Attendance Matters! We Must Decrease Student Truancy and Absenteeism
This three-part dissertation concentrates on student attendance. It is clear that we have a student attendance problem in our nation, particularly in urban school districts. There have been other studies, discussions, and debates on how to improve student attendance, but identifying a single policy, program, incentive, and/or intervention to positively impact absenteeism is difficult. Student absenteeism has and will continue to be a national problem. Many factors play a role in student attendance, to a certain degree, some are controllable and others are extremely difficult to affect. Part II of this dissertation is a Changed Leadership Plan focusing on a small suburban school district with stagnant average daily student attendance, high chronic truancy, and high absenteeism. By increasing student attendance data for the district, then in turn, we are also increasing a student's instructional time. Wagner’s (2008) change leadership model 4C’s (culture, context, conditions, and competencies) were used to assess the district’s student attendance. The goal of this change plan is to significantly decrease student truancy and absenteeism in a district to increase their instructional time. The overarching challenge is for school districts to be able to proactively manage student attendance to ensure children are in school on a regular basis. Creating a culture of collaboration for student attendance, shared responsibility, and trust are key to address our national student attendance crisis.
attendance, performing arts, after-school, Art Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership, Elementary Education, Gifted Education
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations