This document summarizes attendance data from South Hills Middle School from 2012-2014. It shows that total absences decreased from 77,800 periods in 2012-2013 to 35,772 periods in 2014, a 46% reduction. Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10% or more of the school year (18 days), affected about 8 students per year in 2012-2013 but only 4 students per year in 2014. Tardiness also decreased from an average of 3.4 tardies per student in 2013-2014 to 2.5 tardies per day in 2014. The school aims to continue implementing attendance strategies and interventions to further engage students and reduce absences.

1. Attendance Program
Every Child, Every Day
South Hills Middle School
2014
Georgia Wing
georgia.wing@jordandistrict.org
801-412-2407

2. Unexcused
Absences, 28,272
Excused Verified
Absences, 6,041
Guardian
Knowledge,
49,528
School Activity,
11,016
Vacation/Education
al Leave, 9,611
Sluffing, 178
Absences by Type and Periods
2012-2013 Attendance
If we combine unexcused absences and parent excused absences, the
total comes to 77,800 periods of absence. This computes to about 9,725
days of absence which, with a population of around 1,150 in 2012-2013,
is 8 absences per student. That is also an average of 54 absences per
school day.

4. 0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
Absences by Type and Period
28,272
5,1805,629
112
49,528
1,035
11,016
2,218
298
1,525
7,556
9,611
6,041
178
1,861
Periods
2013 Absence Occurences by Type and Period
Absent
Check In
Check Out
Excused Tardy
Guardian Knowledge
ISS
School Activity
Suspension
Testing/SEOP
Unexcused Check In
Tardy
Vacation/Educational Leave
Excused Absent
Sluff
Way Late

5. Attendance S.M.A.R.T. Goal
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Timely
Reduce the
number of
unexcused and
guardian
excused
absences and
tardies by 10% by

6. Chronically Absent
Students
An Alarming and Largely Overlooked Crisis
is chronically absent students
Hedy Chang Founder and Director of
Attendance Works
Attendanceworks.org
A National initiative committed to addressing
chronic absenteeism

7. What is Chronically
Absent?
When a student misses 10% or more
of a school year (18 days) they are
chronically absent. That is a red alert
that a student is headed for academic
trouble and eventually for dropping out
of high school.

8. A summary of key research
on Chronic Absenteeism
• 10-15% of students in the US are chronically absent each year.
• Nationwide at least 1 out of 10 students misses nearly a month of school annually.
• In some cities 1 in 4 students are missing a month of school annually.
• Data suggests that schools may be able to increase student attendance in
elementary school by implementing specific family and community activities.
• The largest statistically significant factor in determining whether a student was
chronically absent was their chronic absence status in the prior year.
• The number of days a student was absent has a significant effect on year-end test
percentiles in both Math and Language Arts for students in grades 3-8 as well as
GPA in high school students.
• Middle and high-achieving students were found to be at greatest risk of academic
decline due to chronic absenteeism.
• A student with 2 or more years of chronic absenteeism has a 50% higher risk of
dropping out.

9. Secondary Issues
• Attendance in the pivotal freshman year was a key
indicator of whether students would finish high school.
• 9th grade attendance was a better predictor of dropout
than 8th grade test scores.
• Early identification and intervention for students in the
middle grades to prevent student disengagement
increased graduation rates substantially.
• Indicators reflecting poor attendance, misbehavior and
course failure in 6th grade can be used to identify 60% of
the students who will not graduate from high school.

10. • Too often we think absences aren’t a problem as long as they
are excused or that a child’s learning won’t be affected, unless
they miss a lot of days in a row.
• Research shows missing 10% of the school year, could be just
2-3 days per month. Those days can add up to so much lost
learning time in the classroom that children can’t keep up.
• Poor attendance isn’t just a high school problem. It can start as
early as kindergarten or 1st grade.
• Many of these early absences aren’t truancy or skipping school.
They are excused absences occurring for a variety of reasons.
Even so, they all add up to lost learning time.
• If chronic absence continues year after year, some students
may have missed 1/2 year of instruction by the time they reach
3rd grade.
• Emerging research shows that chronically absent children, in
both kindergarten and 1st grade, are far less likely to read
proficiently at the end of 3rd grade.

11. When do absences become
a problem??
In a school year:
9 or fewer Good
Attendance
10-17 Warning signs
18 or more Chronic Absence

16. Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May
Daily Student Attendace Percentage
2012/2013
95.37 95.16 93.2 93.14 92.83 92.97 93.53 92.87 93.16
Daily Student Attendace Percentage
2013/2014
95.13 95.19 93.97 93.35 94.62 94.3 94.25 93.62 92.87
91.5
92
92.5
93
93.5
94
94.5
95
95.5
96
Percentage
Daily Student Attendance Percentage
2012-2013 Average Number of Students is 1170
2013-2014 Average Number of Students is 1020

17. Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May
Days Tardy 2012-2013 0.66 0.76 0.5 0.56 0.69 0.9 0.55 0.75 1.02
Days Tardy 2013-2014 0.43 0.6 0.57 0.39 0.47 0.72 0.78 0.86 0.82
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Percentage Average Number of Students Tardy on any Given Period
2012-2013 Average Number of Students is 1170
2013-2014 Average Number of Students is 1020

18. 0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
Absences by Type and Period
22,248
6,694
5,318
51
49,329
1,035
8,385
2,538
146
1,560
7,599
9,464
5,054
147 45
Periods
2012 Absence Occurrence by Type and Period
Absent
Check In
Check Out
Excused Tardy
Guardian Knowledge
ISS
School Activity
Suspension
Testing/SEOP
Unexcused Check In
Tardy
Vacation/Educational Leave
Excused Absent
Sluff
Way Late

19. 0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
Absences by Type and Period
28,272
5,1805,629
112
49,528
1,035
11,016
2,218
298
1,525
7,556
9,611
6,041
178
1,861
Periods
2013 Absence Occurences by Type and Period
Absent
Check In
Check Out
Excused Tardy
Guardian Knowledge
ISS
School Activity
Suspension
Testing/SEOP
Unexcused Check In
Tardy
Vacation/Educational Leave
Excused Absent
Sluff
Way Late

20. 0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
Absences by Type and Period
11,119
2,8672,910
44
24,653
365
7,318
212 272
886
3,547
6,398
2,874
25 33
Periods 2014 Absence Occurences by Type and Period
Absent
Check In
Check Out
Excused Tardy
Guardian Knowledge
ISS
School Activity
Suspension
Testing/SEOP
Unexcused Check In
Tardy
Vacation/Educational Leave
Excused Absent
Sluff
Way Late

21. Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4
2012 14674 21028 18390 17485
2013 14475 21497 21825 20003
2014 6910 8766 9081 11015
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
PeriodsofAbsence 2012-14 Unexcused and Guardian Excused Absences

22. Unexcused
Absences, 28,272
Excused Verified
Absences, 6,041
Guardian
Knowledge,
49,528
School Activity,
11,016
Vacation/Education
al Leave, 9,611
Sluffing, 178
Absences by Type and Periods
2013 Attendance
If we combine unexcused absences and parent excused absences, the
total comes to 77,800 periods of absence. This computes to about 9,725
days of absence which, with a population of around 1,150 in 2013, is 8
absences per student. That is also an average of 54 absences per
school day.

23. Unexcused
Absences,
11,119
Excused Verified Absences,
2,874
Guardian Knowledge,
24,653
School Activity, 7,318
Vacation/Educational Leave,
6,398
Sluffing, 25
Absences by Type and Periods
If we combine unexcused absences and parent excused absences, the total
comes to 35,772 periods of absence – a 46% reduction from the 2012-13 school
year. This is still 4,471 days of absence, which with a population of 1,030 in 2014,
is 4 absences per student. That is an average of of 25 absences per school day
2014 Attendance

25. 2014 Late Arrivals
Check In, 2,867
Excused Tardies, 44
Unexcused Check In, 886
Unexcused
Tardies, 3,547
Way Late, 33
Late Arrivals by Type and Periods
There were approximately 3.4 tardies per student (pop. 1030) in the 2013-14
school year. That is an average of 20 tardies per day or 2.5 tardies per period.

27. What is next?
• Continue to implement all attendance
strategies and interventions.
• Hire quality teachers.
• Utilize JPAS tools to develop effective and
highly effective teachers.
• Our goal is to engage every student, every
day, every period.

28. Questions?