“This year, the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) has partnered up with researchers at Harvard University to conduct the “Attendance Matters Project” in over a dozen San Mateo County schools, including Aragon. As stated in a letter mailed to all students in late August, the purpose of this study is to see if raising awareness about the importance of attendance can decrease absence rates, thus improving academic performance in school.
Many studies throughout the country have proven that poor attendance does indeed have a negative impact on academic achievement and graduation rates. Although absences are not a significant issue in San Mateo County — for example, at Aragon, approximately 98.16 percent of students are present monthly — SMCOE Public Communications Specialist Allie Jaarsma says, “You don’t necessarily need all of the students to be absent to have a study that will have a meaningful impact. Even little improvements in a student’s absence rates or attendance rates are going to help that student.”
By communicating with parents on a regular basis, researchers at Harvard hope that student presence in classrooms will increase. Throughout the year, parents may receive little reminders such as cards or mail to inform them about their student’s attendance and the consequences of missing school. The schools want to emphasize how important being at school is and remind parents that chronic absences, both excused and unexcused, will have an effect on their student’s performance. “The more information, the better,” freshman and sophomore attendance administrator Susan Johnston says. “If parents read all the school information, it makes it easier for kids to be here on time.”
During the study, students will not be affected or impacted in any way, but students did have the option to opt out as detailed in the letter. Out of the 60,000 letters mailed, the county only expects less than 600, or 1 percent, of the student population to withdraw.
Throughout this school year, researchers will be observing and collecting attendance records and data on academic performance from the district. The collected data may include cumulative grade point average and contact information and will remain confidential to ensure that each student’s privacy is well protected. The Attendance Matters Project will not currently impact how the school deals with attendance and its policies; it will not be until the end of the study that Harvard may come out with recommendations for how schools can modify their approaches for attendance and increasing awareness.
Harvard decided to conduct this study specifically at the San Mateo County schools because of its previous connection with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) and the county’s existing interest in improving the attendance of students. Due to Harvard’s preexisting relationship with SVCF, Harvard reached out to the SMCOE superintendent to implement this study.
In addition, the San Mateo County is also participating in The Big Lift, a program dedicated to supporting third grade reading, but is also involved in spreading the word about the value of school attendance. Jaarsma says, “Because the San Mateo County already had this focus, Harvard was really excited to partner with [San Mateo] and continue the work not just up to third grade, but also to high school.”
Leonor Zarco, junior and senior attendance administrator, says, “The negative consequences will make students and parents aware. Being present at school is very important so this study is a good opportunity to help kids in the future.””
