The New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, a widely respected and independent urban public policy research center, published today a report on the crisis of chronic student absenteeism in New York City public schools, Strenghtening Schools By Strengthening Families. [The New York Times covers the report's publication here, and ABC News looks at it here.]
It does not take a degree in education to understand that teachers can’t teach students who are not in their classrooms: chronic absenteeism is one of the strongest predictors of academic failure. Using the Department of Education’s own data, Strengthening Schools demonstrates that chronic absenteeism has reached epidemic proportions in NYC public schools, especially those schools serving communities of high economic need. Distressingly, the problem is critical even in elementary schools. Strengthening Schools reports that:
• Last year, in 12 of New York City’s 32 school districts, well over 25 percent of primary school children were chronically absent from school, missing more than 10 percent of the school year.
• In five of these districts, fully 30 percent of primary school children, kindergarten through fifth grade, were chronically absent.
• In six of these districts, between 8 and 11 percent of primary school children missed 38 or more days of school during the 2007/2008 school year.
• And in 123 individual New York City primary schools, at least 30 percent of the children were chronically absent.
Numbers such as these speak for themselves. Whatever the DoE is now doing, it is clearly not up to the task. The DoE’s response to the publication of the report — an attempt to shift responsibility for this sad state of affairs onto schools and principals — is an unacceptable dereliction of its own obligations to the children of New York City. In light of Tweed’s lofty rhetoric on closing the achievement gap, it is time for the DoE to step up and ‘walk the walk’ for chronically absent students living in poverty.
The UFT has called for a summit, bringing together all of the important stakeholders, to address this issue with the urgency it deserves. This is not time for “business as usual,” but for a collaboration and partnership between the community and the city which makes sure that services and supports get to students and families who need them. Perhaps nowhere is the logic of Randi Weingarten’s call for the creation of ‘community schools’ which bring needed health care and social services to students and their families more compelling than in this instance.
Today, there are over 200 guidance counselors, social workers and attendance teachers in the ATR pool, without a regular school assignment. These are the very educational professionals who should be on the front line here, addressing the issues that lead to chronic student absenteeism. But the DoE has sent them to the rear, even though it is fighting a losing battle: as school budgets have shrunk, principals have decided that these crucial support services should be cut first, on the theory that guidance counselors, social workers and attendance teachers don’t increase test scores. And the DoE has stood by silently. Now is the time to reverse this critical error, and to use all of our resources in this critical cause.
Let educators serve students, most especially those with the greatest need.
Tagged: absenteeism, ATR, community schools, New School, New York Times
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9 Comments:
1 Redcatcher
· Oct 22, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Absenteeism by students is the fault of their teachers.
Every student who is a truant has a teacher who does not go to his home in the morning to escort him to the school.
When teachers make wake up calls by showing up at homes and escorting students to school, absenteeism will fall.
2 MustangS
· Oct 24, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Absenteeism among students is NOT the fault of the teachers or administrators.
When students do not attend school, it is the RESPONSIBILITY of the PARENTS to ensure that their children are getting to schools each and every day. It means making sure that their children are UP, ready to go, prepared for school. Ensuring that they are getting on the bus, actually ATTENDING classes by establishing communication with the child’s teachers and school staff.
As teachers, we do not have the ability or power to go to the student’s homes, and drag students to school, particularly in a large city such as New York. Teachers DO call home ( most times, cannot make a connection with a parent/guardian), due to disconnected phones, parents that are NOT home for whatever reason, or simply not having the correct information given to us by parents/guardians.
We , as teachers, are required to call on the FIRST day of an absence and to continue until the student is tracked down. If we want absenteeism to decrease, I say- bring back the TRUANT officers, and give these people the responsibility to bring errant children into the schools, and work with the parents to ensure that the children STAY in school. Each school should have an attendace office, where the sole responsibility of the staff is to call each day, to find out where the students are, and the reasons why they are absent. If the parents are not involved, school absenteeism, will continue to stay at the rates they currently are. After all, shouldn’t the PARENTS of these children take an interest in what is happening with their children, rather than shifting ALL responsibility onto the schools?
3 Redcatcher
· Oct 26, 2008 at 9:05 am
MustangS–How dare you say it is the RESPONSIBILITY of the PARENTS to ensure that their children are getting to schools each and every day.
As a teacher it is your responsibility to ensure that children are getting to schools each and every day. At the very least, you can make a wake up call to the home of each child every morning.
The administration does its part by seeing that the children are fed when they arrive as well as at lunchtime.
You can at least make the wake-up calls.
4 phyllis c. murray
· Oct 27, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Re. Let Educators Serve Students
In many cases the parents in inner city communities are trying to survive. And unlike the nuclear families of the past, the concept of family is also changing. And with that change, the responsibility of caring for children is not necessarily that of an adult. Often an older student is responsible for his/her siblings.
Educators who were brought up in a middle class home, might assume that each family in his/her school community has an alarm clock and is fortified daily by three balanced meals. But this was their reality before they became educators and it is not the reality of many of their students.
Many educators may not have visited a city shelter or a student’s home. Furthermore, many educators may not be aware that minors are exploited after school. We have asked: “Have you listened to a teacher? ”
But have we listened to a child?
If we are to ameliorate societal ills, the intervention of guidance counselors, attendance teachers, social workers, and caring professionals is sorely needed. “We must have all hands on deck.” In that way we can break the cycle of failure which has led to a high drop out rate among the neediest students. It will also end the school-to-prison pipeline: a horrid systemic phenomenon in public schools throughout our country.
Randi Weingarten is correct.
“There are currently 396 attendance teachers responsible for monitoring the attendance of 1.1 million students in 1,500 schools, and many are spread extremely thin being responsible for numerous schools across several boroughs. Making matters worse, 13 of them who could be doing their jobs are among more than 200 attendance teachers, guidance counselors and school social workers assigned to an Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool of educators who lost their permanent positions because of schools closings and now fill day-to-day vacancies for teachers out for health reasons or maternity leave. Given the need outlined in the New School report, those ATR educators should have permanent assignments. Also, hiring more attendance teachers, counselors and socials workers would help address issues that drive so many students to skip school and eventually drop out.”
5 Redcatcher
· Oct 29, 2008 at 6:36 am
phyllis c. murray–Very weak. They can buy an alarm clock for less than the cost of a pack of cigarettes. Breakfast and lunch are served daily in the school. If children are truants, the city should cut the welfare checks to their parents. As soon as that happens you will see 100% attendance by them. You don’t even address what they do during school hours when they are absent.
6 phyllis c. murray
· Oct 29, 2008 at 7:29 pm
The new immigrants and the poor, like the immigrants of the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s are trying to survive. It is interesting how one can have such a stereotypical mental picture of today’s minority population as being welfare recipients,cigarette smoking, and lazy welfare recipients.
Stereotypes tend to be self-perpetuating. When one assumes another group is lazy and idle, he/she will tend to respond in a similar way…with low expectations and prejudice and even hate. The bigotry of low expectations is something we need to bury. When one has a negative mind set, a lack of communication is almost inevitable.
Again, it would take a concerned professional to look at each case separately.It would take a caring professional to ” create a challenging, demanding, yet nurturing and supportive environment ” as indicated by Michel Lomas UNCF, for their students.
New York City pulled out all stops to afford its earliest immigrants and their descendants, an opportunity to succeed. During that time,the CUNY colleges were tuition free and New York City Public Schools were among the best in the country.
Today, the schools have become pauperized. And with Tweed’s massive budget cuts, cuts to the finances of our schools have cut the professional staff down to the bone. Furthermore, the resources that are needed are absent. This forces concerned teachers to use out of pocket non-reimbursable funds to make a classroom effective. This also forces these teachers to become even more creative as they write proposals to fund their educational initiatives which aid their students.
Educator Mary McLeod Bethune said: “Invest in a human soul. It may be a diamond in the rough.”She knew that our students, like diamonds, come in every hue…lest we forget.
7 ABERE
· Oct 31, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I feel teachers are seeing their duty as a duty to humanity comparing what these life moulder are being paid to what lasting changes they make in the society. I feel motivation and attention should be given to teacher and let others in engineering, medicine and so on desire being a teacher.
8 Redcatcher
· Oct 31, 2008 at 8:28 pm
If your students are truant because they do not have alarm clocks, use your teachers choice money to purchase the clocks for them. To avoid having special investigations coming after you, have each student “borrow’ a clock and have them sign for it like they do for books.
9 lylaahoo.com
· Oct 11, 2009 at 6:51 pm
How dare anyone say that teachers should make up wake up calls to each of their students. Not only is that completly selfish on your part that also makes you a lazy parent. A teacher’s responsiblity is to teach and to report unusual conduct like being absent. It is a parent’s responsibility to make that “wake up call” for their child.
When I went to school my parent made sure I attended school. No excuses were made and they did not rely on teachers or school administrators to make sure we went to school. Becasue they were aware that if they wanted me to suceeded they had to play a part in my education.
If you don’t put importance in your child geting to school then neither will they.
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