We have awards we give for attendance, also we are encouraged to contact students that have missed class
One thing I do specifically is make sure I am calling a student to let them know they are missed with in the first hour of class.
Patti,
You hit on a key point here. The phone calls have to be about helping the student and making them feel like you want them to be part of your learning community. Even though most career colleges expect faculty to contact absent students, sometimes the success of the contact is less effective, especiallly when the contacts become a "have to" so that the instructor can say they contacted the student instead of a "want to" because we truely are concerned.
For my position in Dallas, we have to call the students when they do not show up to class. Students are always greatful when we get them on the phone, especially if I say that I just want to make sure they are ok. They appreciate the fact that we are concerned for their well being. I always tell students to take care of themselves and family first. I am always willing to work with them when they return to make up their grade. Students feel better when they know they can focus on their issues and not have to worry about failing the class as long as they follow up with me and make up the work.
At our school we do many things to show our students we are paying attention to them. We have perfect attendance awards, we call them if they are absent, we provide tutoring sessions, and we have student appreciation events just to name a few. The students seem to appreciate these things and strive to get the attendance & academic pins to wear on their name badges.
Lisa,
Thank you for this post. These are all great things to do.
One idea a few successful schools has tried is to require faculty members to develop in "independent learning plan" (ILP)for each week. The plan provides specific things for students to do to keep up if they miss class. Teachers either distribute the plan at the beginning of each unit or they email the plan to students who are out.
This technique requires students to take the reponsibility for staying up with the class. The ILP does not replace excellent instruction, but it does help students stay caught up. They are responsible for turning in work on time and for being ready for the next test or quiz.
Other schools have begun using an online learning mangement system (LMS) in all of their classes. Students do all of the required assignments in the LMS, which also includes all the readings and "lectures" they would have to use if it were a purely online class.
We talk with the students as we see them around the campus everyday. We greet them and ask, how are you today? We monitor their attendance daily and encourage them to return to classes by telling them what is going on tomorrow and why it's important for them to be present. We ask them to keep us informed if they will miss class time and we contact them if they miss class and have not communicate with us. Two-way, positive communication is a key for the success of each student.
In my own practice I have learned Attention = Retention. On the first day of class I meet each student, then for one week I enter the class room to say hello or wish them well on a quiz and/exam. During this time I attempt to speak to each student seperately and learn something special about him/her.
We call each student when their absent; talk to each student about their learning style; and help them to connect to other students to form study groups or car pools.
Sometimes it takes a long time to reach students but it really opens doors once we do.
Thanks for sharing this, Darryl. Many of your peers have mentioned similar programs that have been effective at their schools.
One of the more intriguing practices that we have just initiated is the student ambassador program. Selected students are taking the helm in establishing more student interaction and involvement. The student ambassadors offer their services as tutors, counselors, guiding and assisting them on doing cooking techniques, getting them involved with on campus activities. Other students seeing these ambassadors enable that "can do" attitude to be planted in each student. These ambassadors are introduced on the first day of class in every class.Usually a brief background on each ambassador is mentioned (I think that it is important to see where they progressed from the beginning until the present) Response from students working with the ambassadors have been more than we expected because I think that these new students feel a bit more comfortable in communication especially when they notice peers who were in similar positions a few months back.
Darryl,
These are all tried and true strategies.Are there other things your team does inside the classroom that will help others to better serve students?
* we are always calling those students that have been absent even if it only one day.
* always talking to students formally or informally in the classroom
* assisting them by being an advisor and counselor
* helping them in their personal life such as helping them with transportation to classes, finding housing
* involving them with school functions, having them take an active role in being leaders
Thanks, Sandra.
The importance of your walk thru cannot be overstated. Keep using this strategy.
I do a walk thru every morning to say good morning to the students. I also write a newsletter where I put information about honor roll students, who got married, who had a baby etc. Sometimes I stand at the door at quitting time to say goodbye to the students. I have an open door policy and they know they can come and talk to me anytime. I have been following this method forever and it really works. The students respond to me because they know I care.
We emphasize it at our campus, but the challenges are sometimes between departments in getting and staying on top of potential retention issue students. We are encouraged to start the ball rolling immediately when a students misses classes in the first few days of a course. I think we are pretty good about trying to make contact and get them going. For my part I have found that acting more like "hey it still can be ok" toward them when they return, while still making clear what my expecations are makes them a little more comfortable with trying to give the class a fair go.
The courses on a twenty day cycle can have old as well as new students; the instructors ask for the older students to voluteer to mentor the new ones to help orient them into the classroom environment and not be intimidated. We also have a monthly newsletter which highlight the student of the month who was nominated by instructors as well as peers. When students miss class it is the instructors responsibility to call the students, if there is an issue needing attention they can be referred to Student Services for help.
Thanks, Amy.
Contacting absent students is a pretty common strategy at career colleges. The calls are more effective when it is made clear to the student that the call is an attempt to provide needed support rather than a forced contact during which students are berated for missing class.
Has your school resumed the required calls to absent students?
One of the things that I was really proud of with our and worked really well for us was we called every student each time they missed. We saw our retention numbers go way down when this stopped.
I think most schools have many types of practices in place to help with retention. Monitoring attendance being the most important. What i personally try to do is connect with those students who are absent and let them know I want them to succeed and make sure that outside influences don't derail that from happening. Sometimes making them look at the bigger picture is necessary so that they don't devolve into drop-outs. It is important to connect with the person without getting too personal-and knowing who else on campus can help with students individual issues can assist in making them successful.
