There are many factors that drive student success in school, but one of them is crystal clear: School attendance matters.
Chronic absenteeism has grown dramatically in Oregon since the COVID-19 pandemic. Our state has one of the worst chronic absenteeism rates in the country, with about one in three students missing at least 10 percent of school days.
Clackamas ESD is partnering with several regional school districts to tackle this problem, as well as other challenges that impede students’ successful pathway to graduation. Our new High School Success Network launched in late 2023 with representatives from the Colton, Estacada, Gladstone, North Clackamas and West Linn-Wilsonville school districts’ student success teams.
“This network gives school and district staff opportunities to better collaborate,” said Schay Esparza, Clackamas ESD’s assistant director for data and evaluation. “We’re using an improvement science lens to solve problems together, while learning about tools and processes that support success for all students.”
This year, network participants are identifying the root causes of student absenteeism, experimenting with data-driven potential solutions and measuring their impact.
“When we think about things we all face as districts, such as dealing with student attendance issues, it makes sense to create a community dedicated to improvement,” said Jeremy Cohen, associate director of secondary programs/middle schools in the North Clackamas School District. “We’ve created a network of colleagues to broaden the impact of effective change strategies. We can test strategies individually, and talk about them as a group. Why did it work? Why didn’t it work? That’s how improvement science works.”
Gathering and evaluating data to drive action was a key focus of one of the group’s spring 2024 meetings. Clackamas ESD Research Analyst Alexis Burnett led an interactive demonstration on how to avoid implicit bias in evaluating student feedback gained through qualitative research, such as focus groups and empathy interviews. Cohen also gave a short “What is data?” presentation, and shared examples of simple ways to gather data that can be incorporated into teachers’ and other staff members’ regular routines.
Network participants also regularly use their time together to debrief change strategies they have been trying, such as creating intentional seating charts and identifying students most likely to be impacted by peer conflict (a major cause of absenteeism).
As they share what they collectively see and experience in their schools, some “aha!” moments occur. For example, empathy interviews have made clear how important it is to students to have peers in each class they are comfortable connecting with; students say they feel very alone when they don’t have someone they consider a friend taking a class with them. Insights like this can help teachers develop better strategies to increase a sense of classroom belonging for every student.
The High School Success Network meets monthly during the school year. To learn more about getting involved, contact Schay Esparza at sesparza@clackesd.org.
