Posted on 03/25/2011 5:19:35 AM PDT by reaganaut1
...
At schools in the city and across the United States, chronic absenteeism is affecting performance, particularly among children from poor families. Absenteeism costs money for school districts, because they receive no state payments for students who are not at school. It also contributes to cycles of failure in neighborhoods already facing high rates of crime and poverty.
The connections between poverty, absenteeism and academic failure are evident, said Robert Balfanz, a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. A 2006 study of high schools in high poverty neighborhoods with the lowest graduation rates found that roughly two-thirds of the students missed a month or more during the nine-month school year. A 2007 study of middle-school students in Philadelphia found that sixth graders who attended class just 80 percent of the time had only a one-in-five chance of graduating from high school.
In Chicago, the public schools system has attendance coordinators in 27 area offices and a truancy hot line, but there is no comprehensive, systemwide approach focused on high-school absenteeism. Instead, the school district is testing a program that relies on a trio of programs: one to reduce in-school violence, one to engender a calmer atmosphere in classrooms and hallways, and a third to enable safe passage from home to school. The effort to make schools feel safer has helped improve attendance even though that is not the primary aim, said Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the schools.
In the six high schools testing the programs, attendance rose from 70 percent during a five-month period in 2009-10, to 78 percent for the same months this school year. Systemwide attendance at all public schools excluding charters during the period dropped from 88 percent to 86 percent, Ms. Bond said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
That is why all the increased Federal spending levels in No Child Left Behind and setting obective testing standards is for naught. Teachers cannot teach to four walls if poor children are chronically truant. They will always be left behind.Newark and Washington DC spend more per child on public education than any school district in the country.Yet they have the lowest scores in the country.It is difficult to learn if you are a no show.
The truants are behaving RATIONALLY!
Let's chance the words, "school" and "class," to the word, "work".
Would **any** rational and reasonably intelligent **ADULT** willingly put themselves in the above dangerous situation where they are afraid to be in work environment, walk the halls, or get from home to work?
It is time to call these "schools" what they are: CHILD ABUSE!
If an adult would find it abusive, then it is definitely CHILD ABUSE to subject children to this environment.
I think it’s interesting that this is happening in charter schools as well as the regular public schools. Kids in charter schools are placed there by the parents as an alternative to the regular public school, and generally there is some competition to gain admittance.
The problem may be one of laziness and a lack of motivation to do anything hard, or before noon. Maybe if the school system sent around a breakfast bus with coffee for all, they could get up to go, but then maybe not.
I think it’s interesting that this is happening in charter schools as well as the regular public schools. Kids in charter schools are placed there by the parents as an alternative to the regular public school, and generally there is some competition to gain admittance.
The problem may be one of laziness and a lack of motivation to do anything hard, or before noon. Maybe if the school system sent around a breakfast bus with coffee for all, they could get up to go, but then maybe not.
You need to post a "coffee spew" warning because that is too funny!!!
I have a student right now that has been absent 39 days and tardy 74. The mom called me yesterday to ask me if I could come by and wake her up on my way to school. Not sure why I would be so magical, just think she would roll over and ignore me as well.
Unbelievable!!!
It’s rough on the school because she hits us in so many catagories - minority, special education, limited English, Free and Reduced lunch - We take a hit on every one of those areas for the attendance portion of NCLB for this one child. In 2014, when we all hit the magical 100% mark, she alone could conceivably cause a school to become uncertified and listed as ‘failing.’
The problem may be one of laziness and a lack of motivation to do anything hard, or before noon. Maybe if the school system sent around a breakfast bus with coffee for all, they could get up to go, but then maybe not.
The problem may be that most schools have very little education to offer bright students. My wife skipped 80 days her senior year of high school (she’d go in for the tests). When she got to college she graduated with a 4.0 and was valedictorian with a biology degree.
It’s discouraging to read this. I taught school years ago, and I can’t imagine a parent asking me to wake up their kid.
How did she get away with that? Did she have notes from doctors?
Although I was opposed to No Child Left Behind and the establishment of a Federal Department of Education, I think the increased levels of spending by the Feds in the field of education should be addressed to getting poverty stricken truant children into the schoolhouse, preferably without a gun.First things first.
That’s obviously true for your wife. In this situation, this girl isn’t on the Valedictorian track, at least until she gets to the point that she can read on grade level.
How did she get away with that? Did she have notes from doctors?
No. The district didn’t have any clear wording in their words. The principal threatened to withold her diploma but eventually gave in since she had all A’s. The district had a new attendance policy before the next school year.
How did she get away with that? Did she have notes from doctors?
No. The district didn’t have any clear wording in their rules. The principal threatened to withold her diploma but eventually gave in since she had all A’s. The district had a new attendance policy before the next school year.
“I can’t imagine a parent asking me to wake up their kid...”
I can only imagine if teachers posted some of the stupid things that parents have asked them to do, we would pull our hair out. Have a friend who WAS a teacher. He was having issues with the child... smart mouth, not turning homework in, disrupting the class etc.. He called the Mother and advised her that her son was intelligent and if they could work as a team to get his behavior in line, he would probably be an “A” student. Her reply, “He’s YOUR problem when he’s in school... you handle him and leave me out of it”. IMHO, you are never going to force education down someone’s throat if they don’t want it and it isn’t supported in the home.
My own daughter (who was the valedictorian) hit 5 days in April and complained bitterly the rest of the year about the policy. I just chuckled at her because I knew the school knew how to teach her a lesson. Her problem was just a raging case of 'senior-itis.'
How can you spend your life telling kids there is no right or wrong, and reinforce that with “no consequences” for bad behavior, and then expect to control their attendance?
The reason they don’t suspend or expel trouble makers is because of the state and federal matching dollars.
Exactly right...
Reading this thread makes me realize how much things have changed in this country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.