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Now more than ever, schools are searching for ways to conserve funding resources. Average Daily Attendance (ADA) recovery should be at the top of the list.
The state of California funds school districts based on student attendance at school, also known as Average Daily Attendance (ADA). The current daily rate is $50. Here’s what happens if a school with 500 students has 25 students absent every day of the school year:
25 students x $50/day x 180 school days = $225,000 lost per school year.
School sites will soon be working on a pilot project with the central office to increase both attendance and ADA recovery. Using Connect-ED, optional automated attendance calls will go out to parents from the central office in the morning and again in the evening. The goal is to get more students in the classroom earlier in the day. A limited number of schools will participate for the remainder of this school year with the plan to expand district-wide in fall 2008. The pilot period will help identify programming improvements in Zangle as well as provide a comparison of attendance results between participating and non-participating schools. Neighboring school districts, such as La Mesa-Spring Valley, have experienced dramatic improvements in student attendance rates after implementing automated calls.
These automated attendance calls are expected to promote better communication with parents, increase ADA and ultimately support student achievement. For more information on the importance of attendance, visit the Every Day Counts! webpage at www.sandi.net/programs/everydaycounts/. For updates on the Connect-ED system, contact Jennie Breister at jbreister@sandi.net.
Published with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation Grant.