The Impact of Being There

David Owen: 00:00:00

A famous writer once said, 80% of success is showing up. How to help your students succeed in life is our focus on this episode of the Inside Scoop. Hello and welcome back to the Inside Scoop. I'm David Owen.

Students can't learn what they need to know if they aren't in school. We're going to talk about the trends, the impacts and expectations for attendance.

We're also going to wrap it up with some practical tips on what you, the parent, can do. Before we begin, please give us a like and subscribe to the podcast and make sure you share it with others.

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Today, I'm joined by two people who are in the know on this topic, Cobb School's chief of staff Sherri Hill, and the assistant director of student support and school social administrator. You've got the longest title in the world, Ana Murphy. Welcome to the podcast. So one day we'll try to.

We'll probably get an acronym out of your title. So attendance, truancy, all of these words that are, frankly, they're kind of boring and heavy. Right?

Skipping school has always been a thing, especially when springtime comes around.

You know, we've had some warm weather lately, and I'm imagining kids are looking out the window, maybe more than looking at the screen at the front of the room. What's different? Why have things gotten worse in this regard?

Sherri Hill: 00:01:38

Absenteeism has been on the rise, and when the pandemic hit, we did have to switch to a digital virtual world. And many students developed new habits, and parents, too, about how we could do school.

Now, it has improved somewhat since those pre pandemic levels, but schools across the county have seen this trend and we are, are really prioritizing attendance again, more so because now that we are, you know, the world is back and we're where we need to be, we know that that learning in person really cannot be replaced.

David Owen: 00:02:16

Yeah. There's something about the interaction of being in person that makes a huge difference. Now, you said across the county. Is this just Cobb County?

We've seen this as an issue. Or is this really.

Sherri Hill: 00:02:28

It's across the nation.

David Owen: 00:02:29

Really.

Sherri Hill: 00:02:29

So it really is across the nation. And the state of Georgia has spec.

Been working on legislation and has really passed through some legislation to really define absenteeism, chronic absenteeism, and really working with schools and all of our districts to make sure we all have some really consistent things in place to support our Georgia students.

David Owen: 00:02:51

Okay. So it's not just Cobb County. It's across the board.

And it's primarily because is it fair to say that we, during the pandemic, kind of slipped into some bad habits? Is that a fair assessment?

I don't want to, you know, pin that on parents who are doing all the right things, but obviously it's really easy when nobody's looking at the classroom per se, to slip into some bad habits.

Sherri Hill: 00:03:19

Yeah, I think that this whole thought of hybrid, whether it's work or school really came into the forefront. And so I think there may be some that consider, oh, that's traditional school going every day.

But again, that social interaction really can't be replaced.

So you could consider it some bad habits of wanting to sit in my bed and do my work and leave my pajamas on and leave my hoodie on and yeah, so we could say there could be some bad habits around that.

David Owen: 00:03:47

Okay, so some would say, and I'm not going to name who they are, maybe people I know would say that going to a classroom is really unnecessary. And just a moment ago you said there's nothing that matches the quality of education, like in person, face to face education.

So why does attendance really matter if maybe you go every, I don't know, every. Every fourth day you skip or something like that, and then you just take the test and you get by? Well, now, don't hurt me with your answer.

You've got that look on your face.

Sherri Hill: 00:04:29

Instruction is daily.

And it's like if you're absent because are sick and you come back and you've got your things that you have to do, it really can't be replaced with that actual time working with the teacher, working with your peers, working with your classmates and really having those experiences. I like to consider school and the classroom an experience.

And then if you miss too many days, there are learning gaps that start to pop up and just success at school and reading.

And when we look at the assessments and end of year things to measure growth in academics, if you've missed a compounded month of school, it's hard to replace that now.

David Owen: 00:05:11

Okay, all right. So, yeah, month of school, but is that common? I would expect maybe, what, seven to 10 days a kid gets into trouble for missing class.

I'm seeing eyebrows raised here. Anna, maybe you could address the realities in Cobb County. What have you seen when things go into the red zone, so to speak, for attendance?

Ana Murphy: 00:05:36

So, and unfortunately, we have seen a trend in more students being absent from school for both excused and unexcused. So part of what we're really trying to narrow down as Ms. Hill mentioned is really looking at that chronic absenteeism and really trying to define.

Because if you're not in school, be it because you're out sick or you're just not in school because of skipping, you're really missing out on school.

So that's that chronic absenteeism that we're really trying to define and help students and parents understand the importance of needing to be in the school.

And if I could, I really think a lot of times we miss out and think that school is academic, but you're really learning a lot of your socialization skills that you need later on in life.

David Owen: 00:06:32

That explains a lot.

Ana Murphy: 00:06:34

In a classroom, dealing with peers who might be challenging you academically, or you're missing out on those opportunities of conversation, you're missing out on those opportunities of socialization that not only fits in that classroom. So it's more than just that algebra class.

You're really learning how to deal with conflict, deal with different situations with conflict, others in the community, if that makes sense.

David Owen: 00:07:05

Oh, it does, absolutely.

Ana Murphy: 00:07:06

So in my mind, it all connects, right? So when you're talking about chronic absenteeism, if you're not coming to school, you're missing out on a lot more than just your academics.

Sherri Hill: 00:07:18

And the state defines that chronic absenteeism as missing about 10% of the school year. So we're talking about 17 or 18 days. And if you think about it, there's really only about 20 school days in a month. And so that's.

That's potentially about a month of school. So now the state has defined that chronic absenteeism as excused or unexcused, either one.

David Owen: 00:07:41

It doesn't matter.

Sherri Hill: 00:07:42

It doesn't matter. So if you think about it, that makes sense. If you miss about a month of school, that's pretty chronic.

However, now if a student has some sort of chronic illness or there's some medical reason, we're not saying send your child to school sick or they have some other needs that have to be met with therapies and different things like that. We're talking, you can come to school. There's no reason that you would miss a month of school. So the state has defined it as 10% of the school year.

Excused or unexcused. Excused and unexcused absences count towards that chronic absenteeism. So come to school. Bring your children.

We love them, we want to work with you, and we want to be partners with our families.

David Owen: 00:08:27

You know, that makes perfect sense, though, going back to the excused and unexcused thing, whether it's a doctor's appointment or a kid just wants to go take a nap in the car, either way, they're not in the seat learning, so.

Ana Murphy: 00:08:40

Exactly.

David Owen: 00:08:40

That does make sense. Now, how common is that?

I mean, a month of school is that like, to my mind, I would guess, okay, that across the entire district, that's maybe two kids?

Ana Murphy: 00:08:53

Unfortunately not.

Unfortunately, we are seeing a trend, when you look at chronic absenteeism, we are seeing a trend of having more students in younger ages, even in elementary school, that are experiencing those absences.

David Owen: 00:09:10

Wow. Is that maybe related to hardships parents have?

Ana Murphy: 00:09:14

So it really encompasses it all.

But we have seen and have had the opportunity to interact with parents more so at the younger age because it gives us the opportunity to really intervene and provide that support to families for those younger age children, for the parents. So if the parents are successful, then that child can be successful.

David Owen: 00:09:39

Yeah, I was going to say a lot of this probably has to do with the attitude also of the parent.

Even if you're experiencing a hardship like working two jobs and exhausted, if you prioritize school, you're going to find a way for your child to be at school. Right?

Ana Murphy: 00:09:57

Right. Many times we talk about prioritizing and parents. Every parent that I've worked with always wants best for their child.

Every parent really wants their child to succeed. What occurs many times is things, life happens. Right.

And so that gives the schools and the school social workers primarily that opportunity to really help and support that parent when life is happening.

So I would encourage parents to reach out to your schools, give them the opportunity to really provide the support that they could for you as a parent, but then for your child also.

David Owen: 00:10:38

Yeah, that actually feeds into my next question for you, which is.

And the last question, which is, what are some practical things, some footholds that parents can actually implement to help them help their child without starting a war? I mean, honestly, podcast is always about me. Right.

I've got teenagers in my household, and one of them, who shall remain nameless, was found napping in a car when he should have been in class. He had some consequences to that.

But how can you speak to your children or your child to impart on them how important it is to prioritize being in class?

Ana Murphy: 00:11:30

The number one thing would really be to keep talking to your children about going to school as it relates to you going to work every day? I mean, that's work for them is going to school.

So if you don't go to work on time and if you're absent or you're not Able to make it to work a number of days, then you're not having a job. So that's true correlates, right? That's one on one.

But when kids see that their parents value the education and value school, they themselves also value the education in school.

I think it's really important for parents to feel comfortable talking to their schools and talking to the teachers when teachers are reaching out to parents and checking in on their kids from being absent. So giving the teachers the opportunity to really support them.

Schedule appointments when you can outside of school time, either early morning so that maybe they're coming in a little bit late, but not missing the whole day if they have a 10 o' clock orthodontic appointment. Setting those expectations, setting those consistent routines really helps everybody in the family, right?

You know, putting your clothes out at night, getting your, your backpack ready to go. I know even now as an adult, I do that for myself, right? If I don't have my lunch bag where I need it to be every morning, I forget it.

And it really, I just want to stress to parents to really give us the opportunity at schools to support you. It is here to support you so you are able to support your child.

Sherri Hill: 00:13:12

And I want to add a little bit about having those conversations about school. So my three daughters are grown, they've come to Cobb schools.

And I have learned that there are certain questions and ways that I can ask them about school that will guarantee a better answer. If you say, what did you do at school? The answer is probably nothing.

David Owen: 00:13:32

Nothing.

Sherri Hill: 00:13:33

However, asking specific questions, I would ask them things like, who did you sit at lunch with? What did you guys talk to about, you know, talk about today? What was some experience at school that really meant a lot for you?

What did you learn today? So sometimes adding those sorts of questions also shows the students and your children that you are invested in what they're doing that day.

And it invites you a little bit more into their day as opposed to nothing but. And then when you have the orthodontic appointment, we know anyone who's had braces, it's ever so often.

And you're like, geez, when are these braces coming off? And my daughters used to say, oh no, I can't go at that time.

Like, oh, I'd rather come at 8, or it has to be after this time because in class we're doing some project or experiment.

And so when we know about those things as parents, it helps us as we're making those appointments and doing that and just having those conversations, it really does help show the children, show our children that we value what they're learning and what they're doing at school. And it means a lot to them.

David Owen: 00:14:38

I love the asking specific questions approach because that actually reflects on your own experience in school. Right. I mean, you're drawing on some of that.

I know things have changed through the centuries, but the reality is that when they hear you ask a question like, who'd you sit with at lunch? Okay, that was a huge thing. Right. And so I love that. So is there anything else that you guys want to add? Any success stories or.

Ana Murphy: 00:15:08

I definitely can share a success story. We recently met with a parent.

It was actually a mom and a dad, and their child was, I believe, either second or third grade, I can't remember correctly. So elementary school age. And had had attendance issues since kindergarten. So the last couple of years.

But it took a meeting with the school social worker, the administrator, the principal of the school, the school counselor, even the school nurse was invited. And so sitting around the table where the parents felt comfortable enough to share some of what was happening in the family.

And so we were able to support that family, support that child with new clothes.

We were able to support the family with some financial assistance to even be able to wash clothes, and were able to then get the child to feel excited about the school. And the parents felt more connected.

And now not only is the child coming to school, the parents are now volunteering at the school and doing that kind of activity. So that just really. That's true right there. But those parents trusted us enough to share what was really going on so that we were able to support.

David Owen: 00:16:33

That must have taken quite a bit for that parent to say, I'm going to this meeting.

Ana Murphy: 00:16:38

Yeah, it took a few years, really. Yeah. Which is understandable.

David Owen: 00:16:43

It's a little embarrassing or don't want to share everything your family's going through. But by the same token, that vulnerability opened up a whole world of relationship and support. Well, that is fantastic. Thank you guys for coming in.

Sherry, I know that your day is. Well, both of you are just always moving and solving problems. So I appreciate you sharing your time and your wisdom with us.

Thank you for having the audience. As parents, we can do these simple things to help our students reach their greatest success, but ultimately, it's up to them.

But you could be their motivator, encourager. If you found something helpful for your family in this podcast, please remember to give us a like, subscribe and share it with a friend.

Thank you for listening to this edition of the Inside Scoop. A podcast produced by the Cobb County School.