Addressing Chronic Absenteeism: Strategies for Student Engagement and Improved Attendance in Schools
October 25, 2023 • 38 mins
Are we ready to take on the issue that's pulling students out of the classrooms and hindering their academic growth? Because it's high time we expose the silent epidemic of chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10% or more of the school year, that's causing a ripple effect in our education system. This is not just a conversation about students skipping school - it's about understanding the complex factors behind it, including the child's home environment, and putting strategies in place to combat it effectively. We're putting the spotlight on the crucial role of parent motivation, the importance of individual attendance data, and the need for early intervention. Let's break down what chronic absenteeism really means and discuss how we can tackle it head-on.
But wait, there's more. We're taking the discussion a step further to question the efficacy of incentives and mentorship in resolving attendance issues. You have to wonder - are incentives leading kids to come to school for the rewards rather than the learning? We're peeling back the layers on this issue to emphasize the need for a climate where students are safe and deeply engaged in their learning, making that the priority over incentives. We'll also be discussing how everyone, from teachers to janitors, can play a part as a success mentor. So, join us as we dig deeper, engage with families, understand the root causes of attendance issues, and provide the support that keeps our students in school where they belong.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Attendance and chronic absenteeism.
Does this keep you up at night?
Do you walk into your schoolevery day and you're asking
yourself how do I attack this,reverse this?
How do I get kids in the school?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Let's talk about that today.
When they see me, they knowthat every day, when I'm
breathing, it's for us to gofarther.
Every time I speak, I want thetruth to come out.
Every time I speak, I want toshiver.
I don't want them to be like.
They know what I'm going to saybecause it's polite.
They know what I'm going to sayand even if I get in trouble,
that ain't what we're supposedto do.
(00:41):
I'm not saying I'm going torule the world or I'm going to
change the world, but Iguarantee that I will spark the
brain that will change the world, and that's our job is to spark
somebody else watching us.
We might not be the ones, butlet's not be selfish because
we're not going to change theworld.
Let's not talk about how weshould change it.
I don't know how to change it,but I know.
If I keep talking about howdirty it is out here, somebody
(01:03):
going to clean it up.
And now he's been promoted hisjob as principal.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I was going to have.
You want this, Ujjain Jokusneak, principal.
And we're going to talk aboutsomething that is hard to talk
about because I feel there's noexact science to this, but,
however, there are strategiesthat can be put in place to
(01:38):
address this particular thing,and the thing I'm talking about
here is attendance schoolattendance to be exact.
As you all know, this is my.
I'm at my third school as aprincipal and I've worked at
several schools where attendancewas like the core conversation.
It was the, the, the one thingthat was being tracked, probably
(02:04):
above all things, and I'll tellyou why.
If kids are not in school, howdo you teach them?
If kids are not in school on adaily basis, how do you improve
schools?
You know performance, it'svirtually impossible.
So you have to have kids inschool.
(02:26):
So, but then we talk aboutattendance.
We also have to talk about theother side of the coin, which is
, which is the chronicabsenteeism.
Those kids who are so, who'vebeen out of school for so many
days that now it's on the stagesof being chronic.
And I'll tell you this if yourschool is not rethinking or
(02:52):
doesn't have a strategy and planthat's working, you're going to
be struggling for years to come.
So in this episode of theSneaker Principal Podcast, I
wanted to share with you mystrategies.
It's not an exact science, butI also feel there are scientific
, mathematical things that canbe done to really move the way
(03:18):
we see attendance, at least forindividual schools.
So first of all, let's let'sstart off by defining what is
chronic absenteeism.
Someone look at my notes, soI'm not being rude, not looking
at you on the camera for thoseof you watching this on video
but chronic absenteeism is whenstudents miss 10% or more of the
(03:38):
school year.
It's a silent epidemicaffecting schools nationwide,
impeding academic and socialdevelopment, whether it's due to
illness, family issues or lackof engagement.
We need to address this issuehead on.
I love the way that was thatwas.
That's well framed, because itis.
(04:01):
It is an epidemic, you know,especially when it's not
addressed and allowed to justhappen and, furthermore,
according to recent data,millions of students fall into
the category of being chronicabsentee.
This is a call to action for usall in education.
(04:23):
So, if you watch this right now, this is a call to action
because, again, our schools aretalking about attendance.
A lot of schools are doing alot of things.
Our question is are you beingeffective in what you're doing
and how you're doing well, howyou doing it?
So, first off, the role ofattendance data.
(04:43):
So data, data, data, data.
A lot of schools don't trulyunderstand their own attendance
data, and I'm not saying that Iam an expert at it, but, however
, we are just looking at numbers, percentages, and we're looking
at heat maps and we're likewhat classes, what section, what
(05:06):
class has the most attendanceissues?
And I believe it's a little bitmore than that.
Heat maps are great.
They make you feel like you'rebeing productive.
Percentages gives you somethingto look at.
But for me, the data that Ireally like to look at is the
(05:30):
actual individual student.
You know it's like in business.
You know if you're trying tosell something, you have a
widget, you have a product.
You're not just gonna go to themarket and start selling to
everybody.
No, you're gonna target, you'regonna say who is my customer,
what are the attendencies, whatare they looking for, what are
the needs, what are the thingsthat I know that make them the
(05:54):
most ideal person for thisproduct?
And I say using the samementality for attendance is very
important because we have tothink about who.
The individual student who's notattending is the individual
first.
And looking at their dailyrecords, their tardiness If you
(06:14):
weren't there in school, are yougetting in school on time?
I mean, I'm sorry, I think,into the classes on time.
You know understanding thepatterns of the individual's
absence.
When are they absent the most?
What's happening in thatchild's household that's causing
it to be absent?
You know, and not only that,now with the child, the parent,
(06:35):
there's too many schools arethinking about oh, this child is
not in school.
You know, let's incentivize thechild to be in school.
But my belief is, if you don'tknow what the motivating factor
is, or the demotivating factoris for the actual parent, the
person who's actually in chargeof that child, then what are we
(06:58):
talking about here?
Like I've heard conversationsabout how do we incentivize
elementary school kids come toschool Majority, the vast
majority of elementary schoolkids have no control over
themselves to get to school Isthe parent who makes sure to get
to school.
So what's going with the parent?
Do they live too far?
Are they having I mean, arethey having childcare situations
(07:21):
?
I mean issues?
You know, are our studentshelping with that?
You know we have kids who cometo school late.
Are they dropping off theirsiblings?
You know all these littlethings we have to understand.
Paint a picture to have a clearunderstanding, because if we're
not doing that, the numbersmean nothing.
You know the incentives.
(07:42):
I know school who spentthousands of dollars for
incentives, gift cards and thisand that, and they even hire
more people.
But I'm like, but the numbersare still wanting because you're
not addressing the actual issue, which is knowing why
(08:02):
Elementary school.
You have to figure out what'sgoing on with the parents, not
as a judge and jury, but as apartner.
How can we support Middleschool?
Same thing, you think, becausethe kid is obviously the bigger
body that they're in control ofthemselves.
No, it's the parents, theguardians.
High school's way becomes alittle bit different.
(08:24):
But now, when you're talking toa 17, 18 year old, they may
very well have full autonomy.
Then you have to figure out howto address their needs as well.
What's the reason for them notcoming to school?
How can we reverse that?
But again, I'm going back tosaying this you have to
understand the individual, theperson, the stakeholder, the
(08:46):
main person who has control ofit, that child being there.
But the other thing too is, asyou're collecting data, it has
to be accurate.
There's nothing worse in theworld than not knowing the
numbers behind that individual.
Because I'll tell you right now, I've had parents who we speak
to them and we'll say thechild's not coming to school,
okay, and it turns into a backand forth the child has to be in
(09:07):
school, but I just have that.
But rather sitting with aparent and saying let's look at
your child's collective dataNumber of days they've been
absent, they're grades, this ishow they're performing, this is
how they're falling behind andyou show the parent these things
, all of a sudden parents arelike wait a minute, I didn't
think it was that bad.
But often, if you don't knowthe numbers and you're not
sharing with the parent theactual detail of that child,
(09:33):
you're just asking for a backand forth Data.
Data data is the ultimate,ultimate intervention strategy.
Once we know where everyonefalls, then we can start talking
about solutions, and that's thegoal talk about solutions.
How do we reverse this?
It's the child who starts offthe year with this and they've
(09:58):
already hit the percent.
The key now is to minimize that, that number from growing.
You know, and the way you dothat is you you have to
strategize around the data withthat, with that family and or in
the physical high school kid,with a high school kid.
But also again I'm gonna repeat, it's about coming down to the
why, what is causing this andwhat we need to do to reverse it
(10:21):
.
Um, once we have the data, isit's we have to analyze it.
You know, like I said earlier,you have the data.
You have to know the datayourself, so you know how to you
utilize it in the conversationswith, with the families.
But now One of the things thatI know I've seen this over and
(10:46):
over again that is not doneright and I hope, I hope I can,
I could, I could articulate thisWell when you only looking at
percentages, you only looking atyou know, um, a List of
students who are not there, andI look at them at the individual
, one of the things you tend todo and this is a major misstep
(11:10):
is you, you kind of like Attackthe list, you know you, you put
boots on the ground, let's gofind those kids, bring them to
school, let's get them into thebuilding.
And the problem with that is,when you're attacking that list,
(11:32):
you're ignoring the bigger list, the rest of the kids A lot of
parents allow schools will lookat.
Oh my god, these are ourchronic absentee students.
We're attacking them and asthat list, as you're, as you're
trying to reduce that list, youknow is getting bigger because
there are other kids who arecoming to school every day,
(11:55):
who's starting to like fallbehind themselves.
So you're always attacking thecurrently absentee or the
absence list and you're notaddressing those who are here
every single day, collect data.
Why are the kids who come toschool every day?
Why are they coming.
What excites them about them toyour school?
What is it about being inschool?
They excites them because onething I want to tell you but I'm
(12:18):
not believe it that that youmust come to school and that's
it.
What is there at the school tomake sure the kid comes?
If the kid is, if the kid is isis if your school is not
addressing the social emotionalneeds it's not, doesn't have an
exciting academic program, thereare not extracurricular
activities, that things thatmake school fun for them or,
(12:38):
even better yet, safe, that yourchronic absentee list is going
to increase.
That your chronic absentee listis going to increase.
Is it is going to increase?
Okay, so those are watching thevideo.
Something weird happened, buthopefully I will go back and
(12:59):
make sure the audio is correct.
So I was saying, when it comesto students being in school, you
have to address that.
You have to make sure that youcreate a climate where kids are
being engaged every single day,and I was mentioning about
safety.
There is a huge correlationbetween school climate and
(13:22):
attendance.
You can be fine to get kidsinto a school building, but if
your school space is not safe,where kids feel like when I come
here Mentally, physically,spiritually I always say
spiritually too, because it allconnects mental, physical,
spiritual and emotional.
If those four things are notconnected to each other and your
school space is a space wherekids feel unsafe, guess what a
(13:49):
simple text message that thatthere's gonna be a fight
tomorrow and kids are not gonnacome to school then that next
day, I'm telling you look atyour, look at your school data
and Look and look at the daysthat there's been fights or
there's been escalated Eventsthat Create a safety issue in
(14:11):
your school and look what yourattendance was that day.
In 2023, nothing happens inisolation.
Because of this thing righthere called the cell phone and
social media, most incidentshave already I don't say be been
preplanned, but have alreadybeen initiated before they be
(14:31):
happening in school.
And Because it's happening onon social media and most of your
kids already know is something,that something's gonna happen,
especially middle schools andhigh schools.
Kids know and People think they.
All kids want drama.
Most kids are trying to runaway from it.
So if your school has drama,guess what happens now those
(14:52):
days?
Where Doesn't this?
Is this incident, or whateverthe case may be?
You might notice your attendancewas low that day from the jump,
because, all of a sudden, whatyou not realize and certain kids
are like oh, I have a tummyache today, mom, I don't want to
go to school, I'm not feelingwell because they don't want to
be in the middle of the mess Isthat there's been planned for
(15:12):
that day, or things that areescalating, things like bullying
, things like just rowdyhallways or classrooms that are
out of control.
Who wants to be there?
So, while you're trying to getkids into your school, is your
school a space where the kidswant to actually be in?
Asks us of that question.
Okay, so you have to addressthe data from from your actual
(15:36):
school space.
What is happening, doing today,day today, because I'm telling
you there's a correlationbetween your school climate and
kids not want to be in school.
So if you can fix that, thenjust what happens?
You have more kids who are inschool, and those kids who are
not in school, you can addressthem to see what's stopping them
from coming.
(15:56):
And what's stopping from comingbetter not be the school itself
, but if the school itself isthe problem, you will have
absentee absence at anattendance issue and a
chronically absentee issue aswell.
So I'll share this quick storymy, my, my school right now, ms
(16:17):
224 this week, seven, southBronx.
When I first got there, thenumbers were I mean the
attendance the attendance partwas Moving in the right
direction.
The chronically absentee partwas out of control, like over
40%.
To think about that.
Over 40% chronically absenteethat's insane.
(16:39):
But the one thing that I sawthat was like okay, this has to
change was climate there.
There were a lot of issueshappening in the school, a lot
of, a lot of Social media drama,a lot of kids that didn't feel
safe.
And how do I know this?
We did a survey.
We did a survey of our kids aswe were writing our, our
(17:01):
comprehensive educational planfor 2023-24, and when we did
student survey, it was in therekids were saying that bullying,
the fights, the inability tolearn the classroom, the kids
who were distracting all thisstuff was in was impeding their
learning.
So why wouldn't we have achronically absentee issue?
(17:23):
This?
Most kids don't want to sit athome, let's be honest here.
But also, most kids don't wantto be in a space where they
don't feel safe, you know, or orthey're feeling traumatized by
all the things that arehappening in that space.
So that is something to be.
It needs to be addressed.
As far as reversing or you know, I don't believe in reversing
(17:46):
if you're already in a problem,that you have to reverse it.
But how do we start for theschool year, creating a space
where we don't have toeventually reverse chronically
absenteeism?
Well, we have a space wherekids are coming to school every
day and if they're not there isbecause they are very clear
reasons that we can address andsupport them with, and the
reason, again, should not be theschool itself Now forming an
(18:11):
attendance team, attendance team, attendance team.
So every, almost every schoolthat, or any, every school
system has attendance issues,has an attendance team, and the
attendance team is a.
It's a group of of stakeholdersin school.
So we're talking aboutadministrators, we're talking
about teachers, counselors, evenparents, you know, who are part
(18:34):
of having conversations on howdo we support Students with poor
attendance, how do we, you know, move kids off the chronically
absentee list?
Okay, and this is how youcollect data and this how you
attack the data from this team.
But I'll tell you this I'vealso felt a lot, a lot of
(18:54):
schools you have there.
They're moving based oncompliance, they have your
attendance team and they'reattacked again, I said earlier,
they're attacking the absenteestudents by not really
addressing the school cultureand and One of the things that
is a school leader that I holdvery important to me in that
(19:15):
attendance team we have to bevery strategic.
We have to know why we're thereand what is it exactly we're
doing.
So everything I've said so farAre things that are discussed
within my attendance team Fromthe jump, from the first
attendance meeting, we knewwhich kids first of all.
No, no, first of all, we knewwhat the number was, based on a
(19:37):
population, what was the dangerzone?
Okay, what was the number ofkids absent every day to put us
in a space where we Would Fall,as a school, into having poor
attendance?
No, and for us, that number wasabout 15 kids every day, when,
(20:01):
if you're in a school, you're ina school.
You're in a school.
You're in a school Every daywhen, if you have 15 kids that
are absent, our numbers lookscrazy If we have over 15 kids
and some of my say, well, now,now, you just using the numbers,
you don't really care aboutkids being there, you just use
it.
You just use the numbers tomake sure you guys look good.
Yes and also no.
(20:23):
Because we know who those 15kids are.
And because we know who those15 kids are, we're calling every
day.
Okay, at my school, every daythat a kid is absent, even if we
know why the kid is absent,even if the kid is sick at home,
there's a touch point.
Every single day my parentcoordinator will call If Jamal
(20:44):
is absent today and we call momand mom says he's not feeling
well the next day, we'll callagain.
Oh, he's still not feeling wellthe next day we'll call again.
Oh, he was in the hospital.
Like, we want to know on aday-to-day basis how's the child
doing.
But now it goes beyond justattendance.
It's about knowing what'shappening with that child, with
that family.
Oh, he missed the train thismorning.
(21:05):
Oh, okay, is there anothertrain they can take?
Like this is.
This is the conversation,because we are trying to help
also parents who are in thatspace of having children who are
currently absent, or better,parents who are clinically
absentee parents.
You know, from as far as thekids come into school, engaging
them every day, come up with asolution.
You know, and what we found isthe more we talk to parents, the
(21:27):
older sudden kids come intoschool.
But sometimes the parents likeyou know, I'm tired of caring,
from you know, from the parentcoordinator or from the
assistant principal or theguidance counselor.
So those 15 are easy to digest.
And now, when you have like, inmy case I have an attendance
team with three counselors, okay, who split up the whole entire
school.
So guess what?
(21:47):
Each of those counselors hastheir workload of students, that
is, their students they'rereaching out to.
Then we have a family workerwho now we can say, hey, this
child now is in the danger zone.
So now the family workers dohome visits but we're managing
that list of 15.
And but then, at the same time,we have a chart of kids who are
on the cusp of potentiallybeing chronically absentee, and
(22:11):
we can watch them.
We have a threshold when thechild gets to a certain
percentage.
Oh, we got the move.
We're there, like in tier two,about the tier three, meaning
tier three, chronically absentee.
Oh, now we're attacking thosekids before they go to that list
.
Hey, what's going on?
Oh, we need to make sure we'rereaching out and talking to them
and we're sharing the numbersand we're having those
(22:31):
conversations and what happens?
This becomes very organic.
Let me tell you how organic itis.
Every day my attendance team.
I have a schoolmate who isamazing.
She does the attendance everyday.
She collects the data, she getsa laptop out and looks who's
not here and and then she makessure that our tenants are
correct, because a lot of timesif you have a big school, even a
(22:53):
small school, kids walk in andwe missed them on the attendance
sheet and then all of a suddenwe think our numbers are much
higher.
I can tell you this there hasnot been a day since the
beginning of school year wherewe've missed the kid who's been
in the building.
We're tracking that list allthe way till the end of the day
to make sure that our numbersare correct.
But even with our earliestnumbers we started to make phone
(23:15):
calls and sometimes we haveparents who say no, the child is
there, the child is here.
Do we have to go find thatchild?
Oh, this child walked in lateand kind of snuck around the
main office.
So they, we can catch them inattendance and they went into
the classroom.
Ok, and we saw that was theissue.
Then now we have tracking, wehave section sheets, so now
every period teachers are ableto make marking kids present or
(23:40):
absent or late in all theirclasses and these sections just
go from room to room.
So my school, I can pull thatfolder up and look at it as
she's, as she's searching forstudents to make sure that our
attendance is accurate.
And again, it makes make sure.
It makes us hyper focused,knowing that this is the kids,
the 15 or hopefully last kidsthat we have to track and target
(24:01):
every smooth day.
So our guidance comes frommaking targeted calls, our
family worker making targetedvisits, our parent coordinators
calling every day and we are incontrol.
So I'll tell you this myattendance team has.
We have a group chat on ourphones where we were asking the
(24:21):
other day, what is our number?
What is our number?
What's our number over 17?
Oh, we found two more kids,we're 15.
Oh, my God, we're 13.
Oh my God, we're eight todayand in there we're dropping
emojis and and and Jeff's andwe're celebrating because also
we understand how important thisnumber, these numbers, are.
It's not just for complianceand we know kids are in school
(24:43):
and they're learning and thenguess what happens?
Now we can be also trackingimprovements.
Oh, my God, this kid came offthe crime Crayops and teeth list
.
You know, and we're controllingthat.
We have.
We have a spreadsheet that weshare every meeting we meet
every Tuesday, and thatspreadsheet there's.
There's a red section andyellow section.
(25:03):
Yellow section is the sectionthat we want kids off that list
so they're not trending towardsbeing frankly absentee.
And the red section is small.
It's shrinking every time wemeet.
Sometimes it bumps up where youwant to two kids and because
we're attacking those kids andthen we find out those kid was
sick or something happened.
But again, we're trackingeverything and we're taking it
(25:26):
personal and that's one thing Ilove.
My tennis team takes attendancepersonal.
We celebrate and then I'mtelling right now their days
were, were like oh, today was 20kids that were absent and we
are bummed out Like literally Ihave to go to group chat and
said, guys, you know what, Istill appreciate everybody and
what we're doing here.
Tomorrow we have to hit it hardBecause I can actually see
(25:49):
people in their faces, seepeople texting, or the group
chat is quiet and people feellike, really, like man, today
was a bad day and for me thattells me that it was a good day
because we are pushing, we'retaking this personally.
So, um, and that's the thingabout the, the attendance team.
Okay, your attendance team, youshould be discussing specific
(26:11):
cases, the particular students,families.
You should be brainstorminginterventions.
You should be ensuring thateverybody knows their role,
everybody knows what their roleis in supporting these families,
and come up with gettinganswers so we can, so we know
how to best support them.
Okay, this is collaborativeproblem solving at its best.
(26:35):
Okay, if your attendance teamis the principal or the AP or
whoever, just talk to everybodyand it's not glad, we're not,
and you guys are notcollaborating and people have
information and sharing andstrategizing, that you don't
have an attendance team, youjust have a meeting, you just
have a meeting, you know, andyou just have a meeting.
So, and again, that's not goingto move anything.
(26:58):
Um, so now strategies,strategies for improvements.
So I'm, I'm, I'm that personand I'm sure you've seen this,
you've heard this so far fromthis episode.
Um, I was once asked to buyincentives.
What are your incentives?
I do so much.
The school is the incentive,and they looked at me like wait
(27:23):
a minute, but you know what Imean gift cards, t-shirts, and
I'm like the problem with thatis, once you incentivize school
in that capacity, certain kidswill only come because you're
giving them stuff and it's notabout the learning.
And I do believe in celebratingattendance, or I believe in
(27:44):
that.
But that's old school, perfectattendance, and oh, that's
wonderful.
But again, like I said earlier,if you're not creating an
environment where the kidactually wants to be there, then
what are you doing?
If you don't, having created aschool environment where the
kids feel safe there, then whatare you doing?
If you haven't created a schoolenvironment where, in the
(28:04):
classrooms, kids are engaged andthey feel like they're learning
, they're growing, what are youdoing?
To me, that's the incentive,that is the incentive.
And, yes, the school store andsome schools do like attendance
box and all that kind of stuff,attendance currency, that is
(28:27):
cool.
But I think once you havecreated the ultimate climate for
learning in your school, thenthat other stuff becomes like
the icing on the cake.
It shouldn't be the cake though.
It's the garnish, it's thestuff that makes things look
good, and that's my thing withwhen it comes to incentives.
(28:52):
Now, mentorship, or successmentors very important, but I'll
tell you this a success mentoris everyone in the process of
supporting that child or thatfamily in getting to school
there.
That's a success mentorship andit shouldn't just be one person
.
Everybody's a mentor in somecapacity as the principal.
(29:15):
When I see the kid come intoschool or I see the parent, I'm
giving them a high five and I'mlike and I tell parents yo,
we're family, give them a hug,making them feel good, knowing
that here at this school mychild is seen, my child is
appreciated.
That's my role as a successmentor.
My team members who go throughthe data and they look into the
data and they're and they'resupportive of the team,
(29:36):
understanding what the trendsare, those are success mentors.
But they're giving us tools tonow apply to the child or,
specifically, in my case, theindividual families, the
guidance team who have takenownership because this child is
one of the kids I support as aguidance counselor and them
reaching out and knowing andactually truly knowing and being
(29:57):
partners with parents.
That's another success mentor.
So for me, I see the wholeentire team as success mentors,
because we're empoweringfamilies and children to be
successful in getting themselvesto school and learning and
growing.
And some people have huge teams.
My thing is, I like my teamsmore intimate because, again,
(30:19):
this is like you know, guys knowI was in the Marine Corps.
So this is like a fire teamEverybody has their role.
We have the weapons specialists, we have the communications, we
have the medic, we have allthese people.
But then we all also know that,if needed, we can, all you know
, intersect and support eachother in doing this work.
(30:41):
Let me see here what am I?
I'm just going through my notesright now.
See, there's anything that I'mmissing here.
And, of course, engagingfamilies is key.
Many times, chronic absenteeismis symptoms of a larger issue.
Like I said earlier, it's justfiguring out what the issue is
Like, what's stopping this fromhappening.
(31:02):
And often, if you know, thenyou can provide support.
So you can, you know, see, workwith the families to figure out
, like, how do we make sure wecan support you?
I've had situations where where,literally you know, families
might be in the shelter and theshelter they're in is on the
other side of the city andthat's where they're living
right now.
(31:22):
And then it's like, okay, nowhow do we support that?
Family Based not coming toschool is not an option.
So I have kids who might showup to school at 10 o'clock and
it's like, because they'recoming from very far or the
parents, the parents can getinto school.
I'm not beating the parent upfor that.
I'm like, okay, now how do wemake sure when the child gets
here, you know the work that wasmissing.
(31:43):
We can get that for them.
We can get them to tutoring orwhatever needs to happen, but
they're in school, okay.
And these are the things likeleading with compassion,
supporting families withcompassion.
It's also very important.
Some schools will just literallybeat a parent or families over
the head.
You're not here, what are youdoing?
You're never in school.
When I hear that, I'm sorry,I'm calling into my office.
(32:04):
We're going to have aconversation.
But at the end of the day, youknow, we don't always know until
we know what's really happening.
And that's how I try to figureout what's happening.
And when the child shows up, Idon't give.
The child has is constantlydisruptive.
I celebrate the child coming, Igive them the high five, I give
them the pound.
Like you know, I'm good to seeyou today.
(32:25):
I'm a cracker joke, you knowsomething to make them smile.
But again, I know that a lot oftimes children are disruptive
in school because there'ssomething about the environment,
there's something that'shappening that makes them feel
unsafe.
So if kids feel safe, they'llcome to school.
If parents are supporting andthey're doing that alone,
they'll work with the school tomake sure they get their child
to school, and that is themission here.
(32:48):
So, so, yeah, so these are thethings that I think about when
it comes to attendance.
And I'll tell you this if yourattendance team is not popping,
is not doing the staying, let'sstart with baby steps.
(33:10):
Start collecting and analyzingthe data from the lens of the
individual child and theirfamily.
What is the need?
What is preventing attendancefrom being a priority?
Or what's causing the dentistto drop?
And just not being in school isnot the answer.
What is it exactly is causingthis?
(33:31):
And make sure you have the rightperson focusing on that piece
and split it up.
Don't have one person to do.
You have a list of 20, 30, 21persons making those phone calls
.
Split it up, make sureeverybody's playing their role,
and if everybody's playing theirrole, this is what happens.
Then you're able to reallyattack the issue.
But if everybody's not playingtheir role, I'm telling you
(33:54):
right now, it becomes daunting,and you want this to be daunting
.
You don't want remember yourattendance team.
People also have other jobsthey have to do to keep the
school running.
So if you're not splitting therule the right way, you're going
to struggle and they're gonnastruggle.
Then attendance means itbecomes that space that they
(34:17):
don't wanna be at.
I'll tell you right now there'sa lot of people who are part of
the attendance teams that donot like going to attendance
team meetings.
It should be a place whereeverybody walks in, they're
excited to come in and share newinformation, because that
information is going to reversethe attendance issue at your
school or keep your attendanceamazing.
Even when you have greatattendance, your attendance team
(34:39):
is your preventative measure tomake sure it doesn't go in the
wrong direction.
So, yeah, again, I've said inanother episode, if you ever, if
you listen to this episode andyou're like man, that was too
much or man, I have morequestions, feel free, drop me a
message in the messenger,whatever platform, whether
you're YouTube or LinkedIn,wherever you see this, drop me a
(35:02):
message, let me know, let'stalk, let me support you, let me
answer your questions because,again, these things that I talk
about in this space, it's notjust for me to just put out
there to the world and talkabout.
It's really about supportingpeople from my experiences
supporting leaders, from myexperience, so you don't have to
repeat the same mistakes thatI've made or that a lot of
(35:24):
leaders make.
And again, this is not a onesize fits all, this is not the
only solution, but this iswhat's worked for me.
Right now, as a school, we areat 90% attendance.
Not happy about that.
My goal is 97 and that mighttake some time to get to, but
the thing is we are seeing someof the highest attendance as a
(35:46):
school that we've seen in manyyears.
And when I have people on theteam who are telling me I've
been here for five years, I'venever seen attendance this good,
that tells that says a lot tome.
That says we're moving in theright direction.
And again, I'll tell you, thedays that we drop under 90,
people's moods like sour.
And because we know what we'redoing to work and we know how
(36:07):
important this is.
So again, don't think I'msitting here saying, oh my God,
my attendance is so great.
This is a 90 now Because I'malways thinking about that 10%,
like what do we do to close thegap with those 10%?
But I'm also proud of my teambecause we are pushing, we're
improving on a daily basis, andif we keep doing what we're
(36:29):
doing, I can only imagine wewill be a year from now, two
years from now, when we reallyperfected what we do and how we
do it, to make sure that we'resupporting families, not just
hunting for kids to pull theminto the school building.
All right, y'all.
This is Uche and Joker Snicker,principal.
Thank you again for listeningto this long and unexpected
(36:49):
episode, but I hope it washelpful to you and again, I look
forward to hearing from you inthe comments or you can message
me directly, and until next time.
All right, be well.
Attendance and chronic absenteeism.
Does this keep you up at night?
Do you walk into your schoolevery day and you're asking
yourself how do I attack this,reverse this?
How do I get kids in the school?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Let's talk about that today.
When they see me, they knowthat every day, when I'm
breathing, it's for us to gofarther.
Every time I speak, I want thetruth to come out.
Every time I speak, I want toshiver.
I don't want them to be like.
They know what I'm going to saybecause it's polite.
They know what I'm going to sayand even if I get in trouble,
that ain't what we're supposedto do.
(00:41):
I'm not saying I'm going torule the world or I'm going to
change the world, but Iguarantee that I will spark the
brain that will change the world, and that's our job is to spark
somebody else watching us.
We might not be the ones, butlet's not be selfish because
we're not going to change theworld.
Let's not talk about how weshould change it.
I don't know how to change it,but I know.
If I keep talking about howdirty it is out here, somebody
(01:03):
going to clean it up.
And now he's been promoted hisjob as principal.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I was going to have.
You want this, Ujjain Jokusneak, principal.
And we're going to talk aboutsomething that is hard to talk
about because I feel there's noexact science to this, but,
however, there are strategiesthat can be put in place to
(01:38):
address this particular thing,and the thing I'm talking about
here is attendance schoolattendance to be exact.
As you all know, this is my.
I'm at my third school as aprincipal and I've worked at
several schools where attendancewas like the core conversation.
It was the, the, the one thingthat was being tracked, probably
(02:04):
above all things, and I'll tellyou why.
If kids are not in school, howdo you teach them?
If kids are not in school on adaily basis, how do you improve
schools?
You know performance, it'svirtually impossible.
So you have to have kids inschool.
(02:26):
So, but then we talk aboutattendance.
We also have to talk about theother side of the coin, which is
, which is the chronicabsenteeism.
Those kids who are so, who'vebeen out of school for so many
days that now it's on the stagesof being chronic.
And I'll tell you this if yourschool is not rethinking or
(02:52):
doesn't have a strategy and planthat's working, you're going to
be struggling for years to come.
So in this episode of theSneaker Principal Podcast, I
wanted to share with you mystrategies.
It's not an exact science, butI also feel there are scientific
, mathematical things that canbe done to really move the way
(03:18):
we see attendance, at least forindividual schools.
So first of all, let's let'sstart off by defining what is
chronic absenteeism.
Someone look at my notes, soI'm not being rude, not looking
at you on the camera for thoseof you watching this on video
but chronic absenteeism is whenstudents miss 10% or more of the
(03:38):
school year.
It's a silent epidemicaffecting schools nationwide,
impeding academic and socialdevelopment, whether it's due to
illness, family issues or lackof engagement.
We need to address this issuehead on.
I love the way that was thatwas.
That's well framed, because itis.
(04:01):
It is an epidemic, you know,especially when it's not
addressed and allowed to justhappen and, furthermore,
according to recent data,millions of students fall into
the category of being chronicabsentee.
This is a call to action for usall in education.
(04:23):
So, if you watch this right now, this is a call to action
because, again, our schools aretalking about attendance.
A lot of schools are doing alot of things.
Our question is are you beingeffective in what you're doing
and how you're doing well, howyou doing it?
So, first off, the role ofattendance data.
(04:43):
So data, data, data, data.
A lot of schools don't trulyunderstand their own attendance
data, and I'm not saying that Iam an expert at it, but, however
, we are just looking at numbers, percentages, and we're looking
at heat maps and we're likewhat classes, what section, what
(05:06):
class has the most attendanceissues?
And I believe it's a little bitmore than that.
Heat maps are great.
They make you feel like you'rebeing productive.
Percentages gives you somethingto look at.
But for me, the data that Ireally like to look at is the
(05:30):
actual individual student.
You know it's like in business.
You know if you're trying tosell something, you have a
widget, you have a product.
You're not just gonna go to themarket and start selling to
everybody.
No, you're gonna target, you'regonna say who is my customer,
what are the attendencies, whatare they looking for, what are
the needs, what are the thingsthat I know that make them the
(05:54):
most ideal person for thisproduct?
And I say using the samementality for attendance is very
important because we have tothink about who.
The individual student who's notattending is the individual
first.
And looking at their dailyrecords, their tardiness If you
(06:14):
weren't there in school, are yougetting in school on time?
I mean, I'm sorry, I think,into the classes on time.
You know understanding thepatterns of the individual's
absence.
When are they absent the most?
What's happening in thatchild's household that's causing
it to be absent?
You know, and not only that,now with the child, the parent,
(06:35):
there's too many schools arethinking about oh, this child is
not in school.
You know, let's incentivize thechild to be in school.
But my belief is, if you don'tknow what the motivating factor
is, or the demotivating factoris for the actual parent, the
person who's actually in chargeof that child, then what are we
(06:58):
talking about here?
Like I've heard conversationsabout how do we incentivize
elementary school kids come toschool Majority, the vast
majority of elementary schoolkids have no control over
themselves to get to school Isthe parent who makes sure to get
to school.
So what's going with the parent?
Do they live too far?
Are they having I mean, arethey having childcare situations
(07:21):
?
I mean issues?
You know, are our studentshelping with that?
You know we have kids who cometo school late.
Are they dropping off theirsiblings?
You know all these littlethings we have to understand.
Paint a picture to have a clearunderstanding, because if we're
not doing that, the numbersmean nothing.
You know the incentives.
(07:42):
I know school who spentthousands of dollars for
incentives, gift cards and thisand that, and they even hire
more people.
But I'm like, but the numbersare still wanting because you're
not addressing the actual issue, which is knowing why
(08:02):
Elementary school.
You have to figure out what'sgoing on with the parents, not
as a judge and jury, but as apartner.
How can we support Middleschool?
Same thing, you think, becausethe kid is obviously the bigger
body that they're in control ofthemselves.
No, it's the parents, theguardians.
High school's way becomes alittle bit different.
(08:24):
But now, when you're talking toa 17, 18 year old, they may
very well have full autonomy.
Then you have to figure out howto address their needs as well.
What's the reason for them notcoming to school?
How can we reverse that?
But again, I'm going back tosaying this you have to
understand the individual, theperson, the stakeholder, the
(08:46):
main person who has control ofit, that child being there.
But the other thing too is, asyou're collecting data, it has
to be accurate.
There's nothing worse in theworld than not knowing the
numbers behind that individual.
Because I'll tell you right now, I've had parents who we speak
to them and we'll say thechild's not coming to school,
okay, and it turns into a backand forth the child has to be in
(09:07):
school, but I just have that.
But rather sitting with aparent and saying let's look at
your child's collective dataNumber of days they've been
absent, they're grades, this ishow they're performing, this is
how they're falling behind andyou show the parent these things
, all of a sudden parents arelike wait a minute, I didn't
think it was that bad.
But often, if you don't knowthe numbers and you're not
sharing with the parent theactual detail of that child,
(09:33):
you're just asking for a backand forth Data.
Data data is the ultimate,ultimate intervention strategy.
Once we know where everyonefalls, then we can start talking
about solutions, and that's thegoal talk about solutions.
How do we reverse this?
It's the child who starts offthe year with this and they've
(09:58):
already hit the percent.
The key now is to minimize that, that number from growing.
You know, and the way you dothat is you you have to
strategize around the data withthat, with that family and or in
the physical high school kid,with a high school kid.
But also again I'm gonna repeat, it's about coming down to the
why, what is causing this andwhat we need to do to reverse it
(10:21):
.
Um, once we have the data, isit's we have to analyze it.
You know, like I said earlier,you have the data.
You have to know the datayourself, so you know how to you
utilize it in the conversationswith, with the families.
But now One of the things thatI know I've seen this over and
(10:46):
over again that is not doneright and I hope, I hope I can,
I could, I could articulate thisWell when you only looking at
percentages, you only looking atyou know, um, a List of
students who are not there, andI look at them at the individual
, one of the things you tend todo and this is a major misstep
(11:10):
is you, you kind of like Attackthe list, you know you, you put
boots on the ground, let's gofind those kids, bring them to
school, let's get them into thebuilding.
And the problem with that is,when you're attacking that list,
(11:32):
you're ignoring the bigger list, the rest of the kids A lot of
parents allow schools will lookat.
Oh my god, these are ourchronic absentee students.
We're attacking them and asthat list, as you're, as you're
trying to reduce that list, youknow is getting bigger because
there are other kids who arecoming to school every day,
(11:55):
who's starting to like fallbehind themselves.
So you're always attacking thecurrently absentee or the
absence list and you're notaddressing those who are here
every single day, collect data.
Why are the kids who come toschool every day?
Why are they coming.
What excites them about them toyour school?
What is it about being inschool?
They excites them because onething I want to tell you but I'm
(12:18):
not believe it that that youmust come to school and that's
it.
What is there at the school tomake sure the kid comes?
If the kid is, if the kid is isis if your school is not
addressing the social emotionalneeds it's not, doesn't have an
exciting academic program, thereare not extracurricular
activities, that things thatmake school fun for them or,
(12:38):
even better yet, safe, that yourchronic absentee list is going
to increase.
That your chronic absentee listis going to increase.
Is it is going to increase?
Okay, so those are watching thevideo.
Something weird happened, buthopefully I will go back and
(12:59):
make sure the audio is correct.
So I was saying, when it comesto students being in school, you
have to address that.
You have to make sure that youcreate a climate where kids are
being engaged every single day,and I was mentioning about
safety.
There is a huge correlationbetween school climate and
(13:22):
attendance.
You can be fine to get kidsinto a school building, but if
your school space is not safe,where kids feel like when I come
here Mentally, physically,spiritually I always say
spiritually too, because it allconnects mental, physical,
spiritual and emotional.
If those four things are notconnected to each other and your
school space is a space wherekids feel unsafe, guess what a
(13:49):
simple text message that thatthere's gonna be a fight
tomorrow and kids are not gonnacome to school then that next
day, I'm telling you look atyour, look at your school data
and Look and look at the daysthat there's been fights or
there's been escalated Eventsthat Create a safety issue in
(14:11):
your school and look what yourattendance was that day.
In 2023, nothing happens inisolation.
Because of this thing righthere called the cell phone and
social media, most incidentshave already I don't say be been
preplanned, but have alreadybeen initiated before they be
(14:31):
happening in school.
And Because it's happening onon social media and most of your
kids already know is something,that something's gonna happen,
especially middle schools andhigh schools.
Kids know and People think they.
All kids want drama.
Most kids are trying to runaway from it.
So if your school has drama,guess what happens now those
(14:52):
days?
Where Doesn't this?
Is this incident, or whateverthe case may be?
You might notice your attendancewas low that day from the jump,
because, all of a sudden, whatyou not realize and certain kids
are like oh, I have a tummyache today, mom, I don't want to
go to school, I'm not feelingwell because they don't want to
be in the middle of the mess Isthat there's been planned for
(15:12):
that day, or things that areescalating, things like bullying
, things like just rowdyhallways or classrooms that are
out of control.
Who wants to be there?
So, while you're trying to getkids into your school, is your
school a space where the kidswant to actually be in?
Asks us of that question.
Okay, so you have to addressthe data from from your actual
(15:36):
school space.
What is happening, doing today,day today, because I'm telling
you there's a correlationbetween your school climate and
kids not want to be in school.
So if you can fix that, thenjust what happens?
You have more kids who are inschool, and those kids who are
not in school, you can addressthem to see what's stopping them
from coming.
(15:56):
And what's stopping from comingbetter not be the school itself
, but if the school itself isthe problem, you will have
absentee absence at anattendance issue and a
chronically absentee issue aswell.
So I'll share this quick storymy, my, my school right now, ms
(16:17):
224 this week, seven, southBronx.
When I first got there, thenumbers were I mean the
attendance the attendance partwas Moving in the right
direction.
The chronically absentee partwas out of control, like over
40%.
To think about that.
Over 40% chronically absenteethat's insane.
(16:39):
But the one thing that I sawthat was like okay, this has to
change was climate there.
There were a lot of issueshappening in the school, a lot
of, a lot of Social media drama,a lot of kids that didn't feel
safe.
And how do I know this?
We did a survey.
We did a survey of our kids aswe were writing our, our
(17:01):
comprehensive educational planfor 2023-24, and when we did
student survey, it was in therekids were saying that bullying,
the fights, the inability tolearn the classroom, the kids
who were distracting all thisstuff was in was impeding their
learning.
So why wouldn't we have achronically absentee issue?
(17:23):
This?
Most kids don't want to sit athome, let's be honest here.
But also, most kids don't wantto be in a space where they
don't feel safe, you know, or orthey're feeling traumatized by
all the things that arehappening in that space.
So that is something to be.
It needs to be addressed.
As far as reversing or you know, I don't believe in reversing
(17:46):
if you're already in a problem,that you have to reverse it.
But how do we start for theschool year, creating a space
where we don't have toeventually reverse chronically
absenteeism?
Well, we have a space wherekids are coming to school every
day and if they're not there isbecause they are very clear
reasons that we can address andsupport them with, and the
reason, again, should not be theschool itself Now forming an
(18:11):
attendance team, attendance team, attendance team.
So every, almost every schoolthat, or any, every school
system has attendance issues,has an attendance team, and the
attendance team is a.
It's a group of of stakeholdersin school.
So we're talking aboutadministrators, we're talking
about teachers, counselors, evenparents, you know, who are part
(18:34):
of having conversations on howdo we support Students with poor
attendance, how do we, you know, move kids off the chronically
absentee list?
Okay, and this is how youcollect data and this how you
attack the data from this team.
But I'll tell you this I'vealso felt a lot, a lot of
(18:54):
schools you have there.
They're moving based oncompliance, they have your
attendance team and they'reattacked again, I said earlier,
they're attacking the absenteestudents by not really
addressing the school cultureand and One of the things that
is a school leader that I holdvery important to me in that
(19:15):
attendance team we have to bevery strategic.
We have to know why we're thereand what is it exactly we're
doing.
So everything I've said so farAre things that are discussed
within my attendance team Fromthe jump, from the first
attendance meeting, we knewwhich kids first of all.
No, no, first of all, we knewwhat the number was, based on a
(19:37):
population, what was the dangerzone?
Okay, what was the number ofkids absent every day to put us
in a space where we Would Fall,as a school, into having poor
attendance?
No, and for us, that number wasabout 15 kids every day, when,
(20:01):
if you're in a school, you're ina school.
You're in a school.
You're in a school Every daywhen, if you have 15 kids that
are absent, our numbers lookscrazy If we have over 15 kids
and some of my say, well, now,now, you just using the numbers,
you don't really care aboutkids being there, you just use
it.
You just use the numbers tomake sure you guys look good.
Yes and also no.
(20:23):
Because we know who those 15kids are.
And because we know who those15 kids are, we're calling every
day.
Okay, at my school, every daythat a kid is absent, even if we
know why the kid is absent,even if the kid is sick at home,
there's a touch point.
Every single day my parentcoordinator will call If Jamal
(20:44):
is absent today and we call momand mom says he's not feeling
well the next day, we'll callagain.
Oh, he's still not feeling wellthe next day we'll call again.
Oh, he was in the hospital.
Like, we want to know on aday-to-day basis how's the child
doing.
But now it goes beyond justattendance.
It's about knowing what'shappening with that child, with
that family.
Oh, he missed the train thismorning.
(21:05):
Oh, okay, is there anothertrain they can take?
Like this is.
This is the conversation,because we are trying to help
also parents who are in thatspace of having children who are
currently absent, or better,parents who are clinically
absentee parents.
You know, from as far as thekids come into school, engaging
them every day, come up with asolution.
You know, and what we found isthe more we talk to parents, the
(21:27):
older sudden kids come intoschool.
But sometimes the parents likeyou know, I'm tired of caring,
from you know, from the parentcoordinator or from the
assistant principal or theguidance counselor.
So those 15 are easy to digest.
And now, when you have like, inmy case I have an attendance
team with three counselors, okay, who split up the whole entire
school.
So guess what?
(21:47):
Each of those counselors hastheir workload of students, that
is, their students they'rereaching out to.
Then we have a family workerwho now we can say, hey, this
child now is in the danger zone.
So now the family workers dohome visits but we're managing
that list of 15.
And but then, at the same time,we have a chart of kids who are
on the cusp of potentiallybeing chronically absentee, and
(22:11):
we can watch them.
We have a threshold when thechild gets to a certain
percentage.
Oh, we got the move.
We're there, like in tier two,about the tier three, meaning
tier three, chronically absentee.
Oh, now we're attacking thosekids before they go to that list
.
Hey, what's going on?
Oh, we need to make sure we'rereaching out and talking to them
and we're sharing the numbersand we're having those
(22:31):
conversations and what happens?
This becomes very organic.
Let me tell you how organic itis.
Every day my attendance team.
I have a schoolmate who isamazing.
She does the attendance everyday.
She collects the data, she getsa laptop out and looks who's
not here and and then she makessure that our tenants are
correct, because a lot of timesif you have a big school, even a
(22:53):
small school, kids walk in andwe missed them on the attendance
sheet and then all of a suddenwe think our numbers are much
higher.
I can tell you this there hasnot been a day since the
beginning of school year wherewe've missed the kid who's been
in the building.
We're tracking that list allthe way till the end of the day
to make sure that our numbersare correct.
But even with our earliestnumbers we started to make phone
(23:15):
calls and sometimes we haveparents who say no, the child is
there, the child is here.
Do we have to go find thatchild?
Oh, this child walked in lateand kind of snuck around the
main office.
So they, we can catch them inattendance and they went into
the classroom.
Ok, and we saw that was theissue.
Then now we have tracking, wehave section sheets, so now
every period teachers are ableto make marking kids present or
(23:40):
absent or late in all theirclasses and these sections just
go from room to room.
So my school, I can pull thatfolder up and look at it as
she's, as she's searching forstudents to make sure that our
attendance is accurate.
And again, it makes make sure.
It makes us hyper focused,knowing that this is the kids,
the 15 or hopefully last kidsthat we have to track and target
(24:01):
every smooth day.
So our guidance comes frommaking targeted calls, our
family worker making targetedvisits, our parent coordinators
calling every day and we are incontrol.
So I'll tell you this myattendance team has.
We have a group chat on ourphones where we were asking the
(24:21):
other day, what is our number?
What is our number?
What's our number over 17?
Oh, we found two more kids,we're 15.
Oh, my God, we're 13.
Oh my God, we're eight todayand in there we're dropping
emojis and and and Jeff's andwe're celebrating because also
we understand how important thisnumber, these numbers, are.
It's not just for complianceand we know kids are in school
(24:43):
and they're learning and thenguess what happens?
Now we can be also trackingimprovements.
Oh, my God, this kid came offthe crime Crayops and teeth list
.
You know, and we're controllingthat.
We have.
We have a spreadsheet that weshare every meeting we meet
every Tuesday, and thatspreadsheet there's.
There's a red section andyellow section.
(25:03):
Yellow section is the sectionthat we want kids off that list
so they're not trending towardsbeing frankly absentee.
And the red section is small.
It's shrinking every time wemeet.
Sometimes it bumps up where youwant to two kids and because
we're attacking those kids andthen we find out those kid was
sick or something happened.
But again, we're trackingeverything and we're taking it
(25:26):
personal and that's one thing Ilove.
My tennis team takes attendancepersonal.
We celebrate and then I'mtelling right now their days
were, were like oh, today was 20kids that were absent and we
are bummed out Like literally Ihave to go to group chat and
said, guys, you know what, Istill appreciate everybody and
what we're doing here.
Tomorrow we have to hit it hardBecause I can actually see
(25:49):
people in their faces, seepeople texting, or the group
chat is quiet and people feellike, really, like man, today
was a bad day and for me thattells me that it was a good day
because we are pushing, we'retaking this personally.
So, um, and that's the thingabout the, the attendance team.
Okay, your attendance team, youshould be discussing specific
(26:11):
cases, the particular students,families.
You should be brainstorminginterventions.
You should be ensuring thateverybody knows their role,
everybody knows what their roleis in supporting these families,
and come up with gettinganswers so we can, so we know
how to best support them.
Okay, this is collaborativeproblem solving at its best.
(26:35):
Okay, if your attendance teamis the principal or the AP or
whoever, just talk to everybodyand it's not glad, we're not,
and you guys are notcollaborating and people have
information and sharing andstrategizing, that you don't
have an attendance team, youjust have a meeting, you just
have a meeting, you know, andyou just have a meeting.
So, and again, that's not goingto move anything.
(26:58):
Um, so now strategies,strategies for improvements.
So I'm, I'm, I'm that personand I'm sure you've seen this,
you've heard this so far fromthis episode.
Um, I was once asked to buyincentives.
What are your incentives?
I do so much.
The school is the incentive,and they looked at me like wait
(27:23):
a minute, but you know what Imean gift cards, t-shirts, and
I'm like the problem with thatis, once you incentivize school
in that capacity, certain kidswill only come because you're
giving them stuff and it's notabout the learning.
And I do believe in celebratingattendance, or I believe in
(27:44):
that.
But that's old school, perfectattendance, and oh, that's
wonderful.
But again, like I said earlier,if you're not creating an
environment where the kidactually wants to be there, then
what are you doing?
If you don't, having created aschool environment where the
kids feel safe there, then whatare you doing?
If you haven't created a schoolenvironment where, in the
(28:04):
classrooms, kids are engaged andthey feel like they're learning
, they're growing, what are youdoing?
To me, that's the incentive,that is the incentive.
And, yes, the school store andsome schools do like attendance
box and all that kind of stuff,attendance currency, that is
(28:27):
cool.
But I think once you havecreated the ultimate climate for
learning in your school, thenthat other stuff becomes like
the icing on the cake.
It shouldn't be the cake though.
It's the garnish, it's thestuff that makes things look
good, and that's my thing withwhen it comes to incentives.
(28:52):
Now, mentorship, or successmentors very important, but I'll
tell you this a success mentoris everyone in the process of
supporting that child or thatfamily in getting to school
there.
That's a success mentorship andit shouldn't just be one person
.
Everybody's a mentor in somecapacity as the principal.
(29:15):
When I see the kid come intoschool or I see the parent, I'm
giving them a high five and I'mlike and I tell parents yo,
we're family, give them a hug,making them feel good, knowing
that here at this school mychild is seen, my child is
appreciated.
That's my role as a successmentor.
My team members who go throughthe data and they look into the
data and they're and they'resupportive of the team,
(29:36):
understanding what the trendsare, those are success mentors.
But they're giving us tools tonow apply to the child or,
specifically, in my case, theindividual families, the
guidance team who have takenownership because this child is
one of the kids I support as aguidance counselor and them
reaching out and knowing andactually truly knowing and being
(29:57):
partners with parents.
That's another success mentor.
So for me, I see the wholeentire team as success mentors,
because we're empoweringfamilies and children to be
successful in getting themselvesto school and learning and
growing.
And some people have huge teams.
My thing is, I like my teamsmore intimate because, again,
(30:19):
this is like you know, guys knowI was in the Marine Corps.
So this is like a fire teamEverybody has their role.
We have the weapons specialists, we have the communications, we
have the medic, we have allthese people.
But then we all also know that,if needed, we can, all you know
, intersect and support eachother in doing this work.
(30:41):
Let me see here what am I?
I'm just going through my notesright now.
See, there's anything that I'mmissing here.
And, of course, engagingfamilies is key.
Many times, chronic absenteeismis symptoms of a larger issue.
Like I said earlier, it's justfiguring out what the issue is
Like, what's stopping this fromhappening.
(31:02):
And often, if you know, thenyou can provide support.
So you can, you know, see, workwith the families to figure out
, like, how do we make sure wecan support you?
I've had situations where where,literally you know, families
might be in the shelter and theshelter they're in is on the
other side of the city andthat's where they're living
right now.
(31:22):
And then it's like, okay, nowhow do we support that?
Family Based not coming toschool is not an option.
So I have kids who might showup to school at 10 o'clock and
it's like, because they'recoming from very far or the
parents, the parents can getinto school.
I'm not beating the parent upfor that.
I'm like, okay, now how do wemake sure when the child gets
here, you know the work that wasmissing.
(31:43):
We can get that for them.
We can get them to tutoring orwhatever needs to happen, but
they're in school, okay.
And these are the things likeleading with compassion,
supporting families withcompassion.
It's also very important.
Some schools will just literallybeat a parent or families over
the head.
You're not here, what are youdoing?
You're never in school.
When I hear that, I'm sorry,I'm calling into my office.
(32:04):
We're going to have aconversation.
But at the end of the day, youknow, we don't always know until
we know what's really happening.
And that's how I try to figureout what's happening.
And when the child shows up, Idon't give.
The child has is constantlydisruptive.
I celebrate the child coming, Igive them the high five, I give
them the pound.
Like you know, I'm good to seeyou today.
(32:25):
I'm a cracker joke, you knowsomething to make them smile.
But again, I know that a lot oftimes children are disruptive
in school because there'ssomething about the environment,
there's something that'shappening that makes them feel
unsafe.
So if kids feel safe, they'llcome to school.
If parents are supporting andthey're doing that alone,
they'll work with the school tomake sure they get their child
to school, and that is themission here.
(32:48):
So, so, yeah, so these are thethings that I think about when
it comes to attendance.
And I'll tell you this if yourattendance team is not popping,
is not doing the staying, let'sstart with baby steps.
(33:10):
Start collecting and analyzingthe data from the lens of the
individual child and theirfamily.
What is the need?
What is preventing attendancefrom being a priority?
Or what's causing the dentistto drop?
And just not being in school isnot the answer.
What is it exactly is causingthis?
(33:31):
And make sure you have the rightperson focusing on that piece
and split it up.
Don't have one person to do.
You have a list of 20, 30, 21persons making those phone calls
.
Split it up, make sureeverybody's playing their role,
and if everybody's playing theirrole, this is what happens.
Then you're able to reallyattack the issue.
But if everybody's not playingtheir role, I'm telling you
(33:54):
right now, it becomes daunting,and you want this to be daunting
.
You don't want remember yourattendance team.
People also have other jobsthey have to do to keep the
school running.
So if you're not splitting therule the right way, you're going
to struggle and they're gonnastruggle.
Then attendance means itbecomes that space that they
(34:17):
don't wanna be at.
I'll tell you right now there'sa lot of people who are part of
the attendance teams that donot like going to attendance
team meetings.
It should be a place whereeverybody walks in, they're
excited to come in and share newinformation, because that
information is going to reversethe attendance issue at your
school or keep your attendanceamazing.
Even when you have greatattendance, your attendance team
(34:39):
is your preventative measure tomake sure it doesn't go in the
wrong direction.
So, yeah, again, I've said inanother episode, if you ever, if
you listen to this episode andyou're like man, that was too
much or man, I have morequestions, feel free, drop me a
message in the messenger,whatever platform, whether
you're YouTube or LinkedIn,wherever you see this, drop me a
(35:02):
message, let me know, let'stalk, let me support you, let me
answer your questions because,again, these things that I talk
about in this space, it's notjust for me to just put out
there to the world and talkabout.
It's really about supportingpeople from my experiences
supporting leaders, from myexperience, so you don't have to
repeat the same mistakes thatI've made or that a lot of
(35:24):
leaders make.
And again, this is not a onesize fits all, this is not the
only solution, but this iswhat's worked for me.
Right now, as a school, we areat 90% attendance.
Not happy about that.
My goal is 97 and that mighttake some time to get to, but
the thing is we are seeing someof the highest attendance as a
(35:46):
school that we've seen in manyyears.
And when I have people on theteam who are telling me I've
been here for five years, I'venever seen attendance this good,
that tells that says a lot tome.
That says we're moving in theright direction.
And again, I'll tell you, thedays that we drop under 90,
people's moods like sour.
And because we know what we'redoing to work and we know how
(36:07):
important this is.
So again, don't think I'msitting here saying, oh my God,
my attendance is so great.
This is a 90 now Because I'malways thinking about that 10%,
like what do we do to close thegap with those 10%?
But I'm also proud of my teambecause we are pushing, we're
improving on a daily basis, andif we keep doing what we're
(36:29):
doing, I can only imagine wewill be a year from now, two
years from now, when we reallyperfected what we do and how we
do it, to make sure that we'resupporting families, not just
hunting for kids to pull theminto the school building.
All right, y'all.
This is Uche and Joker Snicker,principal.
Thank you again for listeningto this long and unexpected
(36:49):
episode, but I hope it washelpful to you and again, I look
forward to hearing from you inthe comments or you can message
me directly, and until next time.
All right, be well.
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