Retention
The main concern we have at an online school,is that by the time students are ready to drop, they may have been thinking about it for quite some time, and have been ignored for even longer. The thing we do is we start contacting students after four days of inactivity to try to be proactive in this.
At our campus, if the student is out for six hours or one day they are talked to and informed they are close to their 12 hour max for the class. If they are gone for two days we make the effort to call and contact them to find out what the issues are so the will not have to repeat the class.
Great policy and procedure, Victoria!! Do you find that you have better attendance in your class than do you colleagues who aren't so proactive?
I let my students know on the first day of class exactly what my classroom "rules" are. If they are going to be out of class for whatever reason, they are to email me and I will let them know what work to make up or they can call the school and I will call them with the assignments.
I do understand illness, kids and doctor's appts do happen. I ask that they be sure to try their best to schedule after class but sometimes you have to take what you can get. If I have a student absent for 2 days with no contact, I will actually call the student to find the reason for the absence. I try to keep abreast of what's going on with my students. If I find a problem, I will notify Administration immediately so we can work with the student.
Yes, if support services are needed, there is a referral system in place to help with most of their desired needs.
Do you also provide counseling or support services, if needed, to the students? Do you have a referral system in place - internally and/or externally - to connect student with the support they need?
I am the Director of Education at a school with 200 students. We have a policy in place that our instructors report to me any student that has been absent for three days in a row. At that time I place a call to find out why the student is missing. I then document what is going on with that student, instruct the instructor of that students's situation, and follow-up later if need be. This process let's the students know right off the bat that we care and are willing to help in any way possible.
Does this mean that they didn't all the information they needed when they decided to enroll? Were they misled about what would be required by the admissions department?
Wow. That's a massive commitment of time for the Director of Education. If successful, it certainly does show the school's focus on the student but how does the DOE get anything else done? How large is your school? Can it support staff to help with this important issue?
No question that attendance is a reliable predictor of potential problems. Who tracks attendance? Who's responsible for personal follow up and how do they do this? Are they empowered to help students?
What happens if a student who receives a notice to "see Office as soon as possible" doesn't?
Sounds like a good plan, Margaret. Who makes the call? What are the anticipated outcomes? If you uncover problems, who follows up and provides support for the students?
How successful has this been?
We contact the students mostly by phone or in person. Students like to receive some kind of contact to ask questions that were never answered.
At our school, most of the students do want to
complete the program once they have gone at least 50% of the program. The students who do not want to continue are the ones who drops out the 1st week of school because they were told up front from the begining that all Tests and Hours missed have to be completed before graduation.
Students should not be allowed to slip away.
The Administrator is the last person to talk to the student who wants to drop from school.
We do not have a large amount of programs therefore, we do not have advisors for each individual program and a team of advisors for attendance.
I agree that the instuctors are our front line eyes and ears. I also agree that the job of insuring students is shared by all staff members at our school and the staff members realize that student success is our livelihood.
The Director of Education is responsible for contacting the student by phone or person and to listen to whatever problems the student might have; and to assign someone to follow through to
help the situation. This help the students and to show that the school cares placing them on the right track.
We also have an advisement system in place, whereby students are notified by an Attendance Status Form, showing: Subjects missed and amount of hours and Tests that are required to complete the program. Financial Statements are issued frequently to students. Notation to Students
are: Please see Office as soon as possible to be advised. Each Dept.has to follow up on status.
At Center For Career Training, Students are called up the 2nd day if we have not been notified of a reason for an absent Day. Follow up is necessary immediately as we have to keep the attendance status up to date in order to schedule make up time.
It must be frustrating when students don't respond to your offer. Is there a system in place to work with those students? Is there someone on staff who is charged with talking with them? Do you think there should be or should those students be allowed to slip away?
