A4+-+Attendance+Group

=Artifact 4 - Attendance Group=

====The work completed for the Attendance Group below demonstrates my passion for early intervention. The students selected for the group met criteria for being at-risk for becoming school dropouts; and in the spirit of prevention my goal was to begin impacting these students early on in their educational career as an attempt to keep them in school. Research supports that students who miss above average amounts of school in elementary school become more likely to drop out before completing high school (Lehr, Sinclair, & Christenson, 2004). Through building school engagement and school relationships my goal was to provide the students with tools to use as they move through the educational system.====

====Within this artifact my collaboration skills are also demonstrated, in this case with a fellow school psychologist as well as with the attendance liaison at my school. By collaborating we are more able to meet the needs of more students. I collaborated with a fellow student in the University of Colorado Denver School Psychology program, to continue a project she had begun in the 2008/2009 school year. After encountering the enormous problem of school attendance at a Denver metro area elementary school, Amy Pierce, Ed.S in School Psychology candidate, brought her solution to the problem to a course we were taking. Amy shared with the class the success she had when, after much research, she conducted a small Attendance Group at her school. The purpose of the group was to increase engagement and interpersonal relationships at school in order to improve a student’s desire to come to school. I was inspired to try the same, as a result I have held four separate attendance groups for various age levels at my internship site this year. For the purpose of this artifact I will report the process and result of the group for the first attendance group which was held in from the end of September to November 2009.====

**The Research Behind the Attendance Group**
====Dropping out of school may be the most overt symptom of school disengagement. Most students who drop out of school are communicating extreme disengagement from school that is preceded by other signs of withdrawal. These signs often include feelings of alienation, a weak sense of belonging, and a broad dislike of school. Some retrospective studies show that potential dropouts can be identified with some accuracy as early as elementary school (Lehr, Sinclair, & Christenson, 2004). Helping students become more engaged in school during elementary school will likely decrease the chances of them dropping out of school altogether later. An attendance group would seek to address all of these areas that impact school attendance.====

**What is School Engagement?**
====School engagement involves positive student behaviors, such as attendance, paying attention, and participation in class, as well as the psychological experience of identification with school and feeling that one is cared for, respected, and part of the school environment (Anderson, Christenson, Sinclair, & Lehr, 2004). Students who are engaged in the academic and social aspects of school are more likely to attend school regularly.====

**The Problem of Disengagement**
====Attendance, academic performance, and behavior are all factors that have been shown to be predictive of future drop-out status. One study found that beginning in first grade, school dropouts had more absences than graduates. Attendance data, teacher notes about behavior, and student achievement scores could be used to distinguish students who dropped out from those who finished school with almost 70% accuracy by the third grade (Lehr, Sinclair, & Christenson, 2004). This fact combined with the fact that students who miss more than 11.8 days of school in 1st grade will, on average, increase truancy by .7 days per year until high school leads me to believe that school attendance is a key component of school engagement (Baker, 2000). When students are absent, they are also missing out on instruction and peer interaction, putting them at an even greater disadvantage. Helping students become more engaged in school during elementary school will likely decrease the chances of them dropping out of school altogether later. School truancy is often correlated with low socio-economic status, unemployment, relational problems, and poor health as these children become adults (Baker, 2000). With the student’s future at risk, it is important to do what we can to increase the protective factors while they are in school. Resiliency seems to come not from but instead from the interactions between children, families, schools, and communities (Anderson, Christenson, Sinclair, & Lehr, 2004). Most of the factors used to predict dropouts such as race and socio-economic status are things that we cannot change. Student engagement, however, is something that we can affect.====

**Power of Relationships**
====According to a study conducted in 2008, emotional aspects of engagement, teacher supports, and student self-efficacy all impacted behaviors (passivity, withdrawal, distracted behaviors for example) displayed by students who were disengaged in a positive manner (Skinner, Furrer, Marchand, Kindermann, 2008). This suggests then that by increasing a student’s social emotional wellbeing at school it is possible to increase their level of engagement. A school attendance group would aim to do just that. Unfortunately work with students alone will not solve the problems. It is recommended that interventions that target absenteeism “combine strategies that address the problems of individual students, the students' family and home situations, and the school's relationship with the students (Ford & Sutphen, 1996).” Further research supports the notion that the support of a teacher or other adult at school can make or break an at risk student’s school experience (Knesting, 2008). An attendance group would seek to address all of these areas that impact school attendance.====

Support Documents
 * Item 1 Week 3 Worksheet || Item 2 Consent ||
 * [[image:Attendance-Plugged.jpg width="466" height="340" link="http://childfocusedpsych.wikispaces.com/file/view/Attendance-Plugged.jpg"]] || [[image:Attendance-ParentConsent.jpg width="255" height="350" link="http://childfocusedpsych.wikispaces.com/file/view/Attendance-ParentConsent.jpg"]] ||