Guidance counselor attendance - best practices

Exhibited by:

• Sharon Levanoni

PLO Attended:

• Attendance Plan

Coached by:

• John Strachan

Goals

Regular attendance is critical for students’ academic success. With regular attendance, students learn the skills and habits to succeed in their academic, social and working lives.

Attendance is extremely important for the school. From a practical perspective, attendance drives the school budget. Attendance is listed on the school report card and is one of the first items DOE looks at when consolidating/closing schools.

Perfect attendance is the goal. 90% attendance means a student is missing 18+ days over the school year—equivalent to a month of instruction and creating a risk of dropping out. 95%+ elementary schools, 90%+ middle and high schools is target.

Strategies for Improving Attendance

School Attendance Committee. Weekly attendance meetings and coordinated outreach and intervention by guidance counselor, assistant principal, parent coordinator, school aids, family workers and CBO (if a community school).

Parent / Guardian Outreach. Reach out to parent/guardian to determine underlying cause of unexcused absences (e.g., social-emotional, economic, family/domestic issues). Good time to meet parents is during PTC. Make home visits if needed. Involve outside agencies as needed.

Role of Guidance Counselor. Facilitate school attendance committee meetings, intervention through individual and group counseling, meetings with parents/guardians, coordination with attendance teacher / outside agencies and maintenance of detailed reports. Make sure all staff is “buying in” on the importance of attendance.

Tools / Techniques

Weekly Attendance Meetings: Sign in, agenda, discuss ATS reports: RCUA (report from previous week, minimum 2 days absent); RDAL (daily); RRSA (monthly); RPCA (5/10 days absent); RPAL (perfect; semi-annually); discuss incentives and intervention strategies (i.e., guidance sessions parent meetings, home visits, social worker / outside agency involvement); review; organization of all reports.

Incentives: Friendly Attendance Competitions, Mystery Days, Family Fridays, Attendance Award Ceremonies, Class Attendance Parties

Resources: www.attendanceworks.org; www.everystudentpresent.org; Principals’ Portal,

The Results

Persistence Pays Off. Improving attendance takes time (on average 3–5 years to see improvement) and requires concerted effort by entire staff as well as parental engagement.