Truancy and drop out prevention: PEAK ATTENDANCE Programs

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VIEW and PRINT an overview of our Attendance Initiative

The Pikes Peak Learning Attendance Initiative

Our approach to school attendance, truancy prevention, and drop out prevention is PROACTIVE, MOTIVATING, and ENCOURAGES SUCCESS - we focus on getting students to envision positive outcomes and build their sense of self worth and purpose.

The FIVE approaches to reduce truancy:

Build greater MOTIVATION in students to commit to education.

Create rapid new INSIGHT on each individual student to understand root cause.

Encourage more understanding and SUPPORT from home.

Guide each student to a vivid sense of purpose and a clear vision for their life.

Improve school climate and interpersonal skills and outcomes between students and teachers and most importantly, students and their peers.

Based on past experience, this approach can improve student attendance because as a student, this uncovers what I HOPE, EXPECT, and FEAR will happen in my life - and the gaps between the hopes, expectations, and fears are the opportunities for addressing root cause and motivation. The process engages the student because the results are:

Achievable: my picture of the future balances hopes and fears

Motivating: what's possible becomes compelling, salient, vivid, and concrete

Includes means and strategies: to take action, reach goals, make better choices

Anticipates emotions: it's both energizing and clearly shows rewards

Personalized: it fits me, my situation, and is realistic

Young people skip class or drop out for a complexity of reasons. Many students who try to stay in school do poorly because of truancy and poor attendance. But all truancy and drop out factors and consequences could be minimized if students were given the opportunity to create a vision for their future, discover the specific, real impact of education and school on that vision in terms of earning power and quality of life, and learn the skills and choices required to make their vision a reality.

The Pikes Peak Learning Company offers a proactive, positive, integrated dropout and truancy prevention program intended to increase student attendance and commitment to learning. PPLC applies the Peak Mastery life skills and motivational learning system, Knowledge Factor assessment tools, FutureSelves student evaluation instruments, engagements with parents, and key partnerships with the local community to help young people develop a new appreciation for the value of school and beyond that, take responsibility for their own development and learning.

The goal is to create a new perspective for students on the value of school and education for their individual lives and thereby produce a positive impact on attendance, grades, test scores, and eventually, graduation. The most important outcome is increasing numbers of students who are better prepared to cope with life, who have better skills and are more workforce-ready, and who have greater confidence in their ability to excel.

This Initiative offers the following options, to be configured for your students and specific needs:

Form advisory councils of teachers, administrators, students, parents, juvenile justice, and community members to map all of the following to local needs.

Advance students’ understanding and appreciation for the value of education – show them, in detail, the real economic impact of education on their adult lives, in the context of a personal, meaningful, successful vision of independent life.

Assess student mastery of key life knowledge, their understanding of the value of school, their confidence in that knowledge, and create individual remedial learning plans.

Develop key insights into students’ hidden beliefs about their “possible selves,” to uncover barriers to improving motivation, behavior, performance and decision making.

Transform the conflicts, disrespect, anger, and interpersonal stress that is a leading cause of truancy into better communication, support, self-confidence, and a much improved overall school climate.

Engage parents to encourage dialog, support, and skill-building at home, measure at-home factors affecting student attendance, and offer learning opportunities for parents.

Integrate with existing programs and policies in the district and juvenile justice systems.

Analyze and report key data across domains, including student knowledge, confidence, and self-image, parent involvement, grades, test scores, attendance, and graduation.

Enlist sponsorship in the local business community and non-profit networks to provide funding, enlist support, and create student incentives.

Provide comprehensive deployment, professional development, measurement, and project management, customized for each school, district, agency, or center.

To speak with an educational consultant about the Pikes Peak Learning Attendance Initiative, call toll free 866.471.4285 or fill out our request form.