An ASCD Study Guide for Teacher's Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges

Most of the questions contained in this study guide are ones you can think about on your own, but you might consider pairing with a colleague or forming a study group with others who have read, or are reading, Teacher's Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges.

Introduction

1. What does the current approach for absenteeism prevention/intervention look like in your school or district? What components of this approach have been effective and in what ways? What components have not been as effective, and why?
2. What is your reaction to each of the key components and guiding principles of the Safe & Civil Schools' model of absenteeism prevention and intervention? Do you strongly agree or disagree with any of the statements? If so, why?
3. What do you hope to accomplish by reading this book?

Chapter 1. Attendance—Not Another Competing Initiative

1. Do you see particular trends in absenteeism that are prominent with your students? Are there trends that were not discussed but that you know occur for your students?
2. Consider negative impacts on students, the class and teacher, and parents and community. What negative impacts do you see in your class or school that most concern you?
3. Which of the negative impacts may be most powerful to highlight with students and families when you are building their awareness about the importance of attendance?

Chapter 2. Gathering and Analyzing the Right Data

1. Summarize how truancy and average daily attendance (ADA) can mask absenteeism problems. Describe one or more cases where a student's absenteeism may have been overlooked if the school was focusing solely on truancy and ADA data.
2. Do you have any concerns about the way that you currently record attendance and tardies (e.g., it takes too much time, student behavior is problematic during attendance procedures, records are not accurate)? If so, state your plan for revising your procedures to alleviate these concerns.
3. Why is it beneficial to monitor and calculate rates of regular attendance, at-risk attendance, chronic absence, and severe chronic absence each month, and also cumulatively across the year (e.g., by compiling the monthly records across time)?
4. Which data sources discussed in this chapter will be most beneficial for understanding causes of absenteeism in your school and to monitor efforts across time? When do you plan to implement these procedures across the course of the year?

Chapter 3. Speaking the Language of Attendance

1. Consider a kick-off for a product, service, or political campaign that was highly effective. What was said and done that was effective in generating enthusiasm about the message? How could you harness those concepts in your attendance kick-off?
2. When you were a student, did teachers use informal strategies that emphasized the importance of attendance such as welcoming students back and asking where students were after absence? If yes, can you think of an example when this positively impacted your attendance or that of your peers? If not, can you think of an example of how this inadvertently contributed to absences? How will you intentionally apply informal strategies with your students?
3. Which benefits of classroom motivational systems do you think will be most powerful for your students? How can you implement procedures to maximize these benefits, and which system or systems do you think would work best with your students in the initial stages of your attendance initiative?

Chapter 4. If You Want It, Teach It? Delivery Attendance Lessons

1. What misconceptions do you think students have about attendance? Are there examples you can point to about statements students have made or actions taken that demonstrate these misconceptions?
2. How regularly should formal attendance lessons be taught in your class based on your attendance rates? List possible topics for attendance lessons and create a schedule for when you plan to develop and implement them across the year.

Chapter 5. Partnering with Families

1. What strategies have been most effective in your class or school for providing information to parents and families and fostering collaborative approaches? How can you apply these approaches to your attendance initiative? What additional ideas from this chapter seem most promising?
2. Create a list of five to ten topics that contribute to absenteeism problems that parents could help tackle. Consider how to create "tip sheets" on these topics and how best to distribute them in conjunction with your attendance initiative.
3. Why are building positive relationships with parents and regular celebrations of student successes and growth so important? How do you ensure that positive communication and celebrations of regular and improved attendance occur on a regular basis throughout the year so that they don't fall away as other priorities emerge?

Chapter 6. Implementing Effective Intervention Plans

1. What are the benefits of you, the classroom teacher, as opposed to an outside interventionist or the principal, implementing simple interventions at the early stages of absenteeism problems? What are the benefits of remaining involved in the intervention process when problems are not resolved through early intervention?
2. Within each of the five categories of absenteeism, what are specific causes of absenteeism that are particularly prevalent for students in your class or school?
3. Can you identify a time when you or the school implemented interventions to address an individual student's absenteeism that did not adequately address the function of absenteeism? What was the result? Can you identify a time when you or the school addressed the function of a student's absenteeism with the result being improved attendance?
4. Who in your school can be enlisted to provide team support for students with resistant absenteeism problems? What is your school's process for identifying these students, identifying possible interventions, and providing intervention support? If there is not a clear process, who in your school may be able to assist you with collaborative problem solving and designing effective intervention plans?

Conclusion

1. Do you believe that all students can achieve the goal of regular attendance if given appropriate levels of support? Why or why not?
2. Do you believe that regular attendance is critical for all students? Why or why not?
3. What are the primary differences between a traditional, reactive approach and the approach described in this book?
4. Did you accomplish what you'd hoped to by reading this book?

Teacher's Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges was written by Jessica Sprick and Tricia Berg. This 160-page, 7" × 10" book (Stock #118038; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-2714-2) is available from ASCD. Copyright © 2019 by Ancora Publishing. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) or buy the book from the ASCD Online Store.