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Fall data: chronic absenteeism dips but district still eyes secondary attendance and subgroup gaps
Summary
Director Jeanne Corcoran told the board chronic absenteeism fell from 15.6% to 14.1% districtwide, participation in extracurriculars remains high overall, and subgroup performance (notably English language learners) needs targeted attention; the district will continue its continuous-improvement cycle.
Jeanne Corcoran, director of assessment, accountability and data, presented the district's fall data and told the board that the district's ESSA designation is "local support and improvement." She said chronic absenteeism "certainly improved district wide last year. We went from 15.6 percent to 14.1 percent," but emphasized that secondary students remain the greatest concern.
Corcoran described multiple assessment measures used across grades, including Heggarty phonemic-awareness screening and phonics decoding for early grades, Fountas & Pinnell running records, STAR early-literacy and STAR reading, NYS ELA and math assessments and Regents exams for high school. She reported growth among the youngest readers and described that cohorts who received intentional phonemic-awareness supports showed clear gains.
Participation in enrichment and extracurricular activities was high: about 60% of K— students and about 71% of secondary students took part in at least one school-sponsored enrichment or extracurricular activity, Corcoran said. She and board members discussed the need for more accurate data on why some students do not participate; Corcoran said the district has run surveys and interviews and that prevention counselors track reasons for chronic absence, which include mental-health challenges, sleep-deprivation and technology/social-media impacts.
On Regents and graduation outcomes, Corcoran reported a districtwide passing rate consistent with expectations and a four-year graduation rate of about 97%. She noted subgroup differences and identified English language learner outcomes as a target for improvement.
Board members asked for additional breakdowns and follow-up analysis; Corcoran agreed to provide more detail on the nonparticipating students and to return with more precise root-cause data.
