Every day a student is absent is a lost opportunity for learning. We know that chronic absenteeism can lead to lower grades, contribute to lower test scores, and increase the dropout rate. And chronic absenteeism can impact an entire class: Research from the University of California has shown that classes with many absent students have 10% lower average test scores than classes where less than half the students were absent.
As educators, we need to use every tool at our disposal to stop absenteeism from stealing the future of our students. One effective intervention strategy to combat absenteeism is the chronic absenteeism letter to parents, a solution that helps educators partner with families to solve student problems and boost attendance. If you want to know why these letters are important and discover the key strategies for communicating effectively with parents about attendance, keep reading.
Table of Contents
The Importance of Addressing Chronic Absenteeism
Understanding Chronic Absenteeism Letters
Understanding Notification-Based Intervention
4 Strategies for Writing Effective Chronic Absenteeism Letters
Best Practices for Implementing a Chronic Absenteeism Letter Program
Panorama's Solutions for Chronic Absenteeism
Take Action to Improve Student Attendance With Panorama
What Is Chronic Absenteeism?
A student is defined as chronically absent whenever they miss 10% or more of school days. This means missing 18 or more days in a typical school year of 180 days. It’s essential to distinguish this metric from truancy, which is exclusively a measure of the number of unexcused student absences. Although this varies state-by-state, a student is typically considered truant if they have 7-10 days of unexplained absences in a single year.
Chronic absenteeism affected nearly 15 million students over the previous school year. In fact, the issue has become so serious that 14 state governments have recently signed a pledge committing to reducing chronic absenteeism rates by half. To achieve this ambitious goal, schools must take advantage of data-driven insights and deploy proven strategies and interventions, such as chronic absenteeism letters.
The Importance of Addressing Chronic Absenteeism
The effects of chronic absenteeism are well-documented and alarming, leading to both short and long-term issues for students. Some of the adverse impacts on students include:
- Reduced Academic Achievement: Studies reveal that frequent absences hinder academic performance, leading to significant impacts later in life. . Frequent absences from kindergarten have been correlated with reduced academic performance by age 15. The problem continues through grade levels—students who miss 10 classes in 9th grade are 2% less likely to attend college.
- Life Skills: Students who are chronically absent may not develop the social and behavioral life skills necessary for both their well-being and future success.
- Future Outcomes: Chronic absenteeism extends beyond the classroom, and is tied to higher dropout rates and reduced long-term life outcomes. Chronically absent students are likely to have lower lifetime earnings and poorer health.
However, it’s not just the student that is impacted. Schools and districts with high levels of chronic absenteeism face a range of additional challenges, including:
- Disrupted classroom learning: Absenteeism can lead to students falling behind, disrupting the class as a whole. Additionally, chronic absenteeism can strain teacher capacity, as educators must provide extra assistance to help students catch up.
- Reduced funding: Many states calculate funding based on attendance. Chronic absenteeism lowers attendance and can, therefore, impact school funding.
- Lower school performance ratings: Schools that have high levels of chronic absenteeism tend to have lower overall performance metrics. This includes reduced test scores, lower graduation rates, and a decrease in student engagement.
These challenges and problems underscore the need for comprehensive solutions that address underlying causes of absenteeism. As school districts move to implementing their own initiatives to increase attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism, the importance of family engagement becomes clearer than ever.
A range of studies show that increased family engagement is key to improving attendance ratings and reducing chronic absenteeism. One strategy to increase family engagement is by sending chronic absenteeism letters.
Understanding Chronic Absenteeism Letters
Chronic absenteeism letters inform parents of absences, remind them of the importance of attendance, and promote open communication between families and schools. Research cited in Harvard’s Ed. Magazine showed that chronic absenteeism letters to parents are able to reduce chronic absenteeism by 10-15%.
There are three different types of attendance-related notifications for families:
- Truancy letters: Truancy letters apply only to unexcused absences, rather than absences as a whole. Consequently, a parent may receive a truancy letter before they receive a chronic absenteeism notification. This letter is a formal notification that a student has been absent for a number of days without permission.
- Early warning letters: School districts use these letters to notify parents after a certain number of absences in a school year, but before the threshold for chronic absenteeism is hit. It’s important to alert parents before students are chronically absent. This way, families have an opportunity to work with school leaders to identify and address the factors behind student absences.
- Chronic absenteeism notification: If the number of student absences reaches chronic levels, schools then send out a notification letter informing families of the fact that their child has hit this tolerance limit. This letter should be informative, but not judgmental, explaining to parents the potential long-term consequences of continued absences and emphasizing the school’s willingness to communicate and find solutions collaboratively.
Understanding Notification-Based Intervention
To put these letters into a broader context, we can classify them as notification-based interventions. Notification-based interventions are proactive approaches to issues that rely on timely, data-driven communications with parents or guardians. These types of programs are often highly effective for increasing family engagement.
Types of Notification-Based Interventions
Schools can use several types of notifications, including:
Letters: Printed documents mailed to parents or guardians containing information about their child’s attendance issues, with suggestions for how to improve attendance.- Pros: Formal, tangible, capable of providing detailed guidance and information
- Cons: Delivery can be slow, risk of getting lost, family must have a stable mailing address
- Pros: Quick and immediate, high open rate since people frequently check their phones
- Cons: Less space for explanation or support, may be seen as intrusive, requires a phone capable of receiving text messages
- Pros: Personal touch, allows for two-way communication in real-time, more effective in conveying the urgency of the issue
- Cons: Time-consuming for schools with many students, calls may go unanswered, some families might perceive calls as confrontational
- Pros: Able to provide detailed information, allows for school branding and professional tone
- Cons: May end up in spam folder or be overlooked, requires the family to have access to email, less personal than phone calls
Where Chronic Absenteeism Letters Fit In
Chronic absenteeism letters are the cornerstone of notification-based intervention, providing a formal, detailed means of communicating the importance of attendance to parents or guardians. These Tier 2 or Tier 3 interventions are often most effective when used as part of a multipronged notification strategy.
For example, a school might start by sending text alerts, informing families of attendance issues. If the problem persists, this notification can be elevated with a letter. Chronic absenteeism letters are also important as formal records of communication that serve as documentation for attendance improvement plans.
Integrating Letters with Other Interventions
Chronic absenteeism letters alone cannot solve the attendance problem. These notifications should be combined with other school-based interventions, including mentoring programs, attendance incentives, and family support services. The root causes of absenteeism are complex, requiring multiple strategies to both identify and address. To reduce chronic absenteeism, school leaders must implement more coordinated, holistic methods and solutions.
4 Strategies for Writing Effective Chronic Absenteeism Letters
In combating chronic absenteeism, well-crafted letters are essential. Letters should use data-driven insights, empathetic language, and personalized strategies to effectively engage families and inspire action. By transforming routine notices into meaningful communication, schools can encourage collaboration and improve attendance. Let’s look at the best ways to create effective letters:
Use Data to Drive Communication
You’ll see in this template that one of the most important elements of a notification letter is accurate attendance data. Platforms like Panorama Student Success streamline this process, making it easier to find specific student metrics to include, such as:
- Total Number of School Days (at the time of writing)
- Days Attended
- Days Absent
- Attendance Rate
The reliability of this data is vital. Errors may be picked up by families, reducing the overall impact of your communication or even causing them to think a mistake has been made.
Adopt a Supportive Tone
It’s important to use a tone that emphasizes the partnership between the school and the family. Never use blame or punitive language. Use language like, “how we can help” and “we are committed to partnering with families” to strengthen the bond between your school and the parent or guardian. Also, always emphasize your school’s availability to discuss solutions.
Personalize the Message
Chronic absenteeism letters should be tailored to each student’s specific situation. Also, always include a personalized greeting at the top of each letter. This can be as simple as: “Dear Parent/Guardian of [Student’s Name].”
Provide Actionable Steps
Chronic absenteeism letters shouldn’t just notify the family that an attendance issue is ongoing. They should also include specific strategies parents can use to improve attendance, such as establishing a morning routine, contacting a counselor, or creating alternative transportation plans. Make sure your letter also describes the resources and support available from your school.
Best Practices for Implementing a Chronic Absenteeism Letter Program
When developing a chronic absenteeism letter program, there are several best practices to keep in mind:
- Don’t just send out one notification. Develop a tiered approach to attendance communication that is responsive to the particular situation of each student.
- Prevent notification fatigue. Establish clear thresholds for sending letters, and ensure the policy is followed consistently.
- Don’t rely on letters alone. Coordinate with other school interventions and supports.
- Always protect the school-family relationship. Effective strategies include building relationships with families, sharing student data, modeling teaching practices, incorporating family input, and integrating home cultures into lessons. Schools with strong family and community ties see significant academic improvements.
- Take steps to overcome language barriers. Not every student’s family speaks the same language. Overcome language barriers by using professional translators or software.
- Avoid sending letters to the wrong people. Maintain updated parent or guardian contact information to protect student privacy and ensure the effectiveness of your chronic absenteeism letter program.
Panorama's Solutions for Chronic Absenteeism
At Panorama, we are on a mission to help every school successfully reduce chronic absenteeism. Panorama Student Success is a comprehensive platform that helps schools need to identify and treat the root causes of chronic absenteeism.
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Triangulate attendance data with academic, life skills, behavior data in Panorama Student Success
Panorama also offers student voice solutions and feedback surveys that can reveal attendance barriers such as reduced student engagement, poor teacher-student relationships, and unsafe school climate.
For more resources on reducing chronic absenteeism and boosting attendance, explore our new report on the state of chronic absenteeism or request a demo to see how our tools make it easier to identify at-risk students and create highly effective parent/guardian communications.
Take Action to Improve Student Attendance With Panorama
Chronic absenteeism is a major ongoing problem in schools across the country. To combat absenteeism, schools and families need to work together, communicating and collaborating to improve attendance. However, families may not always have access to information on student attendance, or be aware of school resources.
That’s why chronic absenteeism letters are so crucial. They provide an initial point of contact and notify parents and guardians of student absenteeism—and provide solutions through family-school collaboration. .
Discover more about how Panorama Education’s research-based tools can enhance education and reduce chronic absenteeism today.
