To improve student attendance rates as required by the new State Achievement Compact, the Hermiston School District will change its attendance recording practices and parent notification system.
The new Achievement Compact, as outlined in Gov. John Kitzhaber’s educational initiative, requires that 90 percent of students in all Oregon schools attend school 90 percent of the time. Prior initiatives focused primarily on unexcused absences, which are student absences that did not meet school or district criteria. However, under the new Oregon initiative, only absences resulting from school-sponsored activities (e.g. field trips or other extra/co-curricular involvement) are considered exempt from the attendance tracking.
“With the new Achievement Compact measures, it is the perfect time to make attendance more of a focus in schools,” said Sandstone Middle School Principal Neely Kirwan. “Our ultimate goal is to increase the amount of time our students are in the classroom learning. Research supports that attendance in school improves student achievement, and improving student attendance is a common challenge to all schools in our state.”
Due to student attendance being a key indicator of student success in school, Hermiston administrators convened an Attendance Task Force to analyze current attendance trends. They also reviewed attendance practices and policies, and made recommendations to improve these practices and better align with the new criteria.
In an effort to improve coordination and promote improved attendance across all levels, the task force recommended the following:
• Reword and identify the current “excused” and “unexcused” absence, which are often confusing to parents and students, as either an “approved absence” and “absence”
• Establish a uniform 90 percent attendance notification and intervention system district-wide
• Create a positive attendance recognition systems at all levels
The changes to the attendance system will take effect with the start of the 2013-14 school year.
