Why attendance is so important:
According to Applied Survey Research (2011) “The report found that students who arrived at school academically ready to learn – but missed 10% of their kindergarten and first grade years – scored an average of 60 points below similar students with good attendance on third-grade reading tests.”
When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating
Your children can suffer academically if they miss 10% of school days or about 18 days. That can be just one day every two weeks, and that can happen before you know it.
Students who are chronically absent often struggle later in the work force with attendance, affecting their job retention and performance.
Suggestions:
Set regular bedtime and morning routines. Make sure they get 9 to 11 hours of sleep. You can lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before. For older children, allow for 8½ to 9½ hours of sleep. Make sure that when lights go out, so do cell phones, video games and computers.
Families should avoid extended vacations that require your children to miss school. Try to line up vacations with the school’s schedule. The same goes for doctor’s appointments.
Above all, set an example for your child. Show them that attendance matters to you and that you won’t allow an absence unless someone is truly sick. Don’t ask older students to help with daycare and household errands.
What to say to your student:
School is your first and most important job. You’re learning more than math and reading. You’re learning how to show up for school on time every day, so that when you graduate and get a job, you’ll know how to show up for work on time.
Students who attend school regularly are more likely to graduate and find good jobs. In fact, a high school graduate makes, on average, a million dollars more than a dropout over a lifetime.
School only gets harder when you stay home too much. Sometimes it’s tempting to stay home because you’ve got too much work or you don’t understand what’s going on in class, but missing a day only makes that worse.
ATTENDANCE WORKS: Advancing Student Success By Reducing Chronic Absence
The Importance of Regular Attendance
According to Applied Survey Research (2011) “The report found that students who arrived at school academically ready to learn – but missed 10% of their kindergarten and first grade years – scored an average of 60 points below similar students with good attendance on third-grade reading tests. “
Douglas D. Ready (2010) study suggests, “that missing school in the early grades has more powerful influence on literacy development for low-income students than it does for their more affluent peers. Put another way, school matters more to children from low-income families.”
Low-income students are four times more likely to be chronically absent than others often for reasons beyond their control, such as unstable housing, unreliable transportation and a lack of access to health care.
When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating.