Attending to Attendance Students Can

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Attending to AttendanceStudents Cant Succeed if
They Arent in School!
Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance Gary
Hoachlander Kelly Ouellette April 2005
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Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance
What is the Consortium?

• An association of local school and statewide
  agency representatives
• Focused on improving school attendance through
  data-driven planning
• Funded by the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee
  (JJAC)

Grants to Local Districts
Shared Attendance Database
Meetings and Training
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Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance
School District Members

• Original Members
• Ansonia
• Danbury
• Hartford
• Killingly
• New Britain
• Norwich
• Stonington
• Winchester
• Windham

• New Members 2005
• Bristol
• East Windsor
• Hamden
• New Milford
• Plainfield
• Sprague
• Trumbull
• Vernon

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Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance
State Agency Members

• Connecticut Association of Boards of Education
• Connecticut Association of Public School
  Superintendents
• Connecticut Association of Schools
• Connecticut Consortium for Law Citizenship
  Education
• Connecticut State Department of Education
• Department of Children and Families
• Judicial Branch
• Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee
• Office of Policy and Management

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Improving School Attendance in Connecticut
Consortium Recommendations

1. Make attendance a higher priority at the state
   and local levels
2. Collect student-level attendance data annually
   from each district
3. Publish attendance data and adopt performance
   targets
4. Support data-driven planning processes in
   districts and school buildings

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Consortium Findings
Schools and School Districts Improve Attendance
by

• Making Attendance a Priority
• Establishing Effective Attendance Policies
• Collecting and Monitoring Attendance Data
• Using Data for Program Planning

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Attendance in the Consortium 2003-04
On the average, students in the Consortium miss
more than 12 days of school per year, ranging
from as many as 29 days per year in high school
to as few as 7 days in elementary school More
than 1 in four high school students attend less
than 90 of the school year
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A Challenge for the Consortium High School
Attendance
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Declining Attendance Starts in Grade 6
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Students with High Absenteeism in Grade 9 May Be
Dropping Out
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Consortium Information
Conference Materials

• Consortium tab in your binder
• How districts can join
• Membership application
• Consortium recommendations
• Consortium Data 2001/02 2003/04
• Consortium Summary Report

On the Web
Visit the JJAC Home Page at www.opm.state.ct.us/p
dpd1/grants/jjac