Roughly 25% of MCPS students are chronically absent, and absenteeism response plan delayed

[Anonymous]

Again, this problem is really not about the small number of kids with medical issues or sever bullying situations. If you don’t work at a school you may not realize this, but there is a large number of parents who simply don’t send their kids to school much of the time, because their lives are chaotic and their commitment to schooling is limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, this problem is really not about the small number of kids with medical issues or sever bullying situations. If you don’t work at a school you may not realize this, but there is a large number of parents who simply don’t send their kids to school much of the time, because their lives are chaotic and their commitment to schooling is limited.

You make a good point. The voices on this thread who purport to be perfect parents always step in to chastise others about pulling a kid for random dental or medical appointments or some such nonsense, which misses the point entirely. These aren't the kids who are chronically absent.

On the other hand, many of the DCUM perfect parents (and teachers) routinely demand that every child stay home if exhibiting any symptoms of sickness and remain at home until all symptoms are gone. If this is the standard, it's actually a wonder that only 25% of students are routinely absent.

Any meaningful discussion would require knowing more about these chronically absent kids and the reasons why they aren't coming to school.

[Anonymous]

They aren't coming to school because their parents don't make them go. In some cases, the parents don't know they didn't go to school. We send robocalls to kids who are absent. So many parents have non-working numbers on file that they don't even know that their kid didn't go to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, this problem is really not about the small number of kids with medical issues or sever bullying situations. If you don’t work at a school you may not realize this, but there is a large number of parents who simply don’t send their kids to school much of the time, because their lives are chaotic and their commitment to schooling is limited.

You make a good point. The voices on this thread who purport to be perfect parents always step in to chastise others about pulling a kid for random dental or medical appointments or some such nonsense, which misses the point entirely. These aren't the kids who are chronically absent.

On the other hand, many of the DCUM perfect parents (and teachers) routinely demand that every child stay home if exhibiting any symptoms of sickness and remain at home until all symptoms are gone. If this is the standard, it's actually a wonder that only 25% of students are routinely absent.

Any meaningful discussion would require knowing more about these chronically absent kids and the reasons why they aren't coming to school.

These are not the kids who are the issue. It’s the kids skipping school. I keep my kids home for every random illness. They don’t need to be miserable in school nor be selfish and spread it.

[Anonymous]

Right. There are separate issues at play here:

1. MCPS Attendance System is a mess. It's not always accurate and they don't have a streamlined way to correct errors in the attendance records. This is true, but not really the reason why we're seeing the levels of chronic absenteeism that we're seeing.

2. Many kids are absent with and without their parents knowledge. Those who are absent with their parents' knowledge do so because they might be contributing to the household by watching younger siblings OR working a part-time job that contributes to household income. OR they simply might believe that it's not a big deal to miss "a day or two" of school without realizing how many days their kids are actually racking up. Then there are parents who have NO IDEA their kids are skipping cause they drop their kids off or see their kids going to school, without realizing that some kids go into the building and right back out, or that they're skipping certain classes to hang around in the building.

This is why the data needs to be precise and organized so we can slice and dice the various causes of chronic absenteeism and address them accordingly. In some instances, the absenteeism is the fault of the parents. In others, it's the fault of the school. But we can't hold the responsible party accountable if the data is a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They aren't coming to school because their parents don't make them go. In some cases, the parents don't know they didn't go to school. We send robocalls to kids who are absent. So many parents have non-working numbers on file that they don't even know that their kid didn't go to school.

Even with the robocalls went through the kids would still be on the list as the call doesn’t come in until hours after school has started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right. There are separate issues at play here:

1. MCPS Attendance System is a mess. It's not always accurate and they don't have a streamlined way to correct errors in the attendance records. This is true, but not really the reason why we're seeing the levels of chronic absenteeism that we're seeing.

2. Many kids are absent with and without their parents knowledge. Those who are absent with their parents' knowledge do so because they might be contributing to the household by watching younger siblings OR working a part-time job that contributes to household income. OR they simply might believe that it's not a big deal to miss "a day or two" of school without realizing how many days their kids are actually racking up. Then there are parents who have NO IDEA their kids are skipping cause they drop their kids off or see their kids going to school, without realizing that some kids go into the building and right back out, or that they're skipping certain classes to hang around in the building.

This is why the data needs to be precise and organized so we can slice and dice the various causes of chronic absenteeism and address them accordingly. In some instances, the absenteeism is the fault of the parents. In others, it's the fault of the school. But we can't hold the responsible party accountable if the data is a mess.

So you are saying that kids are being marked absent with such frequency that show up as chronically absent when they aren't? I really doubt that is the reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right. There are separate issues at play here:

1. MCPS Attendance System is a mess. It's not always accurate and they don't have a streamlined way to correct errors in the attendance records. This is true, but not really the reason why we're seeing the levels of chronic absenteeism that we're seeing.

2. Many kids are absent with and without their parents knowledge. Those who are absent with their parents' knowledge do so because they might be contributing to the household by watching younger siblings OR working a part-time job that contributes to household income. OR they simply might believe that it's not a big deal to miss "a day or two" of school without realizing how many days their kids are actually racking up. Then there are parents who have NO IDEA their kids are skipping cause they drop their kids off or see their kids going to school, without realizing that some kids go into the building and right back out, or that they're skipping certain classes to hang around in the building.

This is why the data needs to be precise and organized so we can slice and dice the various causes of chronic absenteeism and address them accordingly. In some instances, the absenteeism is the fault of the parents. In others, it's the fault of the school. But we can't hold the responsible party accountable if the data is a mess.

So you are saying that kids are being marked absent with such frequency that show up as chronically absent when they aren't? I really doubt that is the reason.

No. I mean that the school needs to track and segment the data so we can understand the kind of absences and why the absences are occuring.

The general chronic absteneeism number includes excused and unexcused absences, and doesn't distinguish between missing a class vs the whole day.

The data needs more context, accuracy and filtering to be able to support the targeted solutions that need to be implemented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right. There are separate issues at play here:

1. MCPS Attendance System is a mess. It's not always accurate and they don't have a streamlined way to correct errors in the attendance records. This is true, but not really the reason why we're seeing the levels of chronic absenteeism that we're seeing.

2. Many kids are absent with and without their parents knowledge. Those who are absent with their parents' knowledge do so because they might be contributing to the household by watching younger siblings OR working a part-time job that contributes to household income. OR they simply might believe that it's not a big deal to miss "a day or two" of school without realizing how many days their kids are actually racking up. Then there are parents who have NO IDEA their kids are skipping cause they drop their kids off or see their kids going to school, without realizing that some kids go into the building and right back out, or that they're skipping certain classes to hang around in the building.

This is why the data needs to be precise and organized so we can slice and dice the various causes of chronic absenteeism and address them accordingly. In some instances, the absenteeism is the fault of the parents. In others, it's the fault of the school. But we can't hold the responsible party accountable if the data is a mess.

So you are saying that kids are being marked absent with such frequency that show up as chronically absent when they aren't? I really doubt that is the reason.

We had one teacher regularly mark our kid absent as they did not speak up and how she wanted thing discussed as there were no grades. It happened 1-2 times a week. We could easily prove child was there. When we confronted her, she refused to fix it and she was the only one who could. At that point I’d just schedule all appointments during her class as what was the point if they were being marked absent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right. There are separate issues at play here:

1. MCPS Attendance System is a mess. It's not always accurate and they don't have a streamlined way to correct errors in the attendance records. This is true, but not really the reason why we're seeing the levels of chronic absenteeism that we're seeing.

2. Many kids are absent with and without their parents knowledge. Those who are absent with their parents' knowledge do so because they might be contributing to the household by watching younger siblings OR working a part-time job that contributes to household income. OR they simply might believe that it's not a big deal to miss "a day or two" of school without realizing how many days their kids are actually racking up. Then there are parents who have NO IDEA their kids are skipping cause they drop their kids off or see their kids going to school, without realizing that some kids go into the building and right back out, or that they're skipping certain classes to hang around in the building.

This is why the data needs to be precise and organized so we can slice and dice the various causes of chronic absenteeism and address them accordingly. In some instances, the absenteeism is the fault of the parents. In others, it's the fault of the school. But we can't hold the responsible party accountable if the data is a mess.

So you are saying that kids are being marked absent with such frequency that show up as chronically absent when they aren't? I really doubt that is the reason.

No. I mean that the school needs to track and segment the data so we can understand the kind of absences and why the absences are occuring.

The general chronic absteneeism number includes excused and unexcused absences, and doesn't distinguish between missing a class vs the whole day.

The data needs more context, accuracy and filtering to be able to support the targeted solutions that need to be implemented.

No, any unexcused absence should be looked at. Parents held accountable.

[Anonymous]

The general rule is that teachers are not allowed to grade “behavior” including cursing out a teacher or skipping. So, there are few consequences academically and admin does want to give any consequences either. It is often a disrupted/punishing situation for teachers and other kids in the room. They have created a situation of no natural consequences. Kids are moved ahead no matter what even less prepared for learning with the next teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The general rule is that teachers are not allowed to grade “behavior” including cursing out a teacher or skipping. So, there are few consequences academically and admin does want to give any consequences either. It is often a disrupted/punishing situation for teachers and other kids in the room. They have created a situation of no natural consequences. Kids are moved ahead no matter what even less prepared for learning with the next teacher.

The kids that are "skipping" are mostly also the kids who could not care less what their grades are. Academic consequences aren't going to do anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The general rule is that teachers are not allowed to grade “behavior” including cursing out a teacher or skipping. So, there are few consequences academically and admin does want to give any consequences either. It is often a disrupted/punishing situation for teachers and other kids in the room. They have created a situation of no natural consequences. Kids are moved ahead no matter what even less prepared for learning with the next teacher.

The kids that are "skipping" are mostly also the kids who could not care less what their grades are. Academic consequences aren't going to do anything.

Then, teachers need to reach out to the parents and make an effort or even have the parents come to school to babysit them for a few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The general rule is that teachers are not allowed to grade “behavior” including cursing out a teacher or skipping. So, there are few consequences academically and admin does want to give any consequences either. It is often a disrupted/punishing situation for teachers and other kids in the room. They have created a situation of no natural consequences. Kids are moved ahead no matter what even less prepared for learning with the next teacher.

The kids that are "skipping" are mostly also the kids who could not care less what their grades are. Academic consequences aren't going to do anything.

Then, teachers need to reach out to the parents and make an effort or even have the parents come to school to babysit them for a few days.

Teachers have more than enough on their plates. It is a parents job to make sure the kids go to school, not the teachers. Again, parents expecting schools to raise their kids for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The general rule is that teachers are not allowed to grade “behavior” including cursing out a teacher or skipping. So, there are few consequences academically and admin does want to give any consequences either. It is often a disrupted/punishing situation for teachers and other kids in the room. They have created a situation of no natural consequences. Kids are moved ahead no matter what even less prepared for learning with the next teacher.

The kids that are "skipping" are mostly also the kids who could not care less what their grades are. Academic consequences aren't going to do anything.

Then, teachers need to reach out to the parents and make an effort or even have the parents come to school to babysit them for a few days.

Isn't that what attendance secretaries are for?