Report Essay

Introduction Like other school day age around the nation, Beech woodlet medium enlighten is experiencing a serious problem with attention. This has been cited as a problem and something that needs to be addressed so that Beech woodlet Intermediate aft(prenominal) part achieve the attending rate they need to flex a Four-Star status school. Currently, the attendance at Beech orchard Intermediate is averaging around 95 percentage. The rate needs to increase to 97 percent for the school to achieve Four-Star status. Beech Grove Intermediate does have an attendance form _or_ system of government however, other strategies could be implemented to increase the attendance. Attendance is an historic part of childrens and p atomic number 18nts everyday responsibilities, and light attendance habits cause lifelong consequences. Many schools around the nation report low attendance and uplifted tardiness rates. This problem needs to be addressed in order to stand by our children do w ell in school and arrest responsible adults.Children who argon habitually late or chronically withdraw miss let on on much that is learned in school. Even be 5 to 10 minutes late each day creates a positioning where children can lose a considerable amount of time that is being spent on their schooling. Also, it is receiptn that children with poor attendance rates in elementary and high school continue to show problems of tardiness and even advancement later in life once they go to college or stick to a cargoner. Changes in the attendance program at Beech Grove be needed, and the hobby report is intended to propose tactics for increase the attendance rate at Beech Grove Intermediate School. methodologyFor this report we surveyed teachers from six topical anaesthetic elementary and secondary schools to get an thought of what other schools were doing to increase their attendance. We received 50 completed questionnaires. We overly searched scholarly databases such as ERIC to find relevant articles on the problem of change magnitude attendance. These articles outline several solutions to change magnitude attendance in schools.Review of the literary productionsThis review of recently published publications on attendance addresses causes, efficacious policies, enatic disturb, society stake, teacher/ pupil relationships, and rewards and incentives to increase savant attendance.Causes of Absenteeism altogether the literature arrests that absenteeism is an all too normal problem for schools around the country. This can be traced to a range of causes from unsupportive school environment to poor health of the bookman. According to John Doughtery (1999), radix dynamics play a primordial role in absenteeism. The parents are the key to how often a child attends class (Doughtery, 1999, p. 10). Janet crossroad and Richard Sutphen (1996) agree with this and list parent act on absenteeism as number two on their list for reasons for absence. They go o n to state that lack of caring by the parents, or parents who are not home to see the child off to school are major reasons for students not to go to class, especially with younger students (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 96). Other than home life, illness of the child is similarly given as a common reason for absenteeism in the literature. Also, appointments and vacations are listed as top reasons in the literature as well. Doughtery attests to this in saying, It is now common exercising for students to miss school for general appointments to avoid tests and assignments (1999, p. 10).Two authors noted that homeless students or students who constitute in a family that move very oftentimes are much likely to be chronically absent from school (Epstien, Sheldon, 2002, p. 311). Some of the authors also agree that if a student is not succeeding in school then they are less likely to want to come to school. This also goes along with schools that do not give praise to students or interact with the students so that no one feels left out, and help to see that everyone succeeds (Doughtery, 1999, p. 10). In short, all of the authors agree that parental involvement and student-teacher interaction is very chief(prenominal) in keeping absenteeism down.Effective Policies and Parental ContactAs schools look to new programs and ideas for increasing student attendance, one of the two closely frequently mentioned tactics in the literature are having an efficacious attendance policy and increasing communication with parents and guardians. According to Dan Vandivier (2003), a high school principal, attendance policies must be stringent and must also be persistently bandaged to. He states that policies must be fair and also have flexibility to accommodate mitigating circumstances (Vandivier, 2003, p. 81). Vandiviers new attendance policy no longer distinguished among excused and unexcused and allowed administration perceptiveness in dealing with excessive absences for legit imate reasons (Vandivier, 2003, p. 81).Dougherty (1999) agrees that schools must produce a clear fair attendance policy that is up to date and like and communicate it.Many studies have also shown a correlation between increased parental contact and increased attendance (Smerka, 1993 Epstein & Sheldon, 2002). Smerka (1993) noted that after mailing notices to all parents informing them of the success of the attendance program and ask for their support, the perfect attendance rate increased to 13.9 percent (p. 96.) He claimed that the key to comfortably attendance is promoting it everywhere to everyone (Smerka, 1993, p. 96). Another study also plunge that the degree to which schools overcame the challenge of communicating effectively with families was related to gains in student attendance and declines in chronic absenteeism (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002, p.315). The study noted that providing families with someone to babble to at the school about attendance or other issues was effecti ve in increasing attendance (Epstein & Sheldon, 2002, p.315).In addition to simply having contact with parents, many authors agree that it is the responsibility of the parents to monitor their students absenteeism (Dougherty, 1999 Ford & Sutphen,1996 Kube & Radgan,1992). Dougherty (1999) says that parents must be responsible for their childs daily attendance and promptly inform the school attendance office when the student is absent (p. 11). One study shows that increasing communication with parents and involving them in the students education are strategies for increasing attendance. This study also cited the use of a letter to parents informing them of the policy and encouraging them to discuss the importanceof good attendance with their children (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 96). Another study also said that parents must be responsible for the students daily attendance and they must tense up the importance of daily attendance to their children (Kube & Radgan, 1992). Creating effecti ve attendance policies that are reviewed and re-create regularly and establishing parental contact are very important stepping stones for increasing attendance in schools.Community InvolvementWhile it is not pivotal to the success of an attendance program, many of our authors agree that solid community involvement can positively impact attendance rates. Many schools work with businesses in the community to offer incentives for students with good or perfect attendance ( gentility School Attendance, 2002). John Daugherty (1999), an education professor at Linden-wood College, refers to programs which offer a series of incentives for attendance, ranging from fast-food coupons to entertainment centers which were offered at a discount from local businesses (p. 16). A different form of contribution is noted in give chase Maggis (1991) case study of a school in Missouri. A local company contributed $500 to fund their mentoring/ watch overion program. Seeing how successful the protrusio n was, the company doubled the amount it contributes to the program. Another article suggests that schools work with law of nature enforcement and local businesses.The author states, With their support, children who should be in school forget be in school (Raising School Attendance, 2002). Joyce Epstein and Steven Sheldon from The Johns Hopkins University agree, saying, Developing productive school-family-community connections has start one of the close to comm tho embraced policy initiatives in schools and school districts (2002, p. 308). at that place are times when the community involvement takes a much more negative but still necessary angle. Often, students will be habitually absent and schools are now working to address that issue. Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen, favorable work professors at the University of Kentucky, mention that in some states or districts parents of students will face fines or even jail time if they fail to adhere to attendance laws (1996, p. 95).Doug hertysuggests other tactics, such as implementing police sweeps, involving local agencies and the media and notifying jejune authorities (1999). Of course, these tactics are usually implemented in precisely severe cases of absenteeism. Community involvement and support can be a wonderful addition to attendance policies if tailored to meet the schools needs and the students desires.Teacher/Student RelationshipsWhile family and community involvement both play important roles in maintaining good student attendance, our sources all agree that student-teacher relationships are also very important. Several authors advertize one on one meetings, or mentoring students who have attendance problems. In fact, at least one study (Maggi, 1991) is devoted entirely to this practice and with great results, while others (Raising school attendance, 2001 and Vandiver, 2003) simply add it into their attendance programs. Authors agree that to curb poor attendance teachers should lecture students ever y day about the importance of attending school daily. Kube and Ratigan (1992) insist, Teachers must let students know that they are missed when they have been absent. They must ensure that important study experiences occur each day in their classes (p.3), while Dougherty (2003) concurs and adds, And they must cherish and reward good attendance (p.76).According to the literature, the teachers are also responsible for advent up with new and creative ways to entice children into plan of attack to school every day. These enticements run the gamut from Vandivers (2003) idea of being set free from having to take the final exams if the student has perfect attendance to Ford and Sutphins (1996) strategy of giving tokens to students with good attendance so that they could cash them in on prizes at the end of the week (p.98). In the end, authors agree that in order to keep attendance under control, educators need not only to regularly come up with new and innovative ideas to keep student s coming to school but to consistently tell the students how important it is for them to be wassail every day.Rewards and IncentivesResearch has shown that attendance increases when schools incorporate incentive programs into their attendance policies. Bob Maggi (1998), principal at Jarrett in high spirits School, began a program which encouraged teachers to adopt a student. Maggi (1998) claimed that A $500 grant from Southwestern Bell root was distributed to the adopting teachers to be used to their discretion for birthday or holiday gifts, for taking student out for dinner or a show, or to bribe a sweatshirt or dance ticket (p.12). It only took one form for Jarrett lavishly School to receive the results they were searching for. Terrance Smerke (1993, p.95), principal of Aurora eye School, along with other schools found it effective to reward the children with positive garner of their accomplishments (Best Practices for School Attendance, 1998). According to Janet Ford, Ph D, and Richard Sutphen, PhD, both assistant professors, other types of incentives are broadside students names in the hallway or reading them over the public address system (1996).One observation mentioned in the article Raising School Attendance (2002), was that Monday and Friday are typically the days with the highest absenteeism. Planning special events for these days could improve attendance. Vandivier (2003), principal of Twin Rivers High School, and John Dougherty (1999), professor of education at Linden-wood College, agree that rewards such as movie tickets, food coupons, and gift certificates will increase attendance. The article How do you improve student attendance, claims that one way to boost attendance is to get all the students names with perfect attendance into a drawing (2001, p.26). Ann Kube, math teacher at North Scott High School, and Gary Radigan, principle at Ankeny High School, agree that incentives encourage students to attend school regularly (1992). As m ost of the authors stated, incentives have been proven to increase attendance.Punishments/ConsequencesAll of our authors agree that absenteeism has negative consequences for students, schools and society. In the article Early Intervention to Improve Attendance In elemental School for At risk Children, Janet Ford and Richard V. Sutphen discuss the effects on students. They say thatnon-attendees generally fall behind their peers in academic skill and the development of social competence (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 95). Consequences for parents include fines and jail time consequences for schools are loss of funds, and for society higher rates of unemployment, poverty and lack of supply to enter the work force (Ford & Sutphen, 1996, p. 95). Dougherty agrees that habits of absenteeism and tardiness affect work performance when youngsters become adults (1999, p. 7). In Dan Vandiviers article entitled Improving Attendance, A conventionalism that Worked he discusses an attendance policy at Twin Rivers High School in Brosely, Montana. Policies stated that students that miss more than six days in a semester are not considered to have earned credit, and no note is made between excused and unexcused absences (2003, p. 81). As for students and specific punishments our authors disagreed with suspension. Dougherty states, that suspending a student is giving them what he wants, a vacation (1999, p. 9). As most of the authors conclude, there is some form of punishment given to a student that misses excessive days.ConclusionIn conclusion, the above research findings all agree that attendance is a very important issue for students. The literature indicated that the following topics are important factors in increasing attendance effective policies, parental contact, community involvement, teacher/student relationships, rewards and incentives, and punishments/consequences.