1 Getting Beyond Negative Perceptions about Parents Key Insights about Engaging Parents in Ending Chronic Absence PARENTS ARE THE SECRET SAUCE WEBINAR.

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Getting Beyond Negative Perceptions about ParentsKey Insights about Engaging Parents in Ending Chronic Absence

PARENTS ARE THE SECRET SAUCE WEBINAR SERIES FALL 2015

Featured Speakers

California Department of Justice

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris

Jill Habig Ben H. Chida

• The Science & The Data: Why This Matters

• Proven & Promising Programs, Tools & Resources

• Programs in Action/Bright Spots

• Measuring Success

• Engaging Parents in GLR Coalitions

Supporting Parents Success Microsite

Ad Council – CA Attorney General Reducing Chronic Absence by Informing Parents

For more info, visit:

oag.ca.gov/truancy


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Lots of Kids Are Living the Same Story

83% of Students

Chronically Absent in

Kindergarten & 1st Grade Are

Unable to Read On-Level by 3rd

Grade1

Students Who Cannot Read

On-Level in 3rd

Grade Are 4x More Likely to Drop Out Than Kids Who Can2

People Who Drop Out Are

8x More Likely to Be

Incarcerated than People with High

School Diplomas3

It’s no surprise that a child who misses school falls behind in school; it’s also no surprise that falling behind

in school leads to worse life outcomes. We just need to connect the dots.

6For more info, visit:

oag.ca.gov/truancy

We Have an Attendance Problem in Our Elementary Schools

Last year,

230,000 elementary school

students in California were

chronically absent4

That includes

14.2% of kindergartners and

8.8% of first graders in California5


oag.ca.gov/truancy

75% of chronically absent7

and 90% of severely chronically

absent8

students are low-income

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The Attendance Problem Widens the Achievement Gap

30.2% of African-American Boys in

Kindergarten Were Chronically Absent6


oag.ca.gov/truancy

What Causes the Attendance Problem? Here’s What Researchers

Say“The causes of chronic absenteeism are complex and vary from school to school.” (Public health, transportation, poverty, etc.)9

“A lack of parental understanding about the importance of daily school

attendance can lead to higher rates of absenteeism, as parents

may not fully understand the negative outcomes associated with

missing school.”10

“[P]arents who have low levels of education themselves simply do

not understand the importance of regular school

attendance.”11

BUT


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Are They Right About Parents? We Tested the Hypothesis

We partnered with the Ad Council, a non-profit

organization with expertise in public messaging, to go

directly to the source: Parents.

We talked to them to learn more.

The answers to the questions were really interesting.

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With support from the California Endowment, we

asked 2 big questions:

1. Why are kids chronically absent?

2. What can we do about it?


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Here’s How We Tested the Hypothesis

(Research Methodology)

We just received the final findings in September 2015.

Expert Interviews:School administrators, teachers,

parent liaisons, and policy experts

Parent Ethnographies:

• In-home interviews of 24 parents of chronically absent

K–5 students

• Approx. 2 hours each

• 9 Spanish, 15 English

• 8 in LA, 8 in the Bay Area, and 8 in Central California

Conducted 823 telephone and online surveys (573 in English and 250 in Spanish) to validate Phase 1 findings and test 4 messages

Phase #1

Phase #2


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Here’s Who We Talked To and Why(Demographic Breakdown)

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All parents had annual household incomes below

$50,000 per year

Because 75% of chronically absent12

and 90% of severely chronically absent students are low-income

Parents of students in public elementary schools (K-5) who

missed 10+ days in the previous year

Because parents are key allies in addressing California’s elementary

school chronic absence and truancy crisis, and we wanted to

hear directly from them

Representative samples of all ethnic/racial backgrounds,

with oversampling of African American and Latino parents

Because there’s an ethnic/racial attendance gap

We wanted to zero in on the most affected familiesFor more info,

visit: oag.ca.gov/truanc

y

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Here Are 4 Lessons We’ve

Learned

Why Are Kids Chronically

Absent?


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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Parents Universally Want What’s Best for Their Kids

(Did You Need a Study to Tell You That?)

Lesson #1


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Parents Have Only the Best Intentions

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During both phases of research, it was absolutely clear that parents have big dreams for their

children and have the best intentions. 15

17% 18% 23% 17% 22% 25%

73% 75% 59% 75% 69%40%

Keep track of atten-dances

Save ab-sences for when nec-

essary

Shorten family vacation to en-

sure child doesn’t miss

Contact teacher to make up

missed work

Talk to child about impor-tance of at-tendance

Ask school for help

How likely are you to do the following in the 2015-16 school year?

Very Likely

Somewhat Likely

90% 93%82%

92% 91%

65%


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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Parents aren’t connecting the dots between early attendance and later

outcomes

Lesson #2

“My child shouldn’t miss a day of

kindergarten unless it’s unavoidable.”

“I hope my child graduates high

school and goes to college.”


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Parents Agree that Some AbsencesWere Avoidable

Keep in mind: This is what parents are willing to say to an interviewer.

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We asked parents:

How often did your child stay home even though they probably

could have attended?

Although parents responded that most absences were unavoidable,

74% responded that at least some were avoidable.

% of Parent Re-spondents

No Avoidable AbsencesSome Avoidable Absences


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Parents Don’t Think Early Grade Absences Are a “Big Deal”

23%

37% 41%48%

56%

71%49%47%

63%71%

79% 84%

Parents are about 2x more likely to say that attendance is a “big deal” in high school than

kindergarten

% who say “it’s a big deal to miss at this grade level”

Spanish-Speaking Parents

English-Speaking Parents

18

2


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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Parents aren’t connecting the dots between day-to-day

absences and year-end totals

Lesson #3

“A couple absences a month isn’t a big

deal.”

“18+ absences a year is way too

many.”


oag.ca.gov/truancy

There was a mismatch between the “ideal” and “actual” numbers of

absences

Keep in mind: All of the respondents were parents of students who were absent 10+

times last year 20

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We asked parents:

Approximately how many days is it okay for your child to miss

in a school year?

The majority of parents said fewer than 9 days.

English-speaking p...

4%

21%

38%

26%

8%

Spanish-speaking ...

28%

35%

18%

17%>20 days10-20 days

4-9 days1-3 days0 days


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Parents Underestimate the Number of Year-End Absences

The math: If a child is absent an average of 2+ days a month, then she is absent far more than

10+ days a year 21

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Missed 10+ days annually

30%

We asked each parent about his or her child’s absences in two

ways:

1. Was your child absent an average of 2 or more days a

month?2. Was your child absent more

than 10 days over the year?

60% of parents said their child was absent an average of 2+

days a month, but not 10+ days a year

Missed an average of 2+ days per month

90%


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Parents Want to Track Absences

Parents want to do what’s best for their kids.22

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We asked parents:

How likely is it that you will track absences in the 2015-16

school year?

Between 90-96% of parents said they were likely to track

absences. 10% 4%

17% 32%

73% 64%Very likely

Somewhat Likely

Unlikely


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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Schools Inadvertently Reinforce Absence-Causing

Behaviors

Lesson #4


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Most High-Absence Parents Reported that Their Schools Had Not Contacted

Them

We need to make it easier for teachers and school leaders to talk to parents about

absences. 24

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72% of parents reported that they

most trust teachers to talk to

them about absences.

BUT

Only 42% reported that a school

official, including a teacher, contacted

them about attendance in the

last 6 months.


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Schools Inadvertently Reinforce Some Absence-Causing Beliefs

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Reinforce Attendance Reinforce Absenteeism

Class rewards for good attendance (e.g. popcorn or ice cream parties)

Individual recognition for students with good attendance

• Impersonal letters

• Teachers send work home in response to absences

• Teachers do not address absenteeism issue with the parent

• Parents do not feel their child is safe in school

• High levels of absenteeism in the class

Big motivators for kids, but not parents

Reinforces parents’ existing attitudes and

behaviors toward absences

School Behaviors that…

Impersonal Letters: • Easy to disregard• Many parents felt the school

miscounted—but parents couldn’t verify because they weren’t tracking absences

• Many parents felt that the school didn’t understand them

Sending Work Home:• Parents thought that

completing a makeup packet caught their child up for the missed day’s work

Teachers Not Addressing Absenteeism:• Most parents reported that

they regularly communicate with their children’s teacher, but never about absences


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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We Tested 4 Messages and

Have 3 Strategies

What Can We Do?


oag.ca.gov/truancy

We Tested Four Messages

Some combination of “attendance matters” and “absences add up” is most effective.

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Attendance Matters

Early attendance = later success

Absences Add Up

2 absences per month = chronic

absence

Bad HabitsEarly absence = later ditching

All Absences Are Equal

Absences have the same

consequences

Believable and persuasive

Fact that education is

sequential was new information

Believable and persuasive

Didn’t realize that 2 absences per

month was excessive

Never thought about the habits

being formed

Too negative

“Not my child”

Never thought about the

consequences of excused absences

Unbelievable; some absences

are OK


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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The “Ground Game”: Enable School Leaders, Including

Teachers, to Act on the Research

Strategy #1


oag.ca.gov/truancy

We can use feedback + help disseminating the toolkit.

Release Actionable Tools for School Leaders to Deliver the Message

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72% of parents reported that they most trust teachers to talk

to them about absences

but

Only 42% of parents reported that school

leaders, including teachers, talked to

them about absences.

SO

By the beginning of October, we’ll release all of our research and

a toolkit for school leaders to deliver the

most effective messages.

We will have a draft up by late September for

feedback.


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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The “Air Game”: Reinforce the Ground Game with a

Two-Year Public Education Campaign

Strategy #2


oag.ca.gov/truancy

We can use help finding investors.

Two-Year Public EducationCampaign to Empower Parents

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Parents need help connecting the dots:

2 absences per month

= chronic absence

and

early attendance =

later success

SO

By the summer of 2016,

we hope to launch a two-year, multimedia

public education campaign.

The goal will be to deliver the most

effective messages to parents via multiple

conduits.


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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We Are Exploring Tools to Easily Track Absences

Strategy #3


oag.ca.gov/truancy

We can use help finding investors.

Tools to Easily Track Absences

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90-96% of parents say they want to track

absences

but

judging by the gap between reported

monthly absences and annual absences, most

parents aren’t really doing it now.

SO

Building on the research of academics

like Professor Todd Rogers, we are

exploring opportunities for a text messaging

platform that will empower parents to

more easily keep track of their child’s

absences.


oag.ca.gov/truancy

Works Cited

1 Alan Ginsburg, Phyllis Jordan, & Hedy Chang, Absences Add Up: How School Attendance Influences Student Success (Sept. 2014).2 Donald J. Hernandez, Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation (2012).3 John M. Bridgeland, et al., The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (March 2006).4 Office of the Attorney General, California Department of Justice, In School + On Track: Attorney General’s 2015 Report on California’s Elementary School Truancy & Absenteeism Crisis (2015).5 Id.6 Id.7 Id.8 Office of the Attorney General, California Department of Justice, In School + On Track: Attorney General’s 2014 Report on California’s Elementary School Truancy & Absenteeism Crisis (2014).9 Nauer, Kim, et al., Center for New York City Affairs at the New School for Management and Urban Policy, Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families: Community Strategies to Reverse Chronic Absenteeism in the Early Grades and Improve Supports for Children and Families (2008).10 Id.11 Center for Court Innovation, From Absent to Present: Reducing Teen Chronic Absenteeism in New York City (2013), 23.12 Office of the Attorney General, California Department of Justice, In School + On Track: Attorney General’s 2015 Report on California’s Elementary School Truancy and Absenteeism Crisis (2015).


oag.ca.gov/truancy

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Yolie Flores, Senior FellowCampaign for Grade-Level Reading

[email protected]

1 Getting Beyond Negative Perceptions about Parents Key Insights about Engaging Parents in Ending Chronic Absence PARENTS ARE THE SECRET SAUCE WEBINAR.

Documents

govtruancy slide

engaging parents

chida slide

school administrators

elementary school students

school leads

missing school

chronic absence parents