Action Research Proposal

ED3323
Jennifer MacKay
March 18th, 2020
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Action Research Proposal

Using familial relationships to improve the attendance rate of chronically absent students at

Sussex Elementary School

Introduction:

Research Focus:

The area of focus for my research project is improving the attendance rate of chronically absent
students. Research shows that absenteeism has a substantial negative impact on school performance.
Chronic Absenteeism is defined by ASD-S as missing 10% or more of the available school days. The ASD-S
average Absenteeism in 2016/2017 for K-5 schools was 13%. The average for Sussex Elementary School
(SES) was 13%. The Average for 2018/2019 for SES was 19%. The average for Grade 2 students for
2018/2019 was 15%.

Grade K Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Overall

2018/2019 21% 15% 15% 20% 15% 27% 19%

Aims:

My aim is to improve the attendance rate of my Grade 2 class at Sussex Elementary School by
identifying and implementing actions steps that can be taken by myself and/or my administration to aid
the students in achieving a better attendance rate. The main focus will be on building familial
relationships.

Plan of Action:

First, I will collect real-time data of my class’ current attendance rate to analyze. I will identify
the chronic absentees and begin to accumulate data based on those students’ home life situations. I will
research different ways that attendance can be affected and implement a process to build relationships
with my students’ and their families. I will continue to keep personal attendance records and at the end
of the year, I will analyze the data to see if attendance rates have improved.

Research Question:

Can building relationships with and providing support to the parents/guardians of the
chronically absent students in my classroom, improve the attendance rate by the end of the school
year?
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Literature Review:

I reviewed different types of research surrounding chronic absenteeism and possibilities for
improving attendance. I found that in general, most of the research has shown that taking the time to
build relationships between the student, teacher, and the students’ family, it directly correlates to
better attendance rates which then results in increased engagement and grades. I have included five
detailed literature annotations which include the following elements: The APA formatted citation, the
type of article, useful references, a summary of the text’s thesis and essential points, the research
question(s), problem(s), or issue(s) addressed, the participants, audience, and/or subject, the forms of
data used to help the author answer the questions, problems, or issues, the themes that emerged about
the original questions, problems, or issues, interesting thoughts about these results and my personal
connection as a future teacher.

Description of Research Context:

Sussex Elementary School has roughly 360 students from K-5 with a significant number of those
students coming from poor socio-economic situations. They struggle with chronic absenteeism even
though they have implemented programs to aid attendance. The school’s motto is: Responsible,
Respectful, Reliable which the staff demonstrate in the school culture.

This study will be conducted with my Grade 2 students. I will first collect data to identify who the
chronic absentees are in my class. Absences due to illness will be included however my focus will be
primarily on non-illness absences. For example, there are many reasons other than illness as to why
students miss school days. Possible factors could be Low Socio-Economic status, extensive family
obligations (students looking after younger siblings), inadequate support, lack of transportation, unsafe
conditions, ELL students, students with disabilities, Bullied students etc. I want to collect data and
determine what I am dealing with regarding my students’ situations.

My goal with this study is to build better parent/guardian/teacher relationships to make the
families/caregivers of my students feel supported and cared for. I will do this in several ways:

I will send home a note with each student that has my email address on it. I want
parents/guardians to know that they can reach me at any time to discuss concerns or as a general check
in. I want there to be an open line of communication.
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I will implement the Class Dojo app into my classroom to aid in relationship building. See the
graphic below explaining the benefits to the Class Dojo application. This allows for open communication
between parents/guardians, students and the teacher. There are many opportunities for building a
familial relationship through this App. Not only does it allow for open communication, but it also
translates into 35+ languages to help support my ELL students.

I will inform caregivers to the Sussex Dial-a Ride program. This is a driving service for low income
families that provides free/affordable transportation. This is something that I will send home with each
student so no one student feels singled out.

I would also possibly implement a big brother/big sister type program or “buddy” program. I will
need to consult with the school principal about this. As one of the attached studies show, not only
teacher support increases attendance, but peer support does as well.

In addition to building relationships with my students and their families, I will also focus on
other areas that contribute to absenteeism as well:
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For the overall classroom population, I will ensure the education of hygiene – specific to hand
washing and proper coughing techniques to aid in the spread of illness in my class. I will create posters
to have in the classroom.

I will also review the free school lunch program in comparison to the absent students. Possibly
add them to the program if the student is linked to an often-missing lunch. As we know from Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, students cannot learn effectively if they are hungry. I do not want the reason a
student misses’ school to be because of the inability to bring a lunch.

Methods for Data Collection and Analysis:

Data Collection:

I will start before the first day of school by collecting the absence data for each of my students

from their grade 1 year. This will provide a starting point for comparison. I will record data categorized

by month on an excel spreadsheet. The chart will look like the example provided below:

Data Analysis:

I will analyze data by sorting the reasons for the absence. The reasons will be:

• Illness
• Appointment
• Bereavement
• Sports Related
• Other Informed
• Other Uninformed
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I will try to drill down into the specific reasoning in the “other uninformed” category, though my aim
is that a non-illness or appointment absence is avoided regardless of the reason. If I can get the actual
reason, that will help my specific efforts in providing support, however, I will plan on building
relationships and providing support regardless.

Timeline:

Date Description
End of August • Collect grade 1 data for current students.

• Input data into spreadsheet.

End of September • Analyze absences by reason .

• Make note of chronic absentees.

• Identify supporting measures that can be implemented to help

attendance issues.

• Add which supporting measure that was implemented to the chart (ie:
call home, email, dojo communication, addition to breakfast program,
referral to social program etc.)

End of October • Analyze absences by reason.

• Make note of chronic absentees.

• Identify supporting measures that can be implemented to help

attendance issues.

• Add which supporting measure that was implemented to the chart.

• Create a chart for comparison to view if there is progress with

attendance rates.

• Carry on with these steps each month of the school year.

Mid June • compile all data and view chart for final attendance rate compared to
previous year.

• Compare whether or not supportive measures increased the attendance

rate.

• The data collected will answer my research question: Can building

relationships with and providing support to the parents/guardians of the
chronically absent students in my classroom, improve the attendance rate
by the end of the school year?
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Importance and Potential Significance of the Study:

The importance of this study is to optimize a students’ learning potential by having them in
class. As evident by research, students are more likely to succeed in academics when they
attend school consistently. It's difficult for the teacher and the class to build their skills and progress if
many students are frequently absent.

Chronic absenteeism is an issue all over the world as I discovered in my research. It is a

prevalent issue. The significance of this study is that the number of students that will see benefits from
this research could be vast if implemented.

Our goal as educators is to provide a sense of achievement for our students. We want our
students to be able to have opportunities that education provides. Most of all, we want our students to
feel safe and have a sense of community. Just by being present at school, each student is learning how
to be a good citizen by participating in the school community. They learn valuable social skills and
develop a broader world view. We cannot instill these values into our students if they are not present.

If we can unlock the reasoning for absence and implement supportive measures, or even
prevent it by building relationships with our students and their caregivers, we need to tap into this
opportunity as soon as possible. If this research can help my class, then it could help my school and so
on.

Reflection:

Action research is an important part of being an educator. It allows us to continuously use tools

to improve our practice and to improve the opportunities of our students. It is a tool that helps teachers

change from their traditional methods of teaching to a different approach which might better fit the of

the needs of their students. Action research is an important aspect of professional development for

educators. It allows us to reflect as opposed to react which makes us better balanced practitioners. At

the end of the day, research is about helping the students, and that should be every educators’ ultimate

goal.
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REFERENCES

Barnes, Carolyn. (2020). State of Empowerment Low-Income Families and the New Welfare State:
Empowering Relationships University of Michigan Press. 36-48

Flannery, K. Brigid, McGrath Kato, Mimi, Kittelman, Angus, McIntosh, Kent, and Triplett, Danielle. (2020)
Tier 1 Intervention to Increase Ninth Grade Engagement and Success: Results From a Randomized
Controlled Trial. American Psychological Association, Vol. 35, No. 1, 88–98.
Romer, David. (1993) Do Students Go to Class? Should They? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol.
7, No. 3, 167-174
Schnell, Philipp. (2014) Beyond the Family: Peers and Teachers, Amsterdam University Press. 119-142

Sicilia, Ernest A. (1978) Absenteeism and Language Learning, Hispania, Vol. 61, No. 1, 102-104
Image above from Initial Teacher Education. https://initialteachereducation.co.uk/techy-tips-2/
Class Dojo available at: https://www.classdojo.com/
Sussex Elementary School Improvement Plan