Early identification of students experiencing poor school attendance and/or school behavior problems is crucial to dropout prevention. Establishing an automated system for early identification is essential to ensure that no student is overlooked.
From the time a student enters transitional kindergarten, schools must work proactively to educate parents about the importance of having their child in school every day and on time.
Because school is not compulsory until the age of six (EC Section 48200
), parents may think regular attendance is not important. The abundance of research into school attendance shows clearly that students suffer academically if they miss 10 percent or more of school days and can fall behind even if they miss just one or two days every few weeks. Chronic absenteeism in transitional kindergarten predicts chronic absence the following year, setting a potential detrimental habit of poor attendance.
According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's The Relationship Between
School Attendance and Health
(PDF) 2016 report, students who are chronically absent in preschool, kindergarten, and grade one are much less likely to read at grade level by grade three.
Parents need to understand their role in establishing a pattern of regular school attendance. Recommended practices include making parents feel welcome through frequent communications, such as meetings, student bulletins, and letters. Parents also need to be aware there are legal consequences for noncompliance.
Schools are in a key position to identify children with behavior and/or attendance concerns. Because early symptoms can lead to more serious problems later on, it is important that prevention strategies be implemented in the early year and early in the school year. Research now suggests that poor attendance in the first month of school is highly predictive of chronic absenteeism for the entire school year. A system should be in place for preventive work to begin immediately upon enrollment and should include intensive casework for irregular attendance and/or noticeable behavior issues. If possible, schools should develop partnerships with community agencies that can help students and families address the challenges that may be causing poor attendance.
It is important to use multiple measures to monitor attendance. Especially in early grades, monitoring chronic absence (missing 10 percent of school for any reason) helps identify children who are missing for extended periods of school, but are likely with their parents when it is happening. Monitoring truancy (students missing school three times without a valid excuse or being late to class three times for more than 30 minutes [EC Section 48260
]) is better for helping identify older students whose parents may not be aware the students are missing school. Monitoring chronic or habitual truancy helps identify students who are at serious risk when skipping school has become a habit.
Students are more likely to attend school when they feel connected to caring adults who notice whether they show up and help them overcome challenges to attendance. School site attendance and administrative personnel should monitor students’ records and behavior frequently and should initiate appropriate intervention strategies as needed to address attendance or behavior patterns. Any intervention should focus on student and family strengths to help them assume responsibility for their behavior.
While unexcused absences tend to receive the most attention, excessive excused absences and/or tardiness from school are also an important consideration in a school’s attendance program. School staff must follow state regulations and local board policy to determine whether absences and/or tardiness are excessive, watching for patterns of irregular attendance, such as absences on Mondays and Fridays, exam days, certain class periods, the beginning of the school day, and the time before or after lunch.
Common reasons for class avoidance may include health complaints, learning disorders, bullying, peer conflicts, substance abuse, anxiety, depression, or other emotional issues.
If it is determined that a student has a chronic health condition, the school district may use a chronic illness form. This form requires the treating physician to provide a diagnosis and list symptoms that may or may not require another doctor’s visit but would require the student to remain home from school. Avoiding school could be an indicator of an undetected health condition or learning disability. This may require a referral for the development of a Section 504 Accommodation Plan or individualized education plan, following assessment by school specialists.
Each school district should have a Board policy with administrative regulations that address excessive absences due to illness. Many districts use a 10 percent rule/policy that a student who accrues absences due to illness, equal to or surpassing ten percent of the school days since enrollment that school year must have each subsequent absence verified by a physician, school nurse or other school personnel. Absences must then be cleared up daily unless other arrangements are made with the school principal or designee. Additional absences are recorded as unexcused, if the student fails to provide verification from the physician, school nurse or other school personnel. (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 421
)
If authorized by district policy, the decision to place a student under the requirement of the 10 percent absence verification policy, or to remove the student from its requirements before the school year ends, should be left to the discretion of the school principal.
School personnel need to be alert to warning signs of possible mental health issues, learning disabilities, or signs that a student may have been abused. The symptoms may be temporary or may indicate the need for in-depth attention. Common symptoms requiring further assessment include the following:
- Difficulty in learning and failure to achieve
- Defiance of authority
- Excessive sensitivity to criticism
- Withdrawn behavior, nail-biting, frequent crying, constant tension, or fears of unknown origin
- Frequent emotional outbursts, temper tantrums or obstinate behavior
- Extreme restlessness or impulsiveness
- Speech, hearing, or vision difficulties
- Excessive dependence on adults, or anxiety at being separated from parents
- Immaturity, poor peer relationships
- Unhappiness or depression
- Frequent disruptive and/or aggressive behaviors in class
- Sleeping in class, disheveled appearance, or poor hygiene
- Bruises or evidence of physical trauma
- Sensitivity to being touched by another person
- Other mental health symptoms
School personnel should have ongoing training for early identification of behavior and/or attendance concerns to ensure that action can be taken quickly. These early efforts comply with the legislative intent for intensive guidance and coordinated community services to meet the needs of students with school attendance or behavior problems.
School Attendance Review Board Scenario
Diagnosing the Cause of an Attendance Problem
A sixteen-year-old student was referred to the school attendance review board (SARB) for excessive absences at the end of the first semester of the school year. After three attendance letters had been mailed to the home, a school attendance review team (SART) meeting was held; the parent did not attend.
Following the SART meeting, absences in certain classes continued. A referral was then made to SARB. When the student and their parent arrived at the SARB meeting, which was located up a flight of stairs, members noticed the student limping and in obvious discomfort when they entered the room. When asked about this, the student stated their hips were often sore, but the family had no medical insurance to pay for treatment. When asked about their child's condition, the parent said their child had some hip problems when the student was a baby but was treated before entering preschool.
Attendance records revealed a pattern of absences occurring at the same time during each school day. Further questioning revealed that it hurt the student too much to go back and forth across a large campus that included classrooms on the opposite side of a street. We encouraged the student to go to a free clinic sponsored by a local hospital and stated the SARB would meet in about a month to check on the student's progress. In the meantime, the SARB asked the school to change the student's schedule, so the student did not have to go back and forth across the campus.
When the student returned to meet with the SARB, there was a definite improvement in their walking ability. The student's parent stated that their child had started on medicine for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and was feeling much better. The student's attendance was better as well. The school developed a 504 Accommodation Plan to support the student and has since graduated.
In such cases, the best approach would be to have someone talk with the student to find out the underlying cause of the absences, so that appropriate responses and an ultimate solution can be found, without the need for attendance letters or formal action. If this is not possible, the SARB hearing can become an opportunity to discover the underlying causes of the attendance problem by observing the student, asking appropriate questions, and developing a rapport with the student and family.