Embedded Files
IDENTIFY THE BARRIERS:
According to the School Attendance Improvement Handbook from the California Department of Education, the following are known barriers to student attendance:
- Associating with the wrong kinds of friends
- Feeling resentment toward authority
- Putting time into a job to earn money for themselves or for their families
- Using drugs or alcohol
- Having problems relating to people
- Being the victim of bullying
- Feeling little support or experiencing conflict at home
- Believing the school doesn't offer interesting, challenging, or rewarding classes or activities
- Falling behind others in math or reading skills and skipping classes when not doing well, thereby perpetuating a lack of skills and a tendency to avoid school
- Experiencing personal barriers, such as language problems, racial or cultural conflicts, embarrassment because of a lack of suitable or clean clothing, or teen pregnancy
- Being held back a grade or more
- Being suspended or expelled
- Having transportation problems
- Fearing community violence
- Retrieved from: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/prevention/dropout_truancy/improving_school_attendance.pdf
The link below includes strategies for teachers, including:
- How to talk to families and students about the impact of attendance
- Tips for contacting hard to reach families
- Tips for engaging students in their own attendance
- How to assess barriers to attendance
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