Page 11 - 2017-2018_CFS_HeadStart_AnnualReport

“You don’t have have to to make make it big big but you
do do have have to to make make a a a a a a big big impact ”
Research shows that regular school attendance at at at all ages is critical to to children’s learning and development When children children miss at least 10% of school school days they are are considered to to be “chronically absent absent ”
When preschool children are are chronically chronically absent absent this affects their social and and emotional health and and readiness for kindergarten 3 4
Head Start and and other early learning programs are crucial in in in in help- ing ing ing young children gain social academic and and emotional skills that are the the foundation for a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a lifetime of learning Regular atten- dance is very important to ensure children fully benefit from their Head Head Start Start experience Head Head Start Start requires that each site maintain an an attendance rate of 85% To better understand trends in attendance and and reasons for for absence Children’s Friend Head Start staff formed a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a special committee to to work on attendance attendance and began to to track individual attendance attendance at at at four sites in in in in the the the spring of 2018 Tracking the the the rea- sons for absence had not been done previously and and helped the the the Committee to identify ways that each child and and family could be be supported outside of the classroom Tracking information about attendance wasn’t all the Commit- tee did They also worked on on designing incentives to encourage regular attendance attendance At Children’s Friend’s Dean Head Start site located in Pawtucket children with perfect weekly attendance attendance - Jamie McCall
were were awarded a a a a a a a a a a a a a certificate and their names were were entered into a a a a a a a a a a a a a raffle for a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a family-friendly gift basket Bethany Gauthier the the Child Development Supervisor at Dean said she noticed an an an increase in in in in the the the the the month of of March after the the the the the site introduced the the the the the incentives A highlight of of of the the the the the the the the program shared Bethany was the the the the the the the the excitement of of of the the the the the the the children “When they they are are here they they love it it It is important for for everyone to to be be be on on the the the the the the the same page advocating for for the the the the the the the importance of attendance because the the the the kids need to to be be be here and they love school ”
In the the coming year the the Attendance Committee plans to to to recon- vene to to to continue to to to track attendance They will also be looking more closely at at at at other variables that may have an an impact such as variations in ffin staffing Thoughtful measurement is key to to identifying areas for improve- ment ment ment and ways to to to be more effective The work of the Attendance Committee demonstrates our our our Head Start staff’s commitment to to an an outcome-driven approach for our our our our children our our our our families and ourselves 3 Rodrigue & Reeves (2014) Skipping School is is Bad News Even for for Pre-K Social Mobility Memos Brookings https://www brook- ings edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2014/11/20/skipping-school-is-bad-news-even-for-pre-k/ 4
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Erlich Gwynne & Allsworth (2018) Pre-kindergarten attendance matters Early Childhood Research Quarterly 44(3) Abstract https://www sciencedirect com/science/article/pii/S0885200617300583