Want To Make A School Better? Get Kids To Show Up
At 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, you'll find Mark Gaither standing on Gough Street in southeast Baltimore. He's outside Wolfe Street Academy, the neighborhood elementary school where he's the principal.
Gaither has a huge umbrella in case it rains, and thick gloves for when it snows. He's here each morning to greet students and families as they come to school — which should make for at least 225 "good mornings."
This daily greeting is one part of the school's strategy to fix chronic absence and turn around what was once a failing school.
Absenteeism will be front-and-center today at the U.S. Department of Education, which hosts an online summit on strategies to combat chronic absence.
Chronic absence is defined as missing more than 10 percent of the school year — just two days a month. Research shows that such students are way more likely to fall behind and, eventually, drop out. Addressing the problem goes way beyond skipping school; a mix of truancy entangled with illnesses and family problems.
At Wolfe Street Academy, many of the families work at the nearby Port of Baltimore. Most of Gaither's students speak Spanish at home, and 96 percent qualify for free and reduced-price lunch.
Ten years ago, this school was in bad shape: Test scores were terrible, and the state was threatening to take over. When Gaither was tasked with turning the school around, he started with one big goal: Get kids to show up.
He launched a kid-by-kid approach — heavily focused on data — to raise attendance.
"If you can crack it, you're gonna get a lot of bang for your buck bag, in terms of improvement," says Gaither.
By 2014, Wolfe Street Academy's test performance is better, and the school had just a Want To Make A School Better? Get Kids To Show Up : NPR Ed : NPR: