Lynn Rolls Out New Attendance Initiative - A Look at the Data

In the October 1st edition of the Daily Item, Gayla Cawley reported that the Lynn Public School District is rolling out a new K - 12 attendance plan called "Every Student, Every Day." Part of this plan includes "studying data to determine which students have high absentee rates and working with those families, and reaching out to community partners for support."

The most recent data from the 2016-2017 school year indicates that the average number of days absent for Lynn students was 10.5 and that 19.2% of students were deemed chronically absent (defined as missing 18 or more school days). Nearly 40% of students missed 10 or more school days that year. 

Attendance rates did vary by school. Drewicz and Aborn, for example, each reported their average number of absences to be about 6 while Fecteau-Leary reported 29 absences as the average. 

School	Attendance Rate	Avg. # of Absences	Absent 10 or More Days	Chronically Absent (10% or More)
Drewicz Elementary	96.4%	6	23.5%	6.2%
Aborn	96.4%	6.2	21%	4%
Breed Middle School	94.2%	9.9	38.6%	17.4%
Brickett Elementary	94.9%	8.7	35%	11.9%
Shoemaker	94.9%	9	36.8%	10.4%
Classical High	91.7%	14	54.6%	32%
Cobbet Elementary	95.8%	7.2	26.5%	8.2%
Harrington	94.4%	9.4	35.6%	18.3%
Early Childhood Center	91.2%	14.3	51.2%	30.1%
Sisson	95.3%	8.3	31.6%	8.8%
Fecteau-Leary Junior/Senior High School	78.6%	29.1	79.3%	72.3%
Hood	95.5%	7.7	31.1%	9.4%
Ingalls	95.5%	7.5	30.6%	10.4%
Callahan	94.6%	9.1	37%	12.9%
Lincoln-Thomson	96%	6.9	24.9%	7.3%
Lynn English High	90.9%	15.1	52.8%	32.7%
Lynn Vocational Technical Institute	93.1%	12	50.4%	22.7%
Lynn Woods	95.9%	7.2	23.8%	6%
Pickering Middle	95%	8.7	34.4%	12.9%
Ford	95.7%	7.4	27.5%	9.8%
Sewell-Anderson	95.2%	8.4	34.8%	10.7%
Thurgood Marshall Mid	94.9%	8.6	32.9%	16%
Tracy	95.5%	7.6	28.5%	13.1%
Washington Elementary School	93.8%	10.2	41.5%	19.4%
Fallon	88.7%	18.9	71.7%	55%
Connery	95.6%	7.6	30.6%	9.1%

As previously reported, Massachusetts's new accountability system takes into consideration a number of factors, one being chronic absenteeism. At the non-high school level, Lynn received 3 points for all students, meaning it met its target; Lynn's 2018 target for chronic absenteeism in the lower grades was 11.7%. The target for the lowest performing students was 11.9% and Lynn reported 13.1% so while it did improve from 2017, it was below the target and the district received 2 points as a result. 

The chronic absenteeism rate at the high school level increased from 2017 to 2018 for students overall as well as for the lowest performing students. Due to this decline, the district received 0 points in each category. 

In addition to working with families directly, the Item also noted that the district "is doing community outreach and awareness and educating community agencies and doctors’ offices about the impact of chronic absenteeism."

All data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu