MCPS has no idea what it's doing when it comes to chronic absenteeism

[Anonymous]

Meanwhile, over in PG County, which I'll remind you is majority black, they're aggressively going after the chronic absenteeism issue by enforcing truancy laws and charging parents: https://wjla.com/news/local/prince-georges-county-states-attorney-aisha-braveboy-cracking-down-on-youth-crime-juvenile-crime-chronic-absenteeism-school-attendance-pgcps#

MoCo, which is not majority black, doesn't have the guts to do something similar because the white, liberal social justice warriors would accuse the police and courts of racism if they did this. But you it's much harder to do that when your State's Attorney is a black woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that at the high school level having weekend or night classes would help solve the issue of kids who have work/family obligations and choose to skip. There are plenty of low income students who need to work to help their families so being more realistic about a school pathway for these students would really be helpful. I remember when night school/Saturday school was a thing for students who needed to just take basic core classes. I also think that solving the safety issues at school would help. At a start we need a school staffed to deal with students who pose a physical risk to other students. Again in the past there were schools like this. It makes no sense that the same known to be violent students keep getting recycled between schools. Yes all kids deserve an education but not at the expense of student safety. I don’t think schools need to strive to be amusement park fun but they do need to be safe. It is reasonable for students to skip school if school is not safe. And, schools need remedial classes. It does no one any good for students to be in a class where they do not understand the content, and this will also lead to skipping.

Very true!!!

I know a high school ballerina in a ballet conservatory who needs to be homeschooled with expensive online courses. It would be cheaper for her parents if evening core classes in her home public were available! The Virtual Academy has the same daytime hours as regular school.

That's not homeschooling, that's virtual school and different. It's the parents choice. There is no reason that MCPS needs to provide alternative hours except for medical or other reasons. Sports or dance is not one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As usual, the SMOB has the most sober and common sense take on the issue:

Contrary to popular beliefs, adolescent minds can be pretty binary. Either it's required or it's not. And if it's required but there's no consequence if they don't meet the requirement, kids pretty quickly figure it's not actually required.

Adults have decided to stop being adults and have decided kids, who developmentally lack the ability to grasp the long-term effects of their choices and decisions, are best suited to make decisions that limit their potential and development in the long-run.

I thought Sami nailed it when he said there are three main groups of kids:

1. Those that go all the time, no matter what.

2. Some that are truant and go very little. These kids need those wrap around services to break down the barriers on why they do not go to school -- barriers such as transportation, day care, etc. Those are the things that MCPS is trying to fix.

3. Those that go sometimes. They might skip if they wake up late, don't feel like it, etc. In effect, the student's mindset is the barrier. Sami said they need a consequence that happens if they do not go to school. That is the part that Sami said MCPS is not trying to fix.
3. Some that are truant and go very little. These kids need those wrap around services to break down the barriers on why they do not go to school -- barriers such as transportation, day care, etc. Those are the things that MCPS is trying to fix.

[Anonymous]

If we want to have a positive consequence for going to school, why not a notation on transcript that student is "meeting attendance expectations." If a student looks like they are not going to meet the expectation, the school can put a plan in place for that student. This is where wrap around services will be utilized so that a student could go to class. Another idea would be that they come only on certain days or periods, and the rest is online (virtual academy and / or online pathways to graduation). In other words, if the current model does not fit the student, a different plan will be put in for the student so that they are able to attend (maybe virtually, maybe at a different time) in order to meet the expectation.

End result: a realistic, differentiated plan for each student that allows them to reach academic expectations because they are able to access curriculum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As usual, the SMOB has the most sober and common sense take on the issue:

Contrary to popular beliefs, adolescent minds can be pretty binary. Either it's required or it's not. And if it's required but there's no consequence if they don't meet the requirement, kids pretty quickly figure it's not actually required.

Adults have decided to stop being adults and have decided kids, who developmentally lack the ability to grasp the long-term effects of their choices and decisions, are best suited to make decisions that limit their potential and development in the long-run.

I thought Sami nailed it when he said there are three main groups of kids:

1. Those that go all the time, no matter what.

2. Some that are truant and go very little. These kids need those wrap around services to break down the barriers on why they do not go to school -- barriers such as transportation, day care, etc. Those are the things that MCPS is trying to fix.

3. Those that go sometimes. They might skip if they wake up late, don't feel like it, etc. In effect, the student's mindset is the barrier. Sami said they need a consequence that happens if they do not go to school. That is the part that Sami said MCPS is not trying to fix.
3. Some that are truant and go very little. These kids need those wrap around services to break down the barriers on why they do not go to school -- barriers such as transportation, day care, etc. Those are the things that MCPS is trying to fix.

If they can't see the value in school, then that's kind of their problem. It shouldn't be the county's job to push our values on others.

[Anonymous]

Does no one see the irony of allowing homeschooling with next to zero oversight AND allowing straight up dropping out of school at 16 but cracking down on truancy? It's too silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids know that it is easy to make assignments up. If they fail they can just use Edmentum.

The county needs an official policy on lateness of assignments.

This is the regulation:

Establishing due dates and deadlines:
(1) Teachers are expected to separate the due date from the
deadline in order to increase opportunities for students to
complete assignments.
(2) Work turned in after the due date and by the deadline may
be lowered no more than one letter grade or 10 percent of the
grade.
(3) A “Z” in the gradebook is used to denote that the student did
not submit an assignment by the due date but still has an
opportunity to submit the missing work.
(4) If the student does not turn in the assignment after support
and intervention, the teacher may change the “Z” to a final
grade of zero.

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/ikara.pdf

Lord help these kids in the workplace. I'm trying to imagine myself arguing with my boss over the difference between a due date and a deadline. Why are these expectations so low?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does no one see the irony of allowing homeschooling with next to zero oversight AND allowing straight up dropping out of school at 16 but cracking down on truancy? It's too silly.

No, it’s not 16. It’s 18 now. That is one of the major reasons we have all this truancy. They don’t want to be there but aren’t allowed to quit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile, over in PG County, which I'll remind you is majority black, they're aggressively going after the chronic absenteeism issue by enforcing truancy laws and charging parents: https://wjla.com/news/local/prince-georges-county-states-attorney-aisha-braveboy-cracking-down-on-youth-crime-juvenile-crime-chronic-absenteeism-school-attendance-pgcps#

MoCo, which is not majority black, doesn't have the guts to do something similar because the white, liberal social justice warriors would accuse the police and courts of racism if they did this. But you it's much harder to do that when your State's Attorney is a black woman.

This! Can we bring this to MCPS?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does no one see the irony of allowing homeschooling with next to zero oversight AND allowing straight up dropping out of school at 16 but cracking down on truancy? It's too silly.

No, it’s not 16. It’s 18 now. That is one of the major reasons we have all this truancy. They don’t want to be there but aren’t allowed to quit.

Oh interesting, my info was out of date. Anyway, it's still silly that they would enforce attendance but allow barely monitored homeschooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does no one see the irony of allowing homeschooling with next to zero oversight AND allowing straight up dropping out of school at 16 but cracking down on truancy? It's too silly.

No, it’s not 16. It’s 18 now. That is one of the major reasons we have all this truancy. They don’t want to be there but aren’t allowed to quit.

OMG I just looked it up and apparently you are allowed to drop out of school if you are under 18 **if you are married** in Maryland. Wtf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should make schools more engaging if they want kids to attend. Forcing it with punitive measures is a bad look. If your service is not very useful to students and parents, of course they won't use it as much. I don't see how chronic absenteeism per se is a problem at all. It's just a symptom of schools not being that fun or educational.

+1000. Our family learned during the chronic illness of a child (who missed a lot of school), that as far as "value-added, being present in the building added almost nothing to education (social peer relationships aside). DD could finish an entire school day's worth of lessons in 2 hrs.

Why go to school to sit in a chair for 4 extra hours a day? To listen to teacher spew racism or sexism or teach things incorrectly (especially in math & science)?

The whole "chronic absenteeism" problem analysis is backwards - it starts with how many are absent and how can we punish them enough to show up, when the real question should be "why are they missing school and what can we do to address the problems that cause chronic absenteeism?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that at the high school level having weekend or night classes would help solve the issue of kids who have work/family obligations and choose to skip. There are plenty of low income students who need to work to help their families so being more realistic about a school pathway for these students would really be helpful. I remember when night school/Saturday school was a thing for students who needed to just take basic core classes. I also think that solving the safety issues at school would help. At a start we need a school staffed to deal with students who pose a physical risk to other students. Again in the past there were schools like this. It makes no sense that the same known to be violent students keep getting recycled between schools. Yes all kids deserve an education but not at the expense of student safety. I don’t think schools need to strive to be amusement park fun but they do need to be safe. It is reasonable for students to skip school if school is not safe. And, schools need remedial classes. It does no one any good for students to be in a class where they do not understand the content, and this will also lead to skipping.

Very true!!!

I know a high school ballerina in a ballet conservatory who needs to be homeschooled with expensive online courses. It would be cheaper for her parents if evening core classes in her home public were available! The Virtual Academy has the same daytime hours as regular school.

That's not homeschooling, that's virtual school and different. It's the parents choice. There is no reason that MCPS needs to provide alternative hours except for medical or other reasons. Sports or dance is not one of them.

According to the law - that is homeschooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does no one see the irony of allowing homeschooling with next to zero oversight AND allowing straight up dropping out of school at 16 but cracking down on truancy? It's too silly.

What makes you think that homeschoolers have next to zero oversight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is school- not six flags. The teachers and staff are not their to entertain you.

Hey DCUM- what steps can/should MCPS implement? Fail the kid? Get CPS involved if a kid misses too much class? At some point, there needs to be some real consequences….

Drill down in the data to see where kids are not attending. Hold parents accountable. Hold students accountable by giving them the grades that they earn. Get PPWs to make house visits to check on students.