UV partners with Harvard to tackle absenteeism
NEW BERLIN – Unadilla Valley Central School is among 50 rural schools in New York and Ohio to be pored over by Harvard University in a study to stop chronic absenteeism.
The five-year study by the Harvard Rural Education Center will help chosen school districts generate ideas that may lower absenteeism while growing academic success for students. The initiative is funded by a $10 million federal grant.
UV joins more than two dozen other rural New York school districts on Harvard’s radar, including nearby schools in Harpursville and Sharon Springs.
According to UV School Superintendent Robert Mackey, the study could help his district pinpoint small areas of change in key grade levels before ratcheting up changes district-wide. He says the school has seen an uptick in absences over the last three years, primarily in elementary grade levels.
“We know that a student who misses one day of school effectively misses over three days of school by the time they get caught up,” he said.
The district aims to use the Harvard partnership to change the tide.
“What we’re really gaining is a process by which we can determine if something we do to decrease chronic absenteeism is working,” said Mackey, noting the district’s past efforts to stem the issue on its own by addressing factors like health, transportation, and student home life. “It’s very difficult to determine issues in absenteeism because there are so many elements that we need to look at that we haven’t thought about.”
Throughout the study, the Harvard Rural Education Center will collect detailed data related to school absenteeism at UV. The plan, said Mackey, is to put Harvard’s recommended changes into effect based on that data. The school may start with changes at lower grade levels. If there’s improvement, the same changes would then be made to higher grade levels; and if it’s still successful, then those changes may be applied to all grades.
“This is a different way for us to do business in education,” Mackey added. “If we want to affect attendance, we normally would try to do something district-wide right up front … I can’t say how excited I am to learn a model that looks at the impact of change on a small scale then on a large scale, if it goes larger.”
Harvard has led similar studies in urban and suburban districts since 2006. The university says its strategies have helped a set of urban districts and charter schools find and fix challenges in absenteeism.
In its second phase, Harvard’ Rural Education Center will take findings to rural schools in other states to test the strategies that were developed in New York and Ohio.
The five-year study by the Harvard Rural Education Center will help chosen school districts generate ideas that may lower absenteeism while growing academic success for students. The initiative is funded by a $10 million federal grant.
UV joins more than two dozen other rural New York school districts on Harvard’s radar, including nearby schools in Harpursville and Sharon Springs.
According to UV School Superintendent Robert Mackey, the study could help his district pinpoint small areas of change in key grade levels before ratcheting up changes district-wide. He says the school has seen an uptick in absences over the last three years, primarily in elementary grade levels.
“We know that a student who misses one day of school effectively misses over three days of school by the time they get caught up,” he said.
The district aims to use the Harvard partnership to change the tide.
“What we’re really gaining is a process by which we can determine if something we do to decrease chronic absenteeism is working,” said Mackey, noting the district’s past efforts to stem the issue on its own by addressing factors like health, transportation, and student home life. “It’s very difficult to determine issues in absenteeism because there are so many elements that we need to look at that we haven’t thought about.”
Throughout the study, the Harvard Rural Education Center will collect detailed data related to school absenteeism at UV. The plan, said Mackey, is to put Harvard’s recommended changes into effect based on that data. The school may start with changes at lower grade levels. If there’s improvement, the same changes would then be made to higher grade levels; and if it’s still successful, then those changes may be applied to all grades.
“This is a different way for us to do business in education,” Mackey added. “If we want to affect attendance, we normally would try to do something district-wide right up front … I can’t say how excited I am to learn a model that looks at the impact of change on a small scale then on a large scale, if it goes larger.”
Harvard has led similar studies in urban and suburban districts since 2006. The university says its strategies have helped a set of urban districts and charter schools find and fix challenges in absenteeism.
In its second phase, Harvard’ Rural Education Center will take findings to rural schools in other states to test the strategies that were developed in New York and Ohio.
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