY
Every school has a legal obligation to notify parents
of attendance policies at the beginning of the year.
• The student handbook meets this legal mandate
for District level policies.
• If you have local policies or procedures parents
and students must follow, these should be in
writing and distributed in a language parents can
understand.
• Upon enrollment, a school must provide late
enrollees with their official warning of the
compulsory school attendance laws and campus
requirements.
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IN SCHOOL ON TIME, ALL DAY,
EVERYDAY…

Our superintendent charges all parents to have
their student at school, on time, every day, ready
to learn.
The law requires the same thing.

Even elementary students missing more than 20
minutes of the school day by arriving late or
leaving early without good cause may receive
unexcused partial days absences enforceable as
partial day truancy absences.
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DALLAS ISD’S TRUANCY TRACKING SYSTEM
The Student Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS*)

Serves as a permanent record of a student’s truancy history
and court activity.

Allows for an easy communication system between campus,
the truancy office and the court.

Monitors for mandated actions and generates all
documents, legal notices, transmits documents for central
printing and mailing, e-files cases and duplicates the court
summons.

Summary data for reports and State PEIMS reporting
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*SAMS was developed in-house by the Management Information Systems (MIS) & the Attendance Improvement and Truancy
Reduction (AITR) departments of the Dallas Independent School District.
TRUANCY APPLIES TO DAYS OF
NON-ENROLLMENT
Enforcement of days of non-enrollment also occur
automatically through the SAMS system

Leaver Code Tracking
Between home school and DAEP --Withdrawn
A99
 Between Dallas ISD schools—Withdrawn D99
 Withdrawn with no evidence of compliance with
the compulsory school attendance laws—
Withdrawn T99


To report non-enrolled students living in your area for manual
tracking/verification contact your District Attendance Liaison.
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WHEN IS AN ABSENCE EXCUSED?
Excused
permission
 Parental
and
for the absence is
 Reason
acceptable
and

Written excuse note
submitted on time and
signed by the
parent/guardian
Unexcused
No parental permission

or
Reason for the absence is
unacceptable
or
Late or no written note
submitted
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EXCUSABLE VS. EXCUSED
Excuse Notes
Due within THREE days of student’s return.
Policy vs. Administrator Discretion
Some things are set in stone.
Health Absences
More than FIVE consecutive absences may
require a doctor’s statement.
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ATTENDANCE PITFALLS
POLICY
Creating it….
Changing it…
Ignoring it…
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CAMPUS SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS

We can not stress enough the importance that all
campus specific rules need to:

be in compliance with district policy,

reduced to writing,

understood by all, staff, parents and students,

provided to parents and guardians in a
language they can understand,

consistently enforced by all teachers, and

consistently applied to all students.
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Scenario 1
31
DISTRICT EXPECTATIONS



Truancy enforcement is not optional. The legal
requirements prevent truancy from arbitrary or
capricious enforcement.
Regulation states truancy cases shall be pursued
by the district to ensure compliance and to
provide assistance to correct the circumstances
preventing regular school attendance.
Common sense reminds us campus
procedures should be reasonable and fair to
all students.
32
TRUANCY WORKFLOWS
Escalating
workflows
based on
severity of
truancy
history drives
the type and
duration of
the pre-court
intervention
phase
Chronic/Habitual
Truant
High Risk of Truant
Behavior
Moderate Risk of
Truant Behavior
Low Risk of Truant
Behavior
33
WHAT IS TRUANCY IN TEXAS ?
Mandatory Cases
10 unexcused days or parts of days in a six-month
period and a case shall be filed
Discretionary Case
3 days or parts of days in a four-week period and
a case may be filed
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PARENT OR STUDENT CULPABILITY?
• Parent Contributing to Non-attendance cases
are filed on parents or guardians of students aged 11
or younger.
• Failure to Attend School cases are filed on
students aged 12-17; unless there is documented
evidence that the parent contributed to the student’s
non-attendance, or the student cannot be held
accountable for their own actions.
State law prohibits filing on students under
the age of 12.
35
DISTRICT TRUANCY INTERVENTION PROGRAMS
School Messenger
Absence Calls
SAMS
Parent Portal
Warning Notice
Conferences
Intervention Programs
and Attendance Contracts
Violation of
Agreement Notices
Court Enforcement
36
FILING GOOD CASES
• Verify truancy
workflows are
correct
• Follow policy on
accepting notes
• Minimize
teacher
corrections
• Monitor for
teachers making
excessive
changes
Accuracy of
Records
Special
Circumstances
• Input notes/ISS/
rosters daily
• Provide
appropriate
interventions
• Use SAMS Alerts
• Excuse absences
pending
homebound
teacher’s
attendance
• Enter SAMS
notes
• Review SAMS
truancy actions
daily
• Investigate and,
retract or
approve cases as
needed
Accurate
Filings
37
Scenario 2
38
REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE INTERVENTION
Identifying students needing attendance intervention
may be done at various absence thresholds, but also
from knowledge held by school personnel.
For example: excuse notes may provide insight on
appropriate interventions for specific students
Pregnancy refer to PEP
Disabilities review IEP or consider 504
School intervention models need to ensure that critical
information is passed on from the attendance office,
teachers and other staff to the appropriate sources to
provide assistance.
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DEFAULT INTERVENTIONS
Elementary--Parent
Secondary—Parent
and/or student
Grade
Grade
6th Fall
Parent transition
conference/AITR office
1st
1:1 parent conference
with an district
attendance officer/AITR
office
6th Spring
2nd
Campus Contract
7th
3rd
Campus Contract
8th
Six-hour Parent and
student Dallas
Challenge/Truancy Law
Class
4th
Campus Contract
9th
5th Fall
Campus Contract
10th
5th Spring
Parent transition
conference/AITR office
11th
Pre-K
K
12th
Volunteer Center of
North Texas
24 hours of community
service and 2 hour
parent/student
orientation
Student in a Special Circumstances Workflow= Campus Contract
Chronic Offenders see AITR staff at the time of the first notice
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WHEN TO FILE A DISCRETIONARY CASE
Unexcused days
or parts of days
Absences
Each student is automatically
placed into a strategic
workflow that defines the
steps that occur prior to a
court case being filed
3
unexcused
truancy
days in a
4-week
period
• The higher the risk the
quicker a case is filed
• The lower the risk the
more opportunities for
intervention
41
“MY WORST ATTENDEES NEVER GO TO
COURT”
Make
Know Where
They Live
• Ensure correct
parent contact
information
• Verify proof of
residency for
all students
• Record
guardian date
of birth
• Identify chronic
offenders and
prepare
attendance
contracts at the
beginning of the
year
• Distribute court
summons at
school
Use SAMS
Contact
• Monitor court
results and
contact parents
when court dates
are missed
• Always review
SAMS when in a
parent
conference to see
if there is an
outstanding case
• Contact your
DAL
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MOVING FORWARD WITH COURT CASES
Accurate and stable records
Warnings issued
Interventions attempted
Correct case type filed
(parent vs. child)
• Defendant appears
• Criminal negligence
demonstrated for parents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Absences change
Incorrect defendant named
Improper filing
Warnings not admonished
No intervention documented
Bad address/want of prosecution
Filing deadline missed
43
BURDEN OF PROOF VS. OBLIGATION TO FILE A
COMPLAINT
Student cases have a relatively low burden of
proof for a conviction to be obtained. Typically,
the unexcused days or parts of days meet that
burden.
 However, parent cases must demonstrate a much
higher burden of proof for a conviction.
 The law requires that the parent not only
contributed to the non-attendance, but did so
with criminal negligence.
 There is no option not to file once the
mandatory threshold of unexcused absences has
been met.

44
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT IN FILING A CASE
SAMS
• Once a case has been generated in SAMS, each campus
administrator receives an e-mail advising them truancy
approvals are outstanding.
• The administrator usually has two days to investigate,
approve or retract a case. The clock does not reset when a
case is retracted and three days before the filing deadline
Campus
any unapproved cases move to the next approval level.
Administrator
Executive
Director
• Three days before the filing deadline, all outstanding
Principal approvals are moved to the Executive Director
(ED)
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MEETING THE FILING DEADLINE
Texas State law mandates that truancy cases shall
be filed within ten school days of the student’s tenth
qualifying absence
 Dallas County Truancy Judges are mandated to
dismiss any untimely filed cases.
 Due to this rigid legal requirement time is very
limited at each stage of the approval process.

2 days
ED approval
1 day
to input the note
10th
UA
2 days
campus approval
3 days to submit a note
1
2
3
4
5
6
Filing
Deadline
1 day for affiant
and notary
7
8
9
10
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ATTENDING COURT
District Attendance Liaison
AITR Office represent the school district at
all hearings
Failure to Attend School Case
Student
12 to 16 years
Parent and
Student Appear
Student 17
years or older
Student
Appears
Parent
Contributing to
Non-attendance
Case
Parent Only
Appears
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A CLOSING REMINDER
WHAT THE RESEARCH IS TELLING US
GOOD
ATTENDANCE:
 Higher student
acachievement
 Better Behavior
 Grade Promotion
 Graduating on Time
National Network of Partnership schools, September 2010
CHRONIC ABSENCE:
 Future absences
 Lower Grades
 Lower Test Scores
 Grade Retention
 Behavior Problems
 High-risk behaviors in
mimiddle and high school
 School Drop Out
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Truancy Prevention,
Intervention, Recovery and
Enforcement is not the
solution to all your attendance
problems, but actively
following the truancy
guidelines and protocols will
help you improve attendance.
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