Effective use of data: Using data to identify groups for improved attendance
The aims
Review the data that the school currently uses as outlined in Improving attendance in Scotland: Principles of effective tracking and monitoring.
- Identify gaps in attendance and engagement at school level.
- Identify the reasons for absence.
- Identify next steps and possible test of changes.
Process
- Collect the school data outlined below.
- Identify learners where the reasons for the vast majority of absence is unclear.
- Seek views of learner and parents questions (see Putting Young People and Families at the Centre (Powerpoint). School to determine the best way to gather the information – online survey or oral.
- Identify common absence causes.
- Prioritise a group of learners with common absence causes (around 10 learners is recommended for a small test of change).
- Determine change ideas.
- Identify short and long term measures of progress.
- Test ideas.
When considering what type of data to review, schools should triangulate their data to gain a full picture of absence reasons.
We also know that engagement is as important as attendance.
When considering engagement and attendance Ryan & Deci’s ‘Self-Determination Theory’ is useful in considering how motivated learners are to attend and engage in school. When collecting data is it useful to have these in mind. The three basic psychological needs are:
Agency
People need to gain mastery of tasks and learn different skills. When people feel that they have the skills needed for success, they are more likely to take actions that will help them achieve their goals. (A sense of competence and skills)
Affiliation
People need to experience a sense of belonging and attachment to other people. (A sense of belonging)
Autonomy
People need to feel in control of their own behaviours and goals. This sense of being able to take direct action that will result in real change plays a major part in helping people feel self-determined (a sense of being capable, trusted and allowed to embrace responsibilities).
School data from SEEMiS
At the end of the academic year SEEMiS data is archived and the level of detail is reduced. Schools should consider how they can retain any detail required.
- Attendance line chart of year to date, current and previous years to 2022-23 and 2018 (2019-20 & 2020-21 are unhelpful due to school closures).
- Percentage and numbers filterable for year groups, ASN, LAC, FME.
- Numbers of learners in the school and year groups attending 90-100, 70-90, 50-70, 30-50, 10-30 and 0-10.
- Percentage of attendance at particular points in the year.
- Percentage/number of learners who have <90% at the end of Aug where it is unclear of the reasons.
- SEEMiS coding reasons for absence.
Individual learner data of identified group
- SEEMiS print out of attendance year to date
- Printout of attendance including the previous year
- Use data from P7, where available
- Late coming printout for this year
- Learner/class timetables
Views of learners/parents identified group
Learners’ possible questions
- How important do you think it is to come to school every day? (this could be a scale)
- What are the things that make you want to come to school?
- What are the things that prevent you from coming to school?
- Is there anything that could change that would make you want to come to school or make it easier for you to come to school?
- Do you know what you want to do when you leave school? (Do they know the pathways that will support them to achieve this?)
If you are using the Glasgow Motivation and Wellbeing Profile, individual learners’ scores for autonomy, agency and affiliation.
For any learner below 50% use the Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) guidance.
Parent possible questions
- What are the main reasons that your child finds it difficult in getting to school, e.g. feeling unwell, doesn’t want to go to school, they don’t feel safe, doesn’t see the point?
- Do you know where to find support if your child is not wanting to come to school?
- What supports have you used?
- Are there any other supports that you wish were in place?
- What advice would you give another parent that is finding it difficult to help their child get to, or stay in school?
- When your child is not at home how does this impact you? When your child is not at school do you find it difficult to be at home, or get someone to watch them? What sort of things do you have put in place?
Staff possible questions of observations of attendance/engagement
- How does the learner perform in curricular areas?
- Are there any curricular areas that they are doing well in or particularly enjoy? Does this correlate with general patterns of when they are most likely to attend?
- What is the learner’s engagement in the curricular areas that they are attending least often? (The Leuven scale of Engagement is a suggested tool to measure this).
