MTSS Corner: Action Steps for Tier 2 Interventions

As we head into the second half of the school year, with cold weather and darker days adding to the existing challenges to strong attendance, it’s a great time to think about some strong interventions to support students who are missing 10-19% of school, or for those taking an MTSS approach, Tier 2 students. From intentional family communications to meaningful student discussions, read on for actionable strategies to get chronically absent students back on track for success.

Family Communication Upgrades

You may already be sending regular communications out to families, but are those communications leveraging personalized information and data to make them especially effective? 

A good data platform with the right attendance metrics can help you gather the information you need to send communications that resonate. Students may be chronically absent for different reasons or display varying patterns, and tailoring your message to their specific needs is what makes it really land. 

Nudge letters can be sent to students and their families in many different situations, including: 

• Students missing between 5-50% of school 
• Vacation extenders
• Consistently missing certain days

For example, you may notice that a large population of students are extending their school vacations or missing specific days. These students could benefit from a targeted letter campaign sent at least a week before the break reminding them of the importance of being ready to learn when school is back in session, and not a day later.  Or, if a group of students consistently skips Fridays, consider sending a text on Wednesday or Thursday to nudge them to make a plan for attending on Friday. 

Our partners have also seen big gains in attendance by diving into their attendance data and taking a close look at when attendance dips, or dip days. Once they were able to determine what was causing the dip, then an effective strategy or targeted communication was put in place. In one case, the lack of clean clothes mid-month, when cash was tight and laundromat quarters were needed elsewhere they supported their families through “laundry parties.”  

Get on the Horn 

Sometimes, the attendance pattern may not be as simple to uncover, which is when a phone call home can be particularly helpful in getting to the root cause of absenteeism. Educators may find this guided call script or barrier assessment to be helpful tools for conducting a supportive and productive conversation.  These conversations should be welcoming, and positive. It’s essential to avoid scolding or punitive tones, and instead emphasize that students are missed when they’re not at school, and partner together to find ways to improve attendance rather than achieve perfect attendance, which can be inadvertently demotivating. 

Your attendance data dashboard can help inform who needs a call. For example, if you’re focused on Tier 2 students, you can filter by students missing 10-19% of school days and voila, there’s your call list! You could also add students who have been absent several days in a row or are exhibiting an attendance pattern to that list for a friendly call home.

One on One Student Meetings 

Strong connections with students are essential to getting them back on track for better attendance, and checking in with your Tier 2 students individually can reap enormous benefits. During these distraction & interruption-free meetings, you’ll want to be sure that you: 

• Discover: What challenges are they dealing with that makes it hard to get to school? 
• Determine Solutions: What can the student do? What can the educator and others do to help? 
• Outline Next Steps: List action items and who is responsible for them.
• Schedule a Follow Up Meeting and connect on progress

Our partners have shared that using our attendance platform has helped make these conversations especially productive. 

For example, the clear, color-coded calendar illustrating attendance in real time makes it easy to show students which days they missed and grounds discussions around what they need to work on.  

‍

Priscilla Espinoza, School Clerk at Semitropic Elementary School, has shared “EveryDay Labs is the easiest way to show my kids, in a color-coordinated way… they have more of an attention span to it. I would click on the little sidebar and show them this is all you, this is what we need to work on.” 

Daily Progress Reports 

While encouraging words and high fives can go a long way, sometimes having tangible data and reporting on progress can go even further to keep students motivated and engaged, especially those who are struggling with absenteeism due to behavioral issues or lack of meaningful relationships with their peers and educators. 

With close monitoring from a trusted mentor, a CICO strategy (Check In, Check Out) can succeed with:

‍-Check-In at the Beginning of the Day: A mentor greets student first thing in the morning and reviews the day’s goals

-Monitoring Throughout the Day: Student receives feedback/ratings from their teachers and other trusted adults

-Check-In at the End of the Day: Student reviews scores with mentor and receives a reward if daily point goal was met

This intervention has been proven to both increase student motivation to attend every day, and in turn, their success in school and beyond.

‍Advisory/Homeroom Small Groups 

A vibrant school culture is critical to strong student attendance, and many districts have found that rolling out tight-knit advisories, or homeroom small groups, can be a key contributor. A small group of students may meet every morning and at the end of the day with their advisory leader and peers, who is there to not just build strong relationships but to help students:

• Identify and address challenges, such as social skill deficits
• Track their attendance
• Focus on community building
• Create and nurture group and individual incentives based on attendance

‍Targeted Home Visits 

Home visits shouldn’t feel like a threat, and beginning them early on to meet families where they are, understand students’ living situation, and nurture trust and strong relationships. Home visits can take place at a public park, or library, too! The most important component is having an opportunity to meet outside of school, sometimes in a neutral space, to improve and expand relationships. 

Home visits are proven to increase attendance rates for chronically absent students, and are most impactful when they focus on attendance and happen throughout the year. In Connecticut, educators found that attendance rates increased by 4 percentage points after the first visit and climbed 15 percentage points within 6 months.

Check out this post for more tips on conducting a safe and productive home visit.

Mental Health Support 

Mental health challenges are one of the top barriers to attendance, often linked with school refusal. Many districts have invested heavily in mental health services to help students and families determine the cause and provide treatment. These solutions & supports may include: 

• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Addressing anxiety through telehealth services or dedicated school staff
• Expanding social skills teaching & support
• Gradual exposure to instances at school that cause anxiety, which may include coming in for just an hour, then a bit longer every day until a full day feels doable. 

Mentoring 

It can be especially powerful to connect chronically absent students with a supportive and caring staff member or other adult who emphasizes for the student that not only do people notice when they’re not in school, they are sorely missed. Mentors can be trained to address underlying causes of absenteeism and increase student’s connectedness to school through positive relationships.  In New York City, the Success Mentors program has been proven to improve attendance and get more students on track for success. 

‍Work that Matters

In our rapidly changing world, it can be challenging to determine what our students need to know for future success in career and beyond. In the meantime, offering a School Jobs Program to disengaged and chronically absent high school students can help meet students’ basic needs for attention, belonging, and a sense of purpose. 

Successful School Jobs Programs include these critical components:

• Identify a supervisor to develop positive relationships with students and provide feedback and consistency
• Match students with an appropriate job based on age & need for supervision
• Provide training and materials for the supervisor
• Ensure students receive training in all skills needed

Looking for a partner as you roll out a more comprehensive attendance improvement plan? EveryDay Labs can help with data intelligence, collaboration tools, evidence-based communications and expert training to build capacity for better outreach. We can’t wait to hear from you!

‍