Test Scores And Anecdotes Reflect Improved School Attendance

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

At the very start of this year, the Sentinel reported on the attendance problems Dade County Schools face. Now, we are delighted to report that across the district, Dade’s attendance rates have improved by 6.5 percent compared to this time last year. Also, compared to the 2023-2024 chronic absenteeism rate, we’ve improved by 11.3 percent.

The U.S. Department of Education defines chronic absenteeism as missing ten percent or more of the school year. In Dade, that’s 18 days.

Per the Jan. 1 Sentinel, Dade’s chronic absenteeism was only 15.5 percent in 2017-2018 and 16.5 percent the following year. After the years interrupted by COVID-19 policies, our chronic absenteeism increased greatly: In 2023-2024, 26.8 percent of students were chronically absent.

However, Dade County Schools made progress this fall semester. Across all schools, chronic absenteeism was down to 15.5 percent. (For this set of data, the central office looked at students who missed nine days in the fall semester and therefore are on track for 18 days in the year.)

Chronic absenteeism for the 2024 fall semester:

• Dade Elementary School (DES): 21.4 percent
• Davis Elementary School (Davis): 20.1 percent
• Dade Middle School (DMS): 23 percent
• Dade County High School (DCHS): 22.4 percent
• District Total: 22 percent

Chronic absenteeism for the 2025 fall semester:

• DES: 14.6 percent
• Davis: 10.5 percent
• DMS: 18 percent
• DCHS: 16.9 percent
• District Total: 15.5 percent

Dade also tracks 12 missed days in a year. Jeremy Roerdink (director of federal programs and safety) said, “As a district, we’re also tracking 12 days or more because we think that 18 is still too high.”

So, why does it matter that kids are at school? Here are two anecdotes from DCHS teachers (generalized for the sake of student privacy), and at the end of this article, we’ll look at some test scores.

Last school year, one student had 20 absences in English I and only earned a 61 in the class. The student had to attend summer school to earn credit for the class. This semester, with only two absences in English II, the student earned an 81. The teacher said, “Not only did the student’s grade improve, but he/she showed more than one grade-level of growth on the MAP testing and ended the semester so much more confident in his/her own writing.”

Another student missed 22 days of freshman year and struggled socially and emotionally. Sophomore year, the student only missed seven days. This fall semester (junior year), the student missed three days.

The teacher reflected, “I think when we got ahold of the student in [a school club] and gave him/her a purpose last year, it made the student want to be at school more often, be accountable for his/her academics, and be an example for fellow [club] members. I’ve seen such a change in the student’s demeanor, level of accountability, and ability to be bold and lead others. I don’t think we would have gotten to see that part if the student didn’t attend school like he/she is now and hadn’t found purpose through presence.”

Chronic absenteeism and attendance are national issues, and Georgia made it a state-wide focus this last year.

Roerdink said, “So much of what the state is saying is make sure you have good relationships with those kids that are absent, good PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) incentives, a good climate, a good culture. We feel like we have that. We just need to do a better job communicating expectations with parents. While we want to hold parents accountable, we also want to make sure we understand where they’re coming from because every situation is unique.”

Rhonda Bradford (DMS principal) shared a story that highlighted the focus on individual students. One student had routinely been coming in late, and the DMS secretary noticed. She found a small prize and told the student that he could earn it by arriving before the tardy bell. 

“I watched for four days straight,” said Bradford. “He would walk in right after the bell and she’d say, ‘You didn’t get it.’ Today, I watched that child slam his door, sprint across the parking lot, and he got the prize. Those personal connections are definitely being built. It’s a school-wide initiative, and it’s the little stories like this that are happening along the way.”

Leading up to Christmas break, the schools were hit heavily by sickness, which is always a factor in the topic of attendance, but when it comes to factors within parents’ and students’ control, the schools have seen improvement.

The recent bout of flu is a case where many students needed to be sent home, but in general, the schools have encouraged students to practice pushing through less severe sickness. Bradford explained, “The kids know now that if they get sent home by the nurse, it’s excused. If they just don’t show, it’s unexcused. They will try their best to come in and make it through a day or at least half a day. That has encouraged them to come in even if they’re feeling just a little bit under the weather.”

All four schools have various incentives and reward systems that encourage students to attend. As for parents, the principals noted that teachers and administrators have taken extra care to let parents know once they’ve used up all three parent notes for the semester.

Teachers make phone calls, guidance counselors send letters, and administration sets up meetings with parents. According to Bradford, “The meetings have been most beneficial. We say we don’t want you to go to truancy, so let’s talk about what your roadblocks are. What’s preventing you from getting here?”

Bradford’s team has found that students often present missed days and tardies as no big deal. “Once we sit the parent down and say, actually it is a big deal and this is how it’s affecting your student’s grades, we get on the same page.”

Brent Cooper (DCHS principal) reported that in the first quarter of this school year alone, teachers and staff made 777 documented contacts with parents, but he suspects that the true number is even higher. These contacts weren’t all about attendance, but they are part of how the school is building connections with parents.

Cooper said, “There’s this myth that once students get to high school, all communication stops with adults.”

The anecdotes above from DCHS teachers offer close-up insight into the importance of regular attendance, but test scores provide some big picture data. According to Roerdink, “If you do nothing in a school system but focus on improving attendance, scores will go up six to ten percent.”

Chris Davis (director of academics/testing) said, “There is a direct correlation between attendance and academics. We can track that and show that. We believe there’s a direct correlation between good attendance and good well-being of students also, but how do we track that? But we all know that being around other people is what we need as humans.”

The schools are seeing academic improvement across tests and assessments, but to simplify things, Davis explained just the winter MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) scores. This national assessment is given three times a year (fall, winter, and spring), and our elementary schools just completed the winter assessment. (DMS and DCHS will complete it after Christmas break.)

This is the recent history of our elementary students who were proficient in reading during the winter MAP test:

• 2022-2023: 62 percent
• 2023-2024: 58 percent
• 2024-2025: 64 percent
• 2025-2026: 69 percent

This is the recent history of our elementary students who were proficient in math during the winter MAP test:

• 2022-2023: 61 percent
• 2023-2024: 57 percent
• 2024-2025: 64 percent
• 2025-2026: 71 percent

Another data point indicating academic improvement is that Dade County is no longer on the Georgia Promise Scholarship eligible zones list. (See the Dec. 11, 2024, Sentinel for initial information about the program and the Feb. 12 Sentinel for some of the complications along the way.)

The Georgia Promise Scholarship is open to students in a public school attendance zone that is in the lowest 25 percent of all public schools in the state. Dade’s test scores have either improved enough (or enough other schools’ scores have dropped) that Dade is no longer in Georgia’s bottom 25 percent.

In conclusion, Roerdink said, “We can have all the best professional development going on in the world, and we have a lot of great teachers, but if we don’t have students in their seats on a regular basis, we’re spinning our wheels.”