How to Improve Your School's Student Attendance Rate In 30 Days

TL;DR: Sync Orah with your student information system and setup automated attendance alerts. Try it free for 30 days.

Why are Student Attendance Rates Important?

Student attendance rates directly influence academic achievement, student well-being, and broader societal outcomes. Regular attendance is linked to better grades and test scores, while absenteeism can harm a student's learning and lead to feelings of isolation and stress. High attendance also supports student retention, helping schools identify and support at-risk students to keep them on track for graduation (source).

On a larger scale, good attendance contributes to public health, economic stability, and community engagement.

Improving Student Attendance is Crucial

Tracking attendance helps schools comply with legal requirements and ensure student safety, yes. But we know that many students globally face challenges in attending school regularly, many times due to mental health issues or family priorities. School and their communities need to work together to create engaging and supportive learning environments, raise awareness about the importance of attendance, and provide resources like counseling and mentorship to address these challenges that impact attendance rates.

Prioritizing student attendance can lead to better academic outcomes, improved student well-being, and ultimately a stronger society.

5 School Leader Insights on Reducing Absenteeism

Orah–a duty of care platform that services some of the world's top schools–recently held an event for school leaders interested in reducing absenteeism at their schools. Here are some of the key insights from the event:

1. "Personalize. Personalize. Personalize." Yes, it's catchy. But it's also quite actionable when you understand that every student deserves a personalized approach when it comes to understanding and addressing why a student is not attending school.
2. Addressing issues earlier, "before it's too late". One strategy they tried was to sit the parents down and ask them "What do you hope for your child?" – it's important to help some parents understand that the school cares for their children, "we want them to improve their academic achievement, we want to improve their wellbeing" says Geneé (Principal of Baverstock Oaks).
3. Approach every situation with care. If a family knows that you, as a representative of the school, genuinely cares about their child, it goes a long way.
4. Improve parent<>school communication. Clear and consistent communication between parents and schools is foundational to reducing absenteeism. In line with our three-pillared approach to helping schools meet and exceed their duty of care, we built Orah Connect and Attendance Alerts to help schools improve communications around their student's attendance and well-being in real-time.
5. Educate your students and parents about the importance of regular attendance. Understanding and addressing the reasons behind chronic absenteeism requires a dual approach: direct engagement and education. Start by having open conversations with chronically absent students and their parents to understand their challenges and concerns. Educating parents about the importance of regular attendance is just as crucial. Highlight the direct correlation between attendance and academic success, social development, and future opportunities. Share resources, success stories, and strategies through newsletters, workshops, and parent-teacher meetings.

How to Improve Your School's Student Attendance Rate In 30 Days

Getting Started with Orah Passes, Attendance Insights and Attendance Alerts: A Guide for Schools

Absenteeism isn't just about students missing out on lessons; it's about missing out on the community, daily interactions, and unique learning opportunities. Addressing attendance effectively means understanding why students are consistently late or absent and creating an environment that encourages them to be present, both physically and mentally.

Orah is designed to work with your student information system, not replace it. At Orah, we've developed a comprehensive system to help schools manage attendance more effectively. Here's a detailed guide to help you get started with Orah's standard Attendance tools, Orah Passes, Attendance Insights and Alerts.

Introduction to Orah

Orah has been assisting schools since 2014. Initially starting in the boarding school space, we have expanded our reach to over 300 top schools in 20 countries. Our mission is to help schools meet and exceed their duty of care responsibilities by ensuring students are accounted for both physically and mentally.
Orah's duty of care platform focuses on three core pillars: Attendance, Well-being, and Communication.

Orah's Three-Pillared Approach to Duty of Care

After years of working with schools of various models, methodologies and creeds, we've narrowed down our focus to what we believe are the core tenets of a school that can consistently exceed their duty of care. These three tenets not only have a direct impact on a student's academic outcomes but can have a sizeable impact on a student's future job prospects and quality of life.

If your school can excel in these 3 areas, we believe you are well-equipped to set your students up for success.

Attendance

We focus on helping schools know where their students are at all times. We help schools achieve this real-time view via a combination Orah Roll Checks, Orah Passes and Location Check-Ins. Once Orah is up and running, you will be able to see the different locations your students are in, on and off-site, in real-time.

Well-being

Understanding how students are doing emotionally and physically, and identifying at-risk students. We help schools achieve this by conducting Orah Mood Checks and Student Surveys.

Communication

Ensuring effective and secure communication with students. We help schools achieve this via Orah Broadcasts, Direct Messaging and Attendance Alerts.

What We've Found: Three of the Most Common Attendance Challenges

Manual Data Entry Leads to Inaccuracies and Delays.

When attendance data is entered manually, it increases the likelihood of human error, such as incorrect or incomplete records. These inaccuracies can lead to delays in processing and analyzing attendance data, making it harder for schools to respond quickly to emerging issues. In turn, this can hinder timely interventions that could otherwise prevent students from falling behind.

Lack of Visibility Leads to Difficulty in Identifying Attendance Patterns and Insights.

Without clear and immediate access to attendance data, it becomes challenging for schools to spot trends or patterns in student absences. This lack of visibility can prevent educators from understanding the root causes of absenteeism and addressing them effectively. Early detection of attendance issues is crucial for implementing targeted strategies to support at-risk students.

Poor Follow-Ups Lead to Delays in Corrective Actions that Help to Reduce Absenteeism.

When follow-ups on absenteeism are delayed or poorly managed, it reduces the effectiveness of interventions designed to encourage regular attendance. Timely communication with students and parents is essential to address attendance issues before they escalate. Delays in follow-ups can result in prolonged absenteeism, making it harder to re-engage students and get them back on track.

Solutions to Attendance Challenges

1. Improve Timeliness with Parent Excuse Forms (Orah Passes)

One of the major issues schools face is the lag between a parent notifying the school of an absence and that information being entered into the system. Orah's Parent Excuse Form eliminates this delay. Schools can provide parents with a public URL to submit absences directly, which updates in real-time in the school's system.

This system is secure, using the parent’s email that you have on record to verify the submission, ensuring authenticity. It automates the data entry process, significantly reducing the margin for error and the delay in updating attendance records.

2. Visualizing Attendance Data with the Attendance Insights Dashboard

Understanding attendance patterns is crucial. The Attendance Insights Dashboard integrates directly with your Student Information System (SIS) to provide real-time, high-level insights into your attendance data.

Overview of Attendance Rates

Track how attendance fluctuates over time.

Attendance Hotspots

Identify periods or classes with low attendance.

Frequent Flyers

See lists of students who are frequently tardy, have excused or unexcused absences, as well as their individual attendance trends.

These insights allow school administrators to identify and address attendance issues promptly. Data from the SIS is easily switchable and exportable to CSV for further analysis.

3. Automate Follow-Ups with Alerts

This is your key to improving Attendance rates quickly–keep the interested parties up-to-date. Orah's system includes automated alerts that notify relevant staff when attendance issues arise. These alerts are customizable based on criteria such as the number of absences within a timeframe.

Alerts can be sent to staff, students, and parents, ensuring all parties are aware of attendance issues. Staff can receive detailed information to address these issues effectively, facilitating timely interventions.

Implementing Orah in Your School

1. Setup Parent Excuse Forms

Orah Passes (Parent Excuse Forms) help significantly reduce the lag time in attendance updates from parents to the school. After you have signed up to Orah and enabled your SIS integration, you can generate your school's magic link to share with parents. Orah Passes have been stress tested with schools and families to be as easy to use as possible. It is trusted by some of the world's most prestigious schools who have very high standards for what tools they will subject their parents to.

2. Using the Attendance Insights Dashboard

Enable the dashboard for a comprehensive, detailed view of your school's attendance data. Orah syncs student data from your Student Information System (SIS) to build your Attendance Insights Dashboard.

Orah Attendance Insights works for schools who currently take attendance using one of our approved SIS integration partners, or for schools who use Orah as their primary Attendance Management system.

3. Setting Up Alerts

Automate follow-ups to ensure timely and appropriate actions for attendance issues. To set up Alerts, you must first sign up to Orah and then sync Orah Attendance Insights with your SIS or be using Orah Attendance. Then, once your staff, student and associated contact data are synced–you can schedule Attendance Alerts to be sent based on criteria that you define.

Your Daily Attendance Problems, Solved

Try Orah Passes, Attendance Insights & Alerts Free For 30 Days

Orah is designed to seamlessly integrate with your current systems, providing immediate and significant improvements in attendance management. By utilizing tools like Orah Passes (the Parent Excuse Form), Attendance Insights Dashboard, and Orah's automated Attendance Alerts, schools can address attendance issues more effectively and create a more supportive and accountable environment for their students.

If you'd like to set it up yourself, sign up for the free 30-day trial.

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If you'd like to learn more, you can see how it works here or set up a demo with one our Orah's school experts. We look forward to helping you improve your school's attendance management with our innovative and effective systems.