One Message for Parents and five benefits that lead to student success…
Anyone who has been in education for any length of time, quickly realizes that the health of student’s home life greatly impacts her likelihood to be successful within the school walls. The best educators accept the challenge of helping that student be more successful while the tired ones will accept defeat and see if we can’t remove the distraction from the other students. Before you get mad at me, please know, I fully admit that I have been and may once again be the latter. It is really really difficult to persist when it seems you care more than the student does. On the other hand, I know that there are students in those situations who have turned it around. Most importantly, for every student who has turned it around, there is a teacher who persisted through the seemingly dim chance of success. Did they get lucky? Do they have inherent talents that you do not? How is it that some teachers, often masses of students cite the same teachers by the way, are able to make such a large impact on their students? I will be honest. I am not that bright and don’t have so much charisma that student begin dancing a jig when they see me in the hallway. For most of us, the best chance we have to help a student with a struggling family life is to get them to their caring environment each day. According to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, one of those strategies is simple but often overlooked. In an article titled Parents as Allies in Reducing Absences, impactful research is cited with this simple strategy. Essentially, communicating to your
parent body that missing school can have a major impact on students. The research was
solely based on sending letters home multiple times a year. Imagine if you coupled that with additional modes of communication. While it may still be tough to get the hardest students to fall in line, the research is extremely clear with attendance. In many cases, we can (sadly) predict the educational future of a student by third grade with scary accuracy. Let’s work together and make it known to our parent bodies that loving their child includes getting them to school every day. See the letter to your parents below for a start of something that can be mailed, emailed, blogged, or otherwise communicated with the parents at your school. Tweak it and make it your own for maximum impact.
Parents,
We know that you love and want the best outcomes for your beloved child. We believe that if you know and understand the impact that absenteeism from school has on your child, you will partner with us to get your child to school each day. While we do not have perfect schools or personnel, we do want your child to be successful in school, and more importantly, in life following school. Thank you for your partnership with us. We can do this!
Benefits of consistent attendance at school:
- School Connectedness: Your child is more likely to develop healthy adult and student relationships.
- Learning: In almost every case, your child will miss some critical content for learning the lesson or unit with a specially planned experience that cannot be replicated on their own.
- Grades: Studies have shown a direct correlation between attendance and school success, especially grades.
- Trust: Students who communicate with their teachers and take responsibility for their learning are more likely to earn credibility and student-teacher credit. i.e. Humans are inherenly more likely to help someone who has treated them well.
- Home Life: When students learn how to meet expectations for teachers, sometimes several teachers, they often learn responsibility in many facets of their life. In other words, if you would like your child to contribute to the household by doing dishes, taking out the garbage, and holding up there end of the bargain, school engagement is one of the many non-negotiables you will want to foster. If you really want this to take off, try to have conversations about their learning two to three times per week.
Heks Reflects 