ETHS presents second‑quarter attendance snapshot and targeted interventions
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Summary
Evanston Township High School presented second-quarter attendance data showing most students have few unexcused absences, while a small group requires intensive support; staff described tiered interventions, partnerships with North Cook attendance advocates, and a student tardy incentive program.
Evanston Township High School leaders reported to the Board of Education on Feb. 9 that second‑quarter attendance patterns are broadly stable but that a small number of students account for repeated absences.
Doctor McNeil, the school's principal, said the district's quarterly dashboard shows 91% of students had less than 5% of their total absences logged as unexcused this school year, a rate consistent with the first quarter. Weekly monitoring at the school level shows 81%–85% of students with no unexcused absences and that most students with unexcused absences have only one in a given week.
McNeil told the board that only about 1.5%–2% of students have two or more unexcused absences in a week. Using the district’s no‑credit (NC) policy — which assigns no credit when a student accrues more than six unexcused absences in a single course during a semester — staff identified roughly 174 unique students who qualified under that threshold during the first semester.
The presentation emphasized that attendance work extends beyond counting absences. McNeil described a tiered MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) approach: tier 1 prevention and consistent systems; school‑level weekly monitoring; SST (student support team) meetings that bring parents into in‑person planning for high‑need students; and tier 3 casework for individualized outreach. The district also partners with attendance advocates employed by North Cook to support in‑building casework and to integrate tracking in the Panorama system.
On tardiness, McNeil said 26%–27% of students had one to two tardies during the quarter while approximately two‑thirds of students had no weekly tardies. To reinforce positive behavior staff have launched a tardy incentive program that rewards students who are on time consistently for a week or for a month, and they plan increased "hall checks" during passing periods to improve accountability for first‑block arrivals.
Board members asked for context about the number of students needing intensive supports and McNeil said the 174 figure refers to unique students meeting the NC threshold in semester one; because NC counts are course‑based, a single student could generate multiple course‑level NC instances. Board members and staff agreed the group is small enough to allow targeted interventions but large enough to require sustained resources.
McNeil closed by inviting follow‑up questions and describing plans to continue weekly monitoring, to use SST meetings for family partnership interventions, and to refine the NC policy in light of concerns about disparate impacts on Black and Brown students.
The board did not take separate action on attendance at the Feb. 9 meeting; the presentation was provided for information and to guide future policy and operational decisions.
