Running head: IMPROVING ATTENDANCE AT ST.

C\LEVERLY SCHOOL

2016
0

11/13/2016

report on four-start school at Deming El

A REPORT BY ERICK HERNANDEZ
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

Hernandez 1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Methodology....................................................................................................................................3
Review of the Literature..................................................................................................................4
Research findings.............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Closing.............................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

Hernandez 2

Abstract
Attendance at Deming Elementary School is a very serious issue that has plagued this
school for many years. This school aspires to be a four-star school, but a contributing factor that
has prevented this is the lack of an attendance policy. Poor attendance has caused the school to
face barriers in student learning. In this recommendation report, I will recommend some of the
possible solutions that the institution can do to improve its attendance. These solutions include:
effective policies and parental contact, teacher/student relationships, and rewards. I will go into
more detail in my report.
Another requirement that Deming High School needs to have in order to be a four-star
school is have a good overall B+ in test scores in mathematics. They need this freshmen to senior
level scores. One of the barriers that they face in achieving this is because of a support system
that its fragmented. All of the resources that the school has for math has is spread out and not
supported of each other.

Hernandez 3

IMPROVING ATTENDANCE AT DEMING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Introduction
School attendance has become quite a serious problem that is being faced by many
schools nationwide and Deming Elementary School is not an exception to the problem either.
Deming Elementary aspires to be a Four-Star school but poor attendance has significantly
prohibited this. This is because they require an average of 97 percent attendance while their
current attendance rate is at 94 percent. Poor attendance has therefore been cited as a problem
that needs to be addressed with urgency. One of the contributing factors to this is the lack of an
attendance policy. To increase attendance, other strategies ought to be implemented. Good
attendance habits are important as they ensure the child grows up to be a responsible person.
Poor attendance may have lifelong negative consequences for a child. Children who occasionally
are late or absent miss out on a lot of things that are learned in school.
First, they lose a significant quantity of time that is supposed to be used up on their
schooling. Apart from that they also exhibit lateness troubles as well as the lack of competence
once in college or while pursuing their career. There is a significant need for change in
attendance program at Deming Elementary. The following report aims at the various tactics that
can be used to increase attendance at the Deming Elementary School (Epstein, January, 2005).
Another problem that has plagued the school on achieving their four star status is the lack
of a supportive math environment. The high school does have a support system, but all of these
resources are separated and dont work together.

Hernandez 4
In order to close this gap, I am going to conduct a study on the various resources that they
are focusing on these areas: achievement, resources, and cooperation with other school
departments.

Methodology
To the various tactics, schools are using to boost their attendance; we surveyed teachers
from different local elementary as well as secondary schools. Apart from that, 50 filled
questionnaires were received. Furthermore, we researched from the academic databases for
example ERIC to unearth related articles on how to boost attendance. The following articles
show different ways of escalating attendance in schools.

Review of the Literature

This particular theoretical review that was conducted on the attendance tends to address
the causes, parental contact, student-teacher relationships, community involvement, and the
incentives and rewards in increasing student attendance (Epstein, 2005).

Causes of Absenteeism

The theories are in order from the perspective that is a common challenge for the schools
within the state. The attributes to absenteeism can be associated with the little support that the
school contributes to the student's poor health. John Doughtery (1999) do state that home
dynamics play a crucial role to absenteeism. Secondly, parents are the determinants to the
students class attendance, (Doughtery, 1999). Janet Ford and Richard Sutphen (1996), concur
with the fact that the parent is core to the frequency of a childs frequency of class attendance.
Doughtery also confirms that apart from home life, the attendance can also be influenced by

Hernandez 5
illness. Another attribute to this is the number of vacations which come in during the school
periods. Other authors also argue that this can be influenced by the level of a students
performance standards, whereby those who are not performing averagely well have a higher
possibility of not going to school. This attribute is associated with the one whereby the school
does not recognize a student's presence in school (Doughtery, 1999)

Effective Policies and Parental Contact

In the process of seeking new ideas and programs so as to increase the students' frequency of
attendance, Dan Vvandiver (2003), a principle in high school, says that policies have to be strict,
and every student must stick to it. He goes ahead and states that they should be fair and flexible
so as to accommodate mitigating scenarios (Vandivier, 2003, pg. 82). Other studies have also
demonstrated that the relationship between the student and the teacher are directly proportionate
to the student attendance frequency (Epstein, 2002).They also conducted a study whereby they
identified that the manner in they was able to overcome communication challenge impacted on
the student level of class attendance. According to Epstein (2002), they revealed that when
families are provided with someone to communicate to in the school on their frequency of
attendance, then it will impact positively on students degree of class attendance.

Teacher/Student Relationships

While community and family involvement has a role in the students attendance, other
sources indicate that the student-teacher relationship is essential since it influences the results in
the attendance (Vandivier, 2003). He further states that the teachers should take the responsibility

Hernandez 6
of lecturing their students on the importance of reporting to school on a daily basis. According to
Dougherty (2003), he insists that the teachers should always remind the students that they are
always missed whenever they do not attend to their classes. This will help reduce the frequency
of absenteeism.

Community Involvement

Most of the authors tend to agree from the perspective that concrete involvement of families
can greatly contribute positively to the students level of class attendance. Thus, it has been noted
that most of the schools have opted to work in collaboration with the school so as to act as an
incentive to the perfect class attendance (John Daugherty, 1999).

Punishments/Consequences

Sources indicate that punishments can greatly impact on the students' attendance. The
consequences can be regarding the fines to the parents, jail terms, and the ability to lose the
school funds within that particular academic period. This study was carried by John Daugherty
(1999).
Rewards and Incentives
Based on the past research, it is clear that the incorporation of incentives greatly impacts
on the frequency of attendance. Vandivier (2003), states that Mondays and Fridays are the days
with the highest absenteeism, and thus specials events should be on these two days to boost the
attendance.

Hernandez 7

Research findings
The survey was conducted by all the local teachers to elaborate on the programs and
policies being used by the school in increasing their attendance. The survey was done on the
kindergarten all through the fifth-grade teachers that had a teaching experience of over ten years.
The finding on the rate of attendance was 95 percent. Another finding was that most of the
schools had an attendance policy, though not all the teachers are aware of the policy (Knox &
Dotson, 2013).
The survey showed that the teachers who take the initiative of implementing incentive
programs in their classrooms have an attendance of 100 percent, while those who dont have
such programs have an attendance of 98 percent. In the same survey 56 percent of the schools
highly encourage the involvement of teachers to address the issue of poor attendance. 85 percent
of the surveyed teachers confirmed that they had taken the initiative of addressing absenteeism
both to the parents and the students.
In regards to closing the gap between math resources, I find that these areas need more
improvement.
-

Coordination between school departments. The school needs to better educate its
departments in showing cooperation between departments. Also, it goes as well

individuals to cooperate with their coworkers.

Share resources with the students. There is a gap that departments dont share the
necessary resources with students. They trust in other persons to share that
information, and when they dont. It is the students who loose in this school
politics.

Hernandez 8
-

Necessity of too much departments. I find that having too many resources can
overwhelmed the students. This is a problem, because something they dont get the
right information in time or the wrong information.

Conclusion
Based on the conducted research, it is clear from the findings that attendance of students
is crucial from all aspects. From the review of the literature, it can be deducted that factors such

Hernandez 9
as parental contact, rewards, student to teacher relationships and community involvements are
important if implemented towards increasing students attendance.
From the survey, Most of the schools have sound attendance policies, but many teachers
are not aware of the policies, which becomes one of the hindering factors when it comes to
implementation of the attendance policies. According to the survey, from the teachers point of
view, school attendance can be increased by the communication of students and their parents.

Recommendations
Implementation of incentive programs should be encouraged in classrooms, and awards
such as a certificate of recognition or other prizes to increase the number of attendance.
Involve the outside community and the parents towards implementation of the incentive
programs in schools.
All the chronically absent students should be given counseling from their teachers and
parents.
Teacher to learn on discouraging students from absence by telling them of how they were
missed while they were absent.
Teachers should take the imitative of telling the students on the consequences of absence
on their academic performances.
The importance of attendance should be discussed and encouraged at the school
conferences.

Hernandez 10
The schools should take the initiative of creating fair and clear policies that address the
issue of attendance among their students.

Closing
Absenteeism is an issue that should be dealt with among all schools and not only in
Deming Elementary due to the rate at which it is being experienced. This a preventive measure to
nurture tomorrow's education today. Out of the whole research, the recommendation made from
it is not only meant for Deming Elementary School but to the rest of the elementary schools in
the United States (Bender, 2012).
In order for Deming High School to make the four start level they deserve. They should
focus on having a math department that is comprised on good faculty, cooperation, and
coordination between school entities.

Hernandez 11

Reference
Bender, T. (2012). Discussion-based online teaching to enhance student learning: Theory,
practice, and assessment. Sterling, Va: Stylys.
Epstein, J. (January 01, 2005). Links in a Professional Development Chain: Preservice and
Inservice Education for Effective Programs of School, Family, and Community
Partnerships. The New Educator, 1, 2, 125-141.
Ford, J., & Sutphen, R. D. (April 01, 1996). Early Intervention to Improve Attendance in
Elementary School for At-Risk Children: A Pilot Program. Social Work in
Education, 18,2, 95-102.
Knox, J. B., & Dotson, L. E. (2013). Class attendance as a factor in the academic achievement
of college students: Final report. Knoxville: University of Tennessee.
Vandivier, (2013). Every mother's son. Oakland CA: Primary Colors Music, Avatar Productions