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Attendance/Truancy

School leaders recognize that attendance is one of the keys to improving student achievement. To that end, principals have developed many programs aimed at increasing attendance. The articles below from Education World's archive share stories and practical tips that are sure to help as you search for ways to improve attendance in your school.

"Pizza Party Patrol" Delivers Great Attendance
Students who get themselves to class each day at one Virginia elementary school may earn rewards that are both tangible and tasty. The school’s “pizza party patrol” has motivated improved attendance in a school with the district’s highest mobility rate.

Triumph Over Truancy: Tips for Improving Student Attendance
Greater learning, a brighter future, less delinquency, and more funds for schools -- there are countless benefits to increased student attendance. Many schools are coming up with novel approaches to resolve their truancy woes.Will their ideas work in your school?

Read More... Find more articles of interest in the following Education World resources: Building School Community & Climate Counseling Students Discipline See our complete archive of Focus On… articles. More than three dozen hot topics of interest to principals.

Principal Goes Door to Door With Back-to-School Message
Tired of low student turnouts on the first few days of school, Hartford, Connecticut, principal Dr. Robert E. Morris decided to remind parents about the opening of school. In person. Staff and community members joined Morris walking door-to-door.

Schools Get Tough on Attendance
Cracking down on truancy is a growing concern for many administrators, as requirements increase and evidence mounts that children who are in school consistently learn more than students who are absent. Included: Descriptions of attendance policies in four school systems.

City School Overnight Safaris Promote Student Attendance
In Sacramento, California, an unusual alliance between the school district, a zoo, and the National Guard has resulted in a successful program that encourages fifth graders to come to school and behave well. Could a similar program be implemented in your area?

Programs Combat a Community Problem: Chronically Truant Students
What is the connecting link between restricted driving privileges, enforced community service, and reduced welfare payments? Those strategies are components of truancy-prevention programs in effect throughout the United States.

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Last updated 06/26/2008