BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — The link between student attendance and student achievement may seem like common sense, but Superintendent Will Hartley has been exploring how attendance has impacted achievement specifically in Bradford schools.
As part of an annual research project he completes for the Northeast Florida Educational Consortium, Hartley took a data dive and found some very clear evidence that truancy is holding students back.
He said he was troubled by what he found.
Going back to the 2019-20 school year, 14% of students missed 21 days of school or more. Another 25% missed 10 days or more.
Jumping to 2020-21, the number of school absences grew significantly, with 35% missing 21 or more days, and 55% missing 10 or more days.
Last year was similar in that 33% missed 21 days or more and 47% missed 10 days or more.
These truancy rates were even higher than neighboring districts dealing with their own attendance issues.
“It doesn’t matter what we do to try to improve instruction or anything we do to move the district forward. If the students aren’t here, we can’t help them,” Hartley said.
When the district began comparing performance data from the Florida Standards Assessment to attendance, they found that students scoring proficient (Level 3 to 5) in English, math and science were in class 90% of the time or more. At the high school in particular, high English performers were at school 92% of the time.
“We have a lot of good instruction going on in our district, if we can get the students in front of those teachers,” he said.
Average daily attendance has fluctuated in recent years, but Hartley said the goal this year is to get each school over 90%. The only school to achieve that last year was Starke Elementary, which was also the district’s highest scoring school. They have set their own goal of 95% this year, he said.
As of the end of the first semester, schools were surpassing the 90% goal.
Positive communication and outreach with parents and guardians is helping to make the difference, according to Hartley.
Schools have also rebooted their positive behavior support programs, rewarding students for their attendance with ice cream and other treats.
“The bottom line is, we got to do all we can do to get the word out to the parents: We have to have your kids in school. And if we do that, we’re seeing that our kids are for the most part very successful. But we’ve got to get them there,” he said.
School-level projects
Having worked on three projects himself for NEFEC, Hartley said he has seen that when an issue is placed in focus, they can demonstrate improvement. That’s why he asked administrators to complete school-level improvement projects, progress on which has been presented during recent board meetings.
In December, Principal Cassie Melvin presented a project about improving instruction through improved collaborative planning for teachers. A program was implemented with the assistance of funds Southside received as a “turnaround” school. This included paying teachers for an additional hour of planning three days a week.
Melvin discussed how Southside had already progressed in prior years. While a D school in 2021 and 2022, learning gains were demonstrated, particularly in math. She talked about making sure both students and teachers understand what is expected of them and making sure students are exposed to everything that will be on the test. They are looking at progress throughout the year and assessing instruction when students are following short to identify what can be done differently.
In January, Principal Ray Schaefer and Assistant Principal Shannon Rodriguez presented a project on improving math performance following a successful effort with science.
They were starting from a place of strong group and small group instruction by teachers and paras. The content at each grade level was aligned with state standards. They’ve implemented personalized learning on computers via IXL in third through fifth grades. The program is funded by Title I and uses instructional videos followed by assessments. A diagnostic test determines the needs of each student and then the students proceed along individualized learning paths.
Teachers are monitoring their progress, ensuring that they maintain a minimum proficiency. A snapshot of one fifth-grade group using IXL from Nov. 4 to Jan. 9 projected 20% growth.
They are also using Rocket Math, a five-to-15-minute practice to build fluency with skills like multiplication and division. This is utilized in second grade classes and up and is also funded by Title I.
Hartley is excited about what’s been presented.
“I think there’s a lot of good things that are happening. I mean, you can see it in these projects that the administrators are doing. There’s some very intentional work going on towards improving student achievement. But none of that matters if the students aren’t here,” he said.
As part of the leadership projects being carried out by school administrators, they have been asked to show how their improvement projects have impacted attendance.
“We can talk at the district level all we want to about attendance, but at the school level, if they’re not really pushing it, then it’s not going to happen,” he said. There is enthusiasm when they take on a challenge as a team.
Teachers and staff are being held accountable for their own attendance. They were told about the district focus on attendance at the beginning of the school year, but during the January school board meeting, Hartley revealed the district had been tracking teacher and staff attendance during the first semester as well.
As a reward Lawtey Elementary staff was treated to lunch on a recent planning day. While the results were close, Lawtey teachers and staff had just over 95% average daily attendance. Bradford High was right behind at 94%, followed by 93% at Bradford Middle School.
While it’s no longer a secret, staff attendance will be tracked again, and another school winner announced at the end of the second semester.
