Maximize Attendance
No matter how good the curriculum, great the teacher, or supportive an environment, students cannot learn if they are not in school.
- Chronic absenteeism remains an obstacle to student achievement everywhere in the country, including in Troy.
- About half of the post-COVID reductions in achievement are due to increased chronic absenteeism.
- The point is not to shift the blame for failing test scores to families but to create greater awareness that attendance matters.
The Challenge:
TSD’s Chronic Absenteeism Rate remains over twice as high as it was pre-COVID. Poor attendance represents a significant barrier to both academic achievement and other educational outcomes, so as socio-emotional well-being.
Strategic Initiatives:
- Connected Community: Continue to expand participation in community engagement structures such as listening sessions, councils (faith-based, alumni, multilingual, School Advisory), Parent-Teacher Associations, and Board community events
- Expectations and Outreach: Increase attendance expectations and outreach to remove barriers to attendance
- Implement an Attendance MTSS: Following the Multi-Tier System of Supports Model published by the national non-profit Attendance Works, the District will leverage data and early warning systems to identify at-risk students and intervene when necessary (see Figure 1 below)
- Partnership with Community Organizations: Work more closely with community organizations to augment staff capacity to work with families to identify opportunities for support and provide material assistance where possible
Key Results for Maximizing Attendance
- Key Result 2.1: Reduce chronic absenteeism in Elementary (grades K-5) from 11.2% (2024-25) to under 6% by 2028-29 (it was 5.8% in 2018-19, the last pre-COVID year)
- Key Result 2.2: Reduce chronic absenteeism in Middle School (grades 6-8) from 11.0% (2024-25) to under 6% by 2028-29 (it was 6.2% in 2018-19)
- Key Result 2.3: Reduce chronic absenteeism in High School (grades 9-12) from 17.4% (2024-25) to under 10% by 2028-29 (it was 5.3% in 2018-19)
- Key Results 2.4: Achieve a +20 Net Promoter score on a district-wide stakeholder survey of students (see future blog post on stakeholder surveys)