Principal Spotlight: Building a Culture of Attendance
Paige Swan could see the results of his attendance push when he asked all the students with perfect attendance to come to the front of the auditorium: 103 students rose and stood proudly beside the principal at the June assembly.
Then he asked for students with one or two missed days to come forward. Most of the student body at his rural California elementary school was standing at the front of room. In a single year, the average daily attendance rate at Smith River Elementary School rose from 94 to 98 percent. And the chronic absence rate fell from about 8 percent to below 6 percent.
“We’ve made it a school-wide priority,” Swan says. “We had a plan, we followed the plan, and at the end of the school year we analyzed the plan. Our plan worked.”
Swan’s success was part of a countywide initiative in Del Norte County in northwest California aimed at reducing chronic absence and improving achievement. The county provided professional development, tools and incentives for Swan and other principals, as well as regular access to data on chronic absence. When improved attendance brings the district more state aid, the district shares the “profits” with school sites.
His school, Smith River, serves a diverse population of 242 students; 85 percent qualify for free and reduced meals. Swan began by setting up an attendance team. The team looks at trends among students as well as patterns for individual students. He makes sure that everyone at the school paid attention to every absence.
With one absence, a teacher calls the family. When the child returns to school, Smith himself welcomes him or her back to school. After three days of absences, the principal calls the family.
Swan says he makes a point to keep the message positive and to offer help when needed. “We know parents get ill, we know siblings get ill… We tell them ‘We really don’t care what the reason is, if you’ve missed your ride, call the school and we will come get you.’”
If a student struggled with absenteeism the previous year, Swan calls the parents before school starts to talk about approaches to improving attendance. Those students are connected to an adult mentor when they start school.
When students are in school, they hear the positive message about attendance, too. The principal talks about it at assemblies. Teachers talk about it in class. Students can win recognition for good and improved attendance at regular intervals throughout the year.
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