Have you ever thought about how a child's attendance in school can effect their learning and the rest of his/her life? Below is an excerpt from an article that discusses this issue in depth. If you would like to read the entire article, just click below the excerpt. This was copied from the "greatschools.org" website on Jan. 3, 2011.
How important is attendance?
The attendance rate is important because students are more likely to succeed in academics when they attend school consistently. It's difficult for the teacher and the class to build their skills and progress if a large number of students are frequently absent. In addition to falling behind in academics, students who are not in school on a regular basis are more likely to get into trouble with the law and cause problems in their communities.
A 2008 study conducted by the Rodel Community Scholars at Arizona State University that tracked students from kindergarten through high school found that dropout patterns were linked with poor attendance, beginning in kindergarten. Gregory Hickman, director of the Rodel Community Scholars program and former director of the Arizona Dropout Initiative, notes they discovered that as early as kindergarten, behavioral differences are apparent between those who go on to graduate and those who drop out, with dropouts missing an average of 124 days by eighth grade.
Currently, St. Ignatius Elementary School has an average attendance rate of 93.3% so far this year. That number sounds high, but keep in mind that means that almost 7% of our students are absent each day. That works out to about 16 students. With the number of days we've had in school so far, we have had 1,164 absences. When you look at it that way, the 93% doesn't seem as impressive. Also, some students have 100% attendance while others are as low as 56%. While I understand that some absences are necessary, I get very concerned when students are absent chronically. There are noted differences in these children's behavior, learning, emotions, and attitude when they miss a lot of school. Please join me in trying to increase our attendance rate to over 95% for the second half of the year. Thanks.
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