Poverty has an impact on students’ lives and their schooling.  Many of our FARMS students are not meeting grade level standards, and therefore require interventions and other remedial supports. In addition, many families in the school’s immediate area are experiencing “generational poverty” and are unable to support their student’s academic efforts. As a result, parental involvement within our school community is deficient. Oakwood Elementary School does not meet the threshold for Title I funding to support additional teaching positions or programs to support learning. [Indicators 1, 5, 6, 10] 

Key Challenge #2:  Attendance Rates

Despite multiple incentives to improve student attendance during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years, attendance continues to be an area of great concern with an attendance rate of 93.8%. Overall, 62% of our school population missed at least six days of school during the 2018-2019 academic year.  Additionally, 22.38% of our students are considered chronically absent and have missed at least 18 school days (or 10% of the school year) during that time frame.

There are multiple reasons for poor attendance and daily tardiness.  Some families struggle to overcome the many barriers which often accompany poverty. In addition to lack of transportation, insufficient funds to meet basic household obligations or housing itself, mental health challenges, and employment instability, may result in a lack of routines and structure within the home.  These barriers may add challenges for parents to follow the school schedule, leading to absenteeism and a high rate of tardiness. 

Daily school attendance is necessary for school success. It has been well documented that attendance in elementary school is a reliable indicator of graduation rates among our students. Each absence results in missed instruction, which leads to learning gaps for our students. Students with excessive absences or tardiness struggle to maintain their academic skills. As a school community we recognize the impact that poor attendance has on student success. Students who begin school as struggling learners continue to struggle without a consistent supportive academic program. 

We are constantly motivating and encouraging our students to be in school, every day, on time. To promote attendance percentages and encourage our students to be Attendance Heroes, we have created an Attendance Committee which has instituted a variety of incentives and recognitions for student attendance. [Indicators 1, 5, 6, 10]

Key Challenge #3:  PARCC Scores - English (Elementary grades 3, 4, 5) - While there have been many strategies, programs, and curriculum upgrades to address reading proficiency, PARCC and district assessments in the area of reading continue to call for a need to focus on literature and informational text.  Students in grades 3-5 struggle to answer the Part B portion of questions correctly, which requires students to go back into the text and locate text evidence. Improving student reading levels and building perseverance and stamina should address this issue.  Students also need continued support in test taking strategies to eliminate distractor choices and to focus on the best answer. [Indicators 5, 6]