Attendance Work in IPS Teams

Since the fall of 2015, Fairfax County Public Schools, as part of the County Attendance Task Force, has focused its efforts on early identification and prevention of factors that contribute to chronic absence, missing 10% of the school year for any reason. School division leaders in Intervention and Prevention Services, have engaged community partners, agencies, and nonprofits in expanded outreach to parents.

Chronic absence work became an area of focus at both the state and national level in 2016, with several conferences held to discuss the impact of chronic absence on student outcomes, both short-term and long-term (graduation and beyond.) One of the primary reasons to address chronic absence early is to understand that students with large gaps in instructional access realize less than favorable academic outcomes. The longer that significant patterns of student absences persist, the less likely students are to read on grade level, meet other academic milestones, and graduate on time.

When the VA Standards of Accreditation were revised (2018), chronic absence measures were added as a non-academic indicator for all schools, K-12. With that in mind, Intervention and Prevention Services team members began meeting with the FCPS Standards of Accreditation Team to learn more about the accreditation process; ensure that appropriate data monitoring sources were available; help identify schools with the greatest percentages of chronic absenteeism; and identify schools in need of support. Intervention and Prevention Services team members began work with identified high schools to help assess their current absence rates; contributing factors and barriers; and to provide informational and technical resources.

Meanwhile, members of the IPS team also developed public and internal website resources for parents, schools, and community partners. They followed national trends through Attendance Works, a collaborative nonprofit featuring research and best practices for schools addressing chronic absence. Concurrently, they followed (2018) legislation that changed the timeline and process for unexcused absences, or truancy.

As the Standards of Accreditation requirements were released, there was a significant need to target resources and time for the most significantly affected schools (tier three schools); monitor less impacted schools; and support the remaining schools with resources and division-wide professional development. Attendance Matters Training (2018) which incorporated best practices to reduce chronic absence, and featured school teams with promising practices, both elementary and secondary, was offered in 2018 to over 400 educators. The workshops included ways for schools to chart their attendance practices within the Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS). https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/search?q=attendance

For the 2018-19 school year, focused on the following schools: ; Falls Church HS; Lee HS; Herndon HS; Stuart (Justice) HS; Mount Vernon HS; and West Potomac HS. These were comprehensive high schools with the most significant chronic absence rates over time. Additionally, Region 2 administrators had ongoing, focused professional development sessions for all Region 2 high school teams, regardless of Attendance Work in IPS Teams

their chronic absence rates, so that collectively, teams could focus on targeted populations or subgroups in their prevention and intervention efforts. To eliminate duplication of effort in addressing the non-academic indicators for school accreditation, IPS team members partnered with the Office of School Counseling and College Success for site visits and technical assistance.

At the end of the 2018-2019 school year, Intervention and Prevention Services team members were invited to work with Project Momentum team members to address chronic absence work in the identified Project Momentum high schools: ; Lee High School; ; South Lakes High School; ; Mount Vernon High School; and . IPS members attend quarterly site visits and provide consultation and technical assistance to teams; and monitor chronic absence rates .Best practices are shared through the Multi-Tier System of Support.

Current tier three schools include the following in the red in chart below:

High School Chronic Absence Rate % (Active Students on 2-5-20) Red = Project Momentum Schools 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% Percent 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%

High School

See below for timeline of attendance trainings offered – • April 2018 Chronic Absenteeism Data Dialogue with RAS/EPs • August 2018 – November Attendance Matters trainings for every elementary/secondary • 2018 training to parent liaisons on attendance matters why chronic absence attributes to academic outcomes – gave them messaging for parent liaisons • 2018-2019 Region 2 ongoing trainings with HS school administrators/DSS and attendance personnel/SOSA/ throughout the year • 2018 Region 3 joint attendance meeting with HS administrators/SOSA/Attendance training – deep dive of data and practices • 2018 October ACPM training – break-out sessions for administrators • December 2018 ACAPM training on best tiered attendance practices Attendance Work in IPS Teams

• 2019 August Trainings for school teams • November 2019 Training to ON partners (Culmore area) regarding chronic absence and collective impact for addressing chronic absence in school communities. Messaging provided to community partners to give to parents/guardians. • 2019 Wellness Conference Attendance Matters trainings for parents – 2 sessions • 2019 November DSS staff trained school social workers Region Meetings on best tiered practices on tiered attendance practices for school teams • April 2019 ACPM SIP Goal Planning Chronic Absence Training for administrators • 2019 February Cornerstones training on chronic absence • 2019 January attendance data dialogue with Region Assistant Superintendents

Parent Notification/Communication in Schools – DSS has an intranet site toolkit/resources for schools to use throughout the school year for messaging /tips/best practices here; http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/attendance/index.shtml • Parent letters developed for schools regarding student absence • Monthly newsletters/tips quick messages for schools to send KIT messages • Messages are translated into 7 languages for schools • health flyers – on every school website for month of February (also multiple languages) – here; https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/HealthFlyerforParents.pdf • Public websites for parents; https://www.fcps.edu/attendance Dr. Brabrand message on daily school attendance and community partner resources available. • November Social Media message about taking long vacations in (in Spanish/English and other languages) pushed out by OCCR • December civic engagement messaging and student leave pushed out through OCCR • Every school has attendance posters in English and Spanish that were distributed in August 2019 to put up visible in schools • 11/2019 Message sent through OCCR pushed out to parent newsletter (Andy Grunig pushed this information out see attached) • Starting August 2019 Project Momentum ongoing visits quarterly to school teams • November Bb Collaborate on Attendance Coding and VDOE requirements in recorded session up on intranet site • Tips regarding Parent Messaging on student attendance for school teams here; http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/attendance/documents/TalkingtoParents.pdf • Tips regarding Student for schools here; http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/attendance/documents/TalkingtoStudents.pdf • Tips for hard to reach parents; http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/attendance/documents/hardtoreachparents.pdf • Early Learning Postcards for parents; http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/attendance/documents/Early%20Learning%20Postcard- Attendance%20Matters%20English.pdf Morning Checklist for Parents to use here; http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/attendance/documents/MorningRoutineChecklistFCPS.pdf