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To reduce chronic school absences, Cleveland focuses on positive family support - YouTube
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HARI SREENIVASAN: Missing a day of school
here, two days there may not seem like a big
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deal, but, before long, those days add up,
and students aren't learning, and they're
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struggling to keep up academically.
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Seven million children in the U.S. are considered
chronically absent.
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That means missing 10 percent of the school
year.
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States are beginning to take the problem seriously.
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For the last few years, schools in Cleveland,
Ohio, have made a big effort to encourage
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students to get to class every day.
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Special correspondent Kavitha Cardoza with
our partner Education Week found steady progress
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there, but also a long way to go, for our
weekly segment Making the Grade.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: It's 7:00 in Cleveland, Ohio,
and it's dark, cold and snowing, the kind
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of day when it's difficult to get out the
door.
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AMANDA WATKINS, Parent: Snow is real hard.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: But Amanda Watkins prides
herself on her daughter's perfect school attendance.
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AMANDA WATKINS: I can't miss a day.
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It's my perfect attendance, not even hers.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: In Cleveland public schools
though, that kind of attendance record is
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not typical.
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A couple of years ago, school system leaders
found more than half of their 40,000 students
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were chronically absent.
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The problem starts as early as kindergarten.
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Principal Brittany Anderson at Patrick Henry
School greets every child as they come in
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and their parents.
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BRITTANY ANDERSON, 庐MD-BO炉Principal, Patrick
Henry School: A lot of parents expressed that
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they didn't feel welcomed in the school in
prior years.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: So, once a week, she sets
out coffee and pastries.
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BRITTANY ANDERSON: At first, it was just a
way to get them in.
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But then the coffee clubs turned into a way
for the parents to talk to teachers.
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That way, we can have these conversations
with our parents without it feeling formal.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Diamond Gadomski has three
kids in the school.
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She appreciates the warm welcome.
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DIAMOND GADOMSKI, Parent: When you come in,
you see smiling and friendly faces with stuff
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to give to you, hot treats or whatever, it
makes you feel good.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Anderson says building good
relationships with parents makes it more likely
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they will bring their children to school,
even on a day like today.
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BRITTANY ANDERSON: If our scholars are not
here, then they are not learning.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Students who miss a lot of
school are more likely to drop out.
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Robert Balfanz, a researcher with Johns Hopkins
University, found a direct link between attendance
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and academics in Florida.
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ROBERT BALFANZ, Johns Hopkins University:
Essentially, we found that each additional
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day of missed schooling, students had one
fewer point on the state test.
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So, miss 10 days, lose 10 points.
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Miss 15 days, lose 15 points.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: But because schools used
to track attendance differently, Balfanz says,
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until recently, states didn't even realize
there was a problem.
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ROBERT BALFANZ: Traditionally, schools have
measured average daily attendance, which is
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how many kids on average are in the building
on a given day.
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And except in the most extreme cases, that's
almost always in the 90s.
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And we're hardwired to think 90, A, good.
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But it turns out that you can have an average
daily attendance in the low 90s and still
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have a quarter of your kids missing a month
or more of school.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Chronic absenteeism affects
all students, says Hedy Chang with the nonprofit
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Attendance Works.
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HEDY CHANG, Attendance Works: A teacher now
is faced with the choice of repeating lessons
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or keeping going on for the kids who have
been there.
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And that churn slows down the ability of an
entire classroom to move forward.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: A new federal education law
signed into effect by former President Barack
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Obama goes into effect this year.
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Now all states will be required to track chronic
absenteeism.
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It's typically considered missing 18 school
days or more.
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But Cleveland leaders found even missing just
one day a month made a difference.
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So they started a public relations blitz.
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The slogan, "Get to School, You Can Make It"
was on billboards, posters, magnets, T-shirts,
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even grocery store bags.
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Everyone helped staff a daily phone bank,
board members, principals, bus drivers.
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They made 16,000 calls the first year.
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KEISHA BULLARD, Teacher: The reason for the
call is, Jaylen has missed four more days
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of school.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Keisha Bullard is a kindergarten
teacher.
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KEISHA BULLARD: Is there anything that we
can do to assist you?
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In the past hour, for instance, I think that
I have dialed maybe 20 numbers, 30 numbers.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Low-income families, in particular,
face many challenges.
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KEISHA BULLARD: With the weather being like
it is, it's asthma.
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Most of the time, it is transportation or
illness issues.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Lorri Hobson, who's in charge
of attendance for the district, found lots
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of kids miss school simply because they don't
have clean clothes.
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LORRI HOBSON, Cleveland Public Schools: We
provide uniforms to any family who needs a
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uniform, and what we discovered was, attendance
improves for as much as six weeks after receiving
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a uniform.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Cleveland schools partner
with several organizations to help provide
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families with everything from a bus pass to
emergency shelter to legal help.
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This makes sense, Chang says, because a school
district can't solve deeper social problems
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on its own.
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HEDY CHANG: When you have high levels of chronic
absence, often, it means that there are these
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bigger challenges, and you really need to
have a community approach to address it.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: In Cleveland, it's an all-out
effort.
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A community college offers scholarships as
incentive.
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Local businesses check attendance before hiring,
and the Cleveland Browns players visit schools
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regularly.
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MAN: Whenever you are late, that means you
don't have respect for the other person's
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time.
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In the NFL, you get fined.
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So, I think our fine if you miss a meeting
might be like $10,000.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Some districts do use punishments,
such as fines, jail time and taking away driver's
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licenses, but Cleveland schools have found
focusing on positive messages far more effective.
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MAN: We show up every day, and so should Cleveland
students, even when it's cold outside.
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Get to school, Cleveland.
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We know you can make it.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: In the last two years, Cleveland's
chronic absenteeism rate has dropped from
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50 to 30 percent.
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At Cleveland High School for Digital Arts,
principal Jasmine Maze and a local radio celebrity
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are hosting a surprise celebration, because
students have made their attendance goal.
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JASMINE MAZE, Principal, Cleveland High School
for Digital Arts: You never know when D.J.
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Incognito's going to show up and just come
here and throw up a party.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Ninth grade is another year
when students are most likely to miss school.
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But, today, everyone is glad they're here.
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STUDENT: That's the icing on the cake, Z-109.7
being here.
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STUDENT: Well, it's cool because it brings
everyone together.
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Like, it's something unexpected.
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STUDENT: I think it motivates kids to come
to school, because they don't want to miss
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school stuff like this.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: Eric Gordon is the CEO of
Cleveland Schools.
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He says they have moved from rewarding perfect
attendance to recognizing students who come
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to school regularly.
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Someone watching might say, really, a party
just for coming to school?
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Like, isn't that what kids are supposed to
do?
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ERIC GORDON, CEO, Cleveland Public Schools:
Well, yes, it is what kids are supposed to
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do.
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I would challenge people to look at their
own workplace environments, though, where
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companies give bonuses for all kinds of things,
including high attendance, where they have
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parties for their staff for performing well.
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Incentive is part of how you create behaviors.
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KAVITHA CARDOZA: In Cleveland, thousands more
children now attend classes regularly, but
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a third of the district is still missing 18
days or more of school, and Gordon says it
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will continue to take a lot of effort.
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For "PBS NewsHour" and Education Week, I'm
Kavitha Cardoza in Cleveland, Ohio.
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HARI SREENIVASAN: One update to our education
story from a couple of weeks ago on the teachers
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strike in West Virginia.
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It ended after more than a week, but our colleagues
at Education Week report that emboldened teachers
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to push for pay raises in other states, including
Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky.
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In Oklahoma, there could be a walkout in early
April.
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