Introduction Like other schools around the state. Beech Grove Intermediate School is sing a serious job with attending. This has been cited as a job and something that needs to be addressed so that Beech Grove Intermediate can accomplish the attending rate they need to go a Four-Star position school. Currently. the attending at Beech Grove Intermediate is averaging about 95 per centum. The rate demands to increase to 97 per centum for the school to accomplish Four-Star position. Beech Grove Intermediate does hold an attending policy ; nevertheless. other schemes could be implemented to increase the attending.
Attendance is an of import portion of children’s and parents’ mundane duties. and hapless attending wonts cause womb-to-tomb effects. Many schools around the state study low attending and high tardiness rates. This job needs to be addressed in order to assist our kids do good in school and go responsible grownups. Childs who are habitually late or inveterate absent miss out on much that is learned in school. Even being 5 to 10 proceedingss late each twenty-four hours creates a state of affairs where kids can lose a considerable sum of clip that is being spent on their schooling.
Besides. it is known that kids with hapless attending rates in simple and high school continue to demo jobs of tardiness and even proficiency later in life once they go to college or prosecute a calling. Changes in the attending plan at Beech Grove are needed. and the undermentioned study is intended to suggest tactics for increasing the attending rate at Beech Grove Intermediate School. Methodology For this study we surveyed instructors from six local elementary and secondary schools to acquire an thought of what other schools were making to increase their attending.
We received 50 completed questionnaires. We besides searched scholarly databases such as ERIC to happen relevant articles on the job of increasing attending. These articles outline several solutions to increasing attending in schools. Review of the Literature This reappraisal of late published literature on attending references causes. effectual policies. parental contact. community engagement. teacher/student relationships. and wagess and inducements to increase pupil attending. Causes of Absenteeism.
All the literature agrees that absenteeism is an wholly excessively common job for schools around the state. This can be traced to a scope of causes from unsupportive school environment to hapless wellness of the pupil. Harmonizing to John Doughtery ( 1999 ) . place kineticss play a cardinal function in absenteeism. The parents are the key to how frequently a child attends category ( Doughtery. 1999. p. 10 ) . Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen ( 1996 ) agree with this and list parent influence on absenteeism as figure two on their list for grounds for absence.
They go on to province that deficiency of lovingness by the parents. or parents who are non home to see the kid off to school are major grounds for pupils non to travel to category. particularly with younger pupils ( Ford & A ; Sutphen. 1996. p. 96 ) . Other than place life. unwellness of the kid is besides given as a common ground for absenteeism in the literature. Besides. assignments and holidaies are listed as top grounds in the literature every bit good. Doughtery attests to this in stating. “It is now common pattern for pupils to lose school for general assignments to avoid trials and assignments” ( 1999. p. 10 ) .
Two writers noted that stateless pupils or pupils who live in a household that move really often are more likely to be inveterate absent from school ( Epstien. Sheldon. 2002. p. 311 ) . Some of the writers besides agree that if a pupil is non wining in school so they are less likely to desire to come to school. This besides goes along with schools that do non give congratulations to pupils or interact with the pupils so that no 1 feels left out. and assist to see that everyone succeeds ( Doughtery. 1999. p. 10 ) .
In short. all of the writers agree that parental engagement and student-teacher interaction is really of import in maintaining absenteeism down. Effective Policies and Parental Contact As schools seek new plans and thoughts for increasing pupil attending. one of the two most often mentioned tactics in the literature are holding an effectual attending policy and increasing communicating with parents and defenders. Harmonizing to Dan Vandivier ( 2003 ) . a high school principal. attending policies must be rigorous and must besides be persistently adhered to.
He states that policies must be just and besides have “flexibility to suit extenuating circumstances” ( Vandivier. 2003. p. 81 ) . Vandivier’s new attending policy no longer distinguished between excused and unexcused and allowed disposal discretion in covering with inordinate absences for legitimate grounds ( Vandivier. 2003. p. 81 ) . Dougherty ( 1999 ) agrees that schools must bring forth a clear just attending policy that is up to day of the month and standardised and pass on it. Many surveies have besides shown a correlativity between increased parental contact and increased attending ( Smerka. 1993 ; Epstein & A ; Sheldon. 2002 ) .
Smerka ( 1993 ) noted that after get offing notices to all parents informing them of the success of the attending plan and inquiring for their support. the perfect attending rate increased to 13. 9 per centum ( p. 96. ) He claimed that the key to good attending is advancing it everyplace to everyone ( Smerka. 1993. p. 96 ) . Another survey besides found that “the grade to which schools overcame the challenge of pass oning efficaciously with households was related to additions in pupil attending and diminutions in chronic absenteeism” ( Epstein & A ; Sheldon. 2002. p. 315 ) .
The survey noted that supplying households with person to speak to at the school about attending or other issues was effectual in increasing attending ( Epstein & A ; Sheldon. 2002. p. 315 ) . In add-on to merely holding contact with parents. many writers agree that it is the duty of the parents to supervise their student’s absenteeism ( Dougherty. 1999 ; Ford & A ; Sutphen. 1996 ; Kube & A ; Radgan. 1992 ) . Dougherty ( 1999 ) says that parents “must be responsible for their child’s day-to-day attending and quickly inform the school attending office when the pupil is absent” ( p. 11 ) .
One survey shows that increasing communicating with parents and affecting them in the student’s instruction are schemes for increasing attending. This survey besides cited the usage of a missive to parents informing them of the policy and promoting them to discourse the importance of good attending with their kids ( Ford & A ; Sutphen. 1996. p. 96 ) . Another survey besides said that parents “must be responsible for the student’s day-to-day attendance” and they must “stress the importance of day-to-day attending to their children” ( Kube & A ; Radgan. 1992 ) .
Making effectual attending policies that are reviewed and renewed on a regular basis and set uping parental contact are really of import stepping rocks for increasing attending in schools. Community Involvement While it is non important to the success of an attending plan. many of our writers agree that solid community engagement can positively impact attending rates. Many schools work with concerns in the community to offer inducements for pupils with good or perfect attending ( “Raising School Attendance. ” 2002 ) .
John Daugherty ( 1999 ) . an instruction professor at Linden-wood College. refers to plans which offer a series of inducements for attending. runing from fast-food vouchers to amusement centres which were offered at a price reduction from local concerns ( p. 16 ) . A different signifier of part is noted in Bob Maggi’s ( 1991 ) instance survey of a school in Missouri. A local company contributed $ 500 to fund their mentoring/ acceptance plan. Sing how successful the undertaking was. the company doubled the sum it contributes to the plan. Another article suggests that schools work with jurisprudence enforcement and local concerns.
The writer provinces. “With their support. kids who should be in school will be in school” ( “Raising School Attendance. ” 2002 ) . Joyce Epstein and Steven Sheldon from The Johns Hopkins University agree. stating. “Developing productive school-family-community connexions has become one of the most normally embraced policy enterprises in schools and school districts” ( 2002. p. 308 ) . There are times when the community engagement takes a much more negative but still necessary angle. Often. pupils will be habitually absent and schools are now working to turn to that issue.
Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen. societal work professors at the University of Kentucky. reference that in some provinces or territories parents of pupils will confront mulcts or even jail clip if they fail to adhere to attendance Torahs ( 1996. p. 95 ) . Dougherty suggests other tactics. such as “implementing police expanses. affecting local bureaus and the media and advising juvenile authorities” ( 1999 ) . Of class. these tactics are normally implemented in merely terrible instances of absenteeism. Community engagement and support can be a fantastic add-on to attendance policies if tailored to run into the school’s demands and the student’s desires.
Teacher/Student Relationships While household and community engagement both play of import functions in keeping good pupil attending. our beginnings all agree that student-teacher relationships are besides really of import. Several writers encourage one on one meetings. or mentoring pupils who have attending jobs. In fact. at least one survey ( Maggi. 1991 ) is devoted wholly to this pattern and with great consequences. while others ( “Raising school attending. ” 2001 and Vandiver. 2003 ) merely add it into their attending plans.
Writers agree that to control hapless attending instructors should talk pupils every twenty-four hours about the importance of go toing school daily. Kube and Ratigan ( 1992 ) insist. “Teachers must allow pupils cognize that they are missed when they have been absent. They must guarantee that of import acquisition experiences occur each twenty-four hours in their classes” ( p. 3 ) . while Dougherty ( 2003 ) concurs and adds. “And they must value and honor good attendance” ( p. 76 ) . Harmonizing to the literature. the instructors are besides responsible for coming up with new and originative ways to lure kids into coming to school every twenty-four hours.
These temptations run the gamut from Vandiver’s ( 2003 ) thought of being exempt from holding to take the concluding test if the pupil has perfect attending to Ford and Sutphin’s ( 1996 ) scheme of giving items to pupils with good attending so that they could hard currency them in on awards at the terminal of the hebdomad ( p. 98 ) . In the terminal. writers agree that in order to maintain attending under control. pedagogues need non merely to on a regular basis come up with new and advanced thoughts to maintain pupils coming to school but to systematically state the pupils how of import it is for them to be present every twenty-four hours.
Wagess and Incentives Research has shown that attending additions when schools incorporate incentive plans into their attending policies. Bob Maggi ( 1998 ) . principal at Jarrett High School. began a plan which encouraged instructors to follow a pupil. Maggi ( 1998 ) claimed that “A $ 500 grant from Southwestern Bell Foundation was distributed to the following instructors to be used to their discretion: for birthday or vacation gifts. for taking pupil out for dinner or a show. or to purchase a sweatshirt or dance ticket” ( p. 12 ) .
It merely took one twelvemonth for Jarrett High School to have the consequences they were seeking for. Terrance Smerke ( 1993. p. 95 ) . principal of Aurora Middle School. along with other schools found it effectual to honor the kids with positive letters of their achievements ( Best Practices for School Attendance. 1998 ) . Harmonizing to Janet Ford. PhD. and Richard Sutphen. PhD. both adjunct professors. other types of inducements are posting student’s names in the hallway or reading them over the public reference system ( 1996 ) .
One observation mentioned in the article “Raising School Attendance” ( 2002 ) . was that Monday and Friday “are typically the yearss with the highest absenteeism. Planing particular events for these yearss could better attending. ” Vandivier ( 2003 ) . principal of Twin Rivers High School. and John Dougherty ( 1999 ) . professor of instruction at Linden-wood College. agree that wagess such as film tickets. nutrient vouchers. and gift certifications will increase attending.
The article How do you better pupil attending. claims that one manner to hike attending is to set all the students’ names with perfect attending into a drawing ( 2001. p. 26 ) . Ann Kube. math instructor at North Scott High School. and Gary Radigan. rule at Ankeny High School. hold that inducements encourage pupils to go to school on a regular basis ( 1992 ) . As most of the writers stated. inducements have been proven to increase attending. Punishments/Consequences All of our writers agree that absenteeism has negative effects for pupils. schools and society.
In the article “Early Intervention to Better Attendance In Elementary School for At hazard Children. ” Janet Ford and Richard V. Sutphen discuss the effects on pupils. They say that non-attendees by and large fall behind their equals in academic accomplishment and the development of societal competency ( Ford & A ; Sutphen. 1996. p. 95 ) . Consequences for parents include mulcts and gaol clip ; effects for schools are loss of financess. and for society higher rates of unemployment. poorness and deficiency of readying to come in the work force ( Ford & A ; Sutphen. 1996. p. 95 ) .
Dougherty agrees that wonts of absenteeism and tardiness affect work public presentation when childs become grownups ( 1999. p. 7 ) . In Dan Vandivier’s article entitled “Improving Attendance. A Formula that Worked” he discusses an attending policy at Twin Rivers High School in Brosely. Montana. Policies stated that pupils that miss more than six yearss in a semester are non considered to hold earned recognition. and no differentiation is made between excused and unexcused absences ( 2003. p. 81 ) . As for pupils and specific penalties our writers disagreed with suspension.
Dougherty provinces. “that suspending a pupil is giving them what he wants. a vacation” ( 1999. p. 9 ) . As most of the writers conclude. there is some signifier of penalty given to a pupil that misses inordinate yearss. Decision In decision. the above research findings all agree that attending is a really of import issue for pupils. The literature indicated that the undermentioned subjects are of import factors in increasing attending: effectual policies. parental contact. community engagement. teacher/student relationships. wagess and inducements. and punishments/consequences.
