NMCC Has New Attendance Policy

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Regular attendance and participation in classroom instructional activities are essential to achieving the educational objectives for each class. When students are absent from class, they miss the material covered; they miss the opportunity to interact with the teacher as well as other students and they miss the opportunity to pursue learning opportunities only available in the classroom interaction.

The New Madrid County R-1 School District implemented a new attendance policy at their September Board meeting. The policy has been very effective for increasing attendance in the R-1 District. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education collects the individual student's attendance rate and sets the expectation that 90% of the students are in attendance 90% of the time.

Dr. Cindy Amick, Superintendent of the New Madrid County R-1 District indicated the first semester of the effective policy ended December 20, 2013. The attendance for the District increased significantly. The attendance in 2013 indicated 82% of our students were in attendance 90% of the time. The data collected at this point indicates 90% of our students are in attendance 90% of the time. At this date, the District is meeting state requirements.

"We are very pleased with this increase in attendance" said Amick. "Our District receives a "grade" from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on the Annual Performance Report (APR) which is tied to the District's accreditation. We are very happy with this increase."

More information may be obtained from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website http://dese.mo.gov/qs/documents/MSIP-5-comprehensive-guide-3-13.pdf. The information is on page 42 of this manual.

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