There is no doubt that school attendance has plummeted since the Covid-19 pandemic. But what can teachers do about it?

In August 2022, when our high school moved from a traditional 7 period day to a 4×4 block schedule, where students are in only 4 classes per semester that meet for 1.5 hours daily, I was extremely worried that poor attendance would negate all of my efforts to have students succeed in Algebra I. Unlike an A/B block schedule, if a student misses two consecutive days, it is tantamount to missing almost an entire week on the traditional 7-period schedule. In school, the consequences (sticks) are already in place. Poor attendance often leads to poor grades which leads to failure to complete high school and/or limited opportunities outside of school. These sticks work well for academically motivated students, but what about the rest of the population? It does no good to remind students that they, Need this class to graduate, or that, If they don’t do the project they will fail for the quarter. The distance between action (or inaction) and consequences is vast. So, I thought about the incentives (carrots).

To motivate good attendance, I decided to have drawing each Friday at the very end of class. Anyone who has been there all week* gets to have their name in the hat. (Actually, I just put all of their names in the hat and if I pull a name of a student who has been absent, I pull a different name.) I pull around 25% of the whole class, so for a class of 22 students, I’ll pull 4 names. One at a time these students get to come forward, to applause, and get their coupon for 15 quiz points (quizzes are worth 35% of the overall average in our district) AND also select from an array of movie theater candy or desk pets or hot chips or whatever the prizes are that week. I have been doing this for over two years now and it is a big success. It motivates the students. I hear all the time, “I didn’t want to come to school today but I came for your class.” At the end of the quarter (which we just had yesterday), I recognize students who have had perfect attendance for the entire quarter. I had 8 total out of 44 algebra one students. (As an aside, I had 9 total out of my class of 20 AP Stats students.)

Last year, I used part of my white board for “attendance runs”. This showed how many consecutive days of perfect attendance we had. I think I had as many as 22 in an AP class, but my algebra one classes never got past 5 or 6.

This year, I am using one of my white boards to write down all of the first names of the students who have had perfect attendance for the month. I have 64 students total (and probably about the same number next semester when the classes change). THEY LOVE TO SEE THEIR NAME ON THE BOARD. I hear all the time, I’m going to be on that board this month, and, Can I get my phone out to take a picture of the board? In August, I had 31 with perfect attendance. In September, I had 31 with perfect attendance (not necessarily the same ones!). Currently, there are 58 on the board for October, but they only came to school for the first three days of October before we had a teacher professional development day and then Fall Break (which we are currently still on). I update the board on Friday afternoons. Fingers crossed for a number greater than 31!

Finally, communication with parents and guardians is key. I text message families through a program our district uses called “School Status” when their child is absent. I let them know that I hope everything is ok and that their child should email me about their plans to make up the work they have missed. I am vigilant about putting zeros in the online gradebook each time a student misses graded work (which is at least twice a week). I also send out broadcasts such as “100% attendance in all of my classes today! Thank YOU!” when applicable. I think I have two or three of these a quarter.

I used to hear, I came to school today only came for your class, or I am getting checked out after your class, occasionally, but now I hear it almost daily. I hope you can try some of these ideas with your students (depending on district limitations), and possibly be inspired to think of some of your own motivators. Please share any great ideas you have in the comments!

*NOTE:

Perfect attendance means that you are either at school or away from school but on a school event such as competing for athletics or band, on a field trip, etc.

A doctor’s note, while an excused absence, is still an absence according to the state, so those do not count for perfect attendance.