03/01/2019
Educators - How to address Chronic Absenteeism and Tardiness
In my current role, one of my tasks is to work with students who are chronically absent and tardy. The standard techniques used by teachers and administrators are not effective at reducing absenteeism and tardiness.
Common strategies for addressing chronic absenteeism and tardiness include assigning consequences such as detentions, giving them “a talking to” about failing grades, and calling parents.
When working with chronically absent and tardy students, I always begin my work by inviting them to eat with me in my office during their lunch period. It is my experience that in order to support a student I must first establish a trusting relationship. When building this relationship I have to be careful not to make them feel like the administration is angry with them. I must make sure they know that my goal is to support them in whatever way I can.
When having lunch with these students I focus on asking questions and actively listening. My goal is to uncover and understand the factors that are contributing to their problems. Typically these students have circumstances that are making it extra hard to get to school, and when they do come, being on time, making up missed work or learning concepts from missed instruction are adding to the pressure of their school day. All of these issues combined often cause overwhelming feelings and anxiety.
I always begin by asking students about their morning routine. What time do they wake up? Do they use an alarm? Does someone wake them up? What do they have to do in the morning before they get to school? How do they get to school? Many times I discover that parents have already left for work prior to wake up time and they are relying on their bodies to naturally wake up. Together, we take out their phones and set their alarms. (Sometimes we set their alarm for 3 separate times if they have a hard time waking up.). I always ask what time they go to bed to encourage them to think about the idea that maybe they aren’t getting enough sleep. Many times these simple strategies can change outcomes and decrease absenteeism.
Many times I find that students live a couple of miles from school and are required to walk or take public transportation to get to school. Supporting students by teaching them time management skills, planning better and getting things prepared the night before is most times enough to fix tardy and absenteeism problems. Another common problem with these students is that they don’t have money for bus tickets, no money in their Uber account or no clean clothes to wear to school. All of these issues can be resolved once we uncover the missing link. Together we find the resources these students need to be successful.
If I discover the main reason for their chronic absenteeism or tardiness is something more complicated than time management or self-discipline, I offer more in-depth support. Some students don’t want to come to school because they are so far behind in schoolwork that they don’t understand a lot of what is being taught in class. If this is the problem, I support them in articulating this to their teachers. The goal then becomes arranging a time to get extra help from their teachers or matching them with an older student who is willing to tutor them.
Solving problems with students means we have to be careful not to jump to conclusions. In order to understand how to support students to solve their own problems, we need to listen rather than judge.
Sometimes students don’t come to school because they are being bullied, feel picked on by a teacher or don’t feel good about themselves at school. My goal is to help them to uncover why they don’t want to come to school and then guide and support them in addressing those problems.
