Attendance tracking program helps combat chronic absenteeism

A Florida community college is boosting learning and graduation rates with new technology that gets professors access to real-time data on student engagement and performance.

Schools in Los Angeles have strict consequences for truancy and tardiness but offer rewards and recognition for good attendance. Administrators use iPhones to record the ID numbers of tardy students, tracking them in order to engage the appropriate intervention.

The rate of students dropping out of college or failing to complete their degree in the allotted time has soared in the United States, and experts are discovering that one of the causes is simply that students feel isolated, discouraged, and overwhelmed. A study by Ideas42 across a number of universities revealed that fairly simple behavioral "nudging" - or the process of providing tiny but regular interventions and encouragement through systems like text messages - can have a drastic impact on a student's likelihood of success.

The one-stop shopping for public, magnet, charter and innovations schools has proved popular in Coloroda but generated controversy in Massachusetts.

To better serve employers and respond to student concerns about the costs of higher education, some colleges and universities are debuting accelerated bachelor’s programs that allow students to graduate in three years instead of four. Though these programs are still new, one such degree track at Johnson & Wales University reported lower dropout rates between students’ first and second semesters compared to its traditional four-year programs.

Small rural schools in New Hampshire achieved some of the state's highest reading scores by leveraging their size to create multi-grade classrooms, provide individualized support to all students, and build long-term student-teacher relationships. In result, these lower-income districts have outperformed expectations by the widest margins in the state.

The Communities in Schools program (CIS) places trained navigators in low-income schools to provide wraparound social support, helping students and families access public benefits, cover emergency expenses, provide behavioral counseling and address barriers that prevent students from succeeding academically. The non-profit has been helping students for 50 years, serving 2 million children across 26 states, and has seen significant academic and economic outcomes, including increasing high school graduation and college enrollment rates.

As a stopgap solution to housing insecurity among students, Long Beach Community College launched the Safe Parking Program, which allows students to sleep in their cars in a designated lot that has Wi-Fi, bathrooms and showers, and security on duty. The pilot program started with 13 students and was later expanded to become a permanent offering.

Self-directed learning centers in Massachusetts, such as North Star, provide an alternative for students who don't thrive in traditional schools. These centers allow homeschooled students to pursue their own interests through optional classes, tutoring, and community activities, with no mandatory attendance or standardized curriculum requirements. North Star has operated successfully for 30 years, growing from a handful of students to 65 expected enrollees in the coming school year.

To help address low school attendance and retention among girls, Kano’s state government launched a transportation initiative with buses that bring students to and from school for N50 per trip, a much lower cost than arriving by commercial rickshaw. Both students and teachers report that the program has made it easier and less costly to arrive at school on time.