By Jessica Gunderson and Katie Brackenridge

California’s new Attendance Recovery policy gives districts the opportunity to recoup lost attendance dollars in non-school hours. Given the negative impact of persistently high absentee rates in districts, the policy is sparking a lot of interest across the state.

Beyond money, Attendance Recovery is an opportunity to increase student learning time and engagement – a much bigger win in the long run. The key to success is partnering with your district’s existing afterschool infrastructure to leverage the relationships, infrastructure and environments that research shows have a positive lasting impact on student attendance. Afterschool and summer programs already provide more than 120 additional learning days per year. Attendance Recovery can enhance this time.

What is Attendance Recovery (AR)? Here are some of the basic guidelines:

• AR provides students in TK/K-12 more opportunities to learn during non-school hours.
• It allows school districts to recoup ADA funding lost due to absences.
• It is voluntary for districts and non-compulsory/non-punitive for students.
• It must be led by a certificated teacher and applies only to in-person instruction. 
• It requires activities and content to be “aligned to grade level standards that are substantially equivalent to the pupils’ regular instructional program” as defined by the school district.

Attendance Recovery is a complicated and nuanced policy that is raising a lot of questions for districts. To support the field, the Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY) conducted focus groups and interviews with LEAs that are early-adopters of the policy. Based on their experience, they had some practical strategies and suggestions for their peers that are captured in a memo Emerging Practices for Attendance Recovery, and in a webinar featuring some of the districts profiled in the memo.

As a preview, here are some key ideas from our pioneering districts:

What should happen first?

• Find out what’s already happening in your expanded learning program that might be a good starting place for Attendance Recovery. For example, many LEAs already have certificated teachers teaching clubs after school. How could these clubs be re-imagined to meet AR requirements and still be fun for both students and teachers? 

How can we meet AR requirements, while making it engaging?

• Define how content is “aligned to grade level standards that are substantially equivalent to the pupils’ regular instructional program” per Ed Code.. Some LEAs are creating simple systems that allow teachers to design activities and choose content standards that are exciting for them to teach and spark students’ interest in learning. How can you tap into teachers’ passions to offer activities that align with grade-level standards? 

How does AR fit with other expanded learning programs?

• Use the expanded learning infrastructure to organize and manage your Attendance Recovery classes, including, for example, the registration process, snacks, parent communication, parent pick up procedures, etc. How can you leverage this well-developed infrastructure to implement Attendance Recovery efficiently and in ways that are already familiar to families enrolled in expanded learning?

How can we encourage teachers to do AR?  

• Partner with the teachers’ union to set ELO-P/AR rates for teachers. In many schools, teachers report that they love building relationships with their students in non-school hours and sharing topics and skills that they are passionate about. How can you leverage the relationship with your teachers’ union to incentivize teachers’ participation in AR?

These are just a few of the practical ideas and strategies that LEAs shared in our Attendance Recovery memo and webinar. Take a look for more detailed guidance.

While Attendance Recovery offers an opportunity, it could also lead to negative, unintended consequences. Implemented poorly – for example, with repetitive worksheets and dispassionate teachers – Attendance Recovery could become another reason young people don’t want to come to school and don’t care about learning. Innovative districts, like the ones we interviewed, are going for real impact by building on their existing expanded learning assets to inspire student learning and engagement in the long run.

For details on Ed Code and CDE guidelines, here’s the link to CDE’s Frequently Asked Questions.