Actively engaging students boosts attendance

Valerie L. Marsh, an assistant professor at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education, and Rochester East Upper School and East Lower School Superintendent for Educational Partnership Organizations Shaun Nelms write for District Administration on the lessons learned from a recent partnership focused on stemming chronic absenteeism in urban schools.Through the partnership, Warner School compared high schools with similar demographics but high attendance rates, finding that the schools with better attendance had engaging environments, including “fist bumps” and “hellos”; maintained personal contact with families, including providing interpreters for non-English speaking families; and analyzed data that traces students as they enter the school, utilized attendance apps, and conducted hall sweeps to make sure all students are where they are supposed to be in the building.Once these lessons were applied, East Upper’s attendance went from 77% to 82%, while East Lower’s average attendance rate rose to 90%.