MMSD Attendance Trends: MMSD Attendance Trends: Hmong-Speaking High School Hmong-Speaking High School

Students Students

August 29, 2005

MMSD Board of Education

Purposes of today’s discussion…• Share information about attendance trends of

Hmong-speaking students in MMSD

• Describe action plan for addressing these trends

• Solicit input into a plan of action

• Obtain feedback

Hmong-Speaking StudentsHmong-Speaking Students

• There are currently 1122 students that self-identify as Southeast Asian in MMSD (K-12).

• Of these students, 859, or 76% are Hmong-speaking.

• 361 Hmong-speaking students are in grades 8-12

Elementary AttendanceElementary Attendance

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

All students Southeast Asian

MIDDLE SCHOOL MIDDLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCEATTENDANCE

Middle school students as a group have met the 94% attendance rate goal for the past 5 years.

The ethnic subgroups of Southeast Asian, Other Asian, and White, all exceeded the 94% goal in 2003-04.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

All students Southeast Asian

HIGH SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL ATTENDANCEATTENDANCE

Overall, the rate of attendance remains just below the 94% goal for high school students. The overall high school attendance rate declined slightly in 2003-04 from 93.6% to 93.3% due mainly to drops among the African American and Southeast Asian subgroups. Southeast Asian students dropped from 90.7% to 88.5%. White and Hispanic attendance rates remained almost unchanged from the prior year while rates for Other Asian students increased.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

All students Southeast Asian

Percentage of All Students that Meet Percentage of All Students that Meet the 94% Attendance Goalthe 94% Attendance Goal

64.5% 69.4% 67.8% 67.9% 69.1%

35.5% 31.6% 32.2% 32.1% 31.9%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

120.0%

8 9 10 11 12

<94

>94%

Hmong Students that Meet the 94% Hmong Students that Meet the 94% Attendance GoalAttendance Goal

77 .1% 75 .3%

45 .3% 52 .1% 52 .6%

22 .9% 24 .7%

54 .7% 47 .9% 47 .4%

0 .0 %

20 .0 %

40 .0 %

60 .0 %

80 .0 %

100 .0 %

120 .0 %

8 9 10 11 12

>94 % <94

Where are our Hmong-Where are our Hmong-Speaking Students?Speaking Students?

High Schools 9-12High Schools 9-12

• East: 111 Students

• Lafollette: 66 Students

• Memorial: 54 Students

• West: 42 Students

• Alt Programs: 18 Students

Where are our Hmong-Where are our Hmong-Speaking Students?Speaking Students?

• Middle Schools: 8th grade onlyMiddle Schools: 8th grade only

• Black Hawk: 6 Sennett: 14

• Cherokee: 8 Sherman: 15

• Hamilton: 3 Toki: 9

• Jefferson:2 Whitehorse: 4

• O’Keeffe: 5 Wright: 4

Our Plan: May 2005

• Hold Community meeting #1: April 29, Kajsiab House. Distribute notes

• Conduct focus groups with Hmong students

• Conduct attendance transition conferences with 8th grade Hmong students with a history of poor attendance

Community Meeting #1Kajsiab House

• Highlights– Representation from all 4 high schools and

most middle schools– Representatives from community

organizations– Small group discussions and networking– Relationship building and identification of

next steps

Student Focus Groups

• 20 - 25 Hmong speaking students

• May 25, 2005

• Skippers and non-skippers

Why does attendance change?•Trying to fit in with peers

•High school is open and allows more choices

•Students don’t like the courses they are placed in

•Classes don’t meet student’s needs

•Home problems

Is poor attendance a problem?

• Yes! Staying in school is important

• It holds you back if you don’t go

• It gives us a bad reputation

• Sometimes teachers mark our names wrong—they stereotype us

What might help?

• Adjust academic classes and provide choices of classes

• Place Asian students in sections where there are other Asian students

• Create a more welcoming environment for Asian students

• Be more understanding of family issues• Address racism

What can students do?

• Arrange for students who have skipped and dropped out to speak to other students about their regrets

• Provide tutors and academic support

• Involve parents

• Try to motivate peers

• Do something fun!

Attendance Transition Meetings

• Early identification of students who may need additional support in high school– Spring interviews with 8th grade students

experiencing attendance difficulties– Make connections to high school supports, (both

student to student, and staff to student) in order to build relationships and problem-solving potential

* Habitual Truancy Protocol

Our Plan: Semester 1, 2005-2006

• Host Community-School meeting #2 (include students)

• Share plan with secondary administrators and student support

• Conduct additional internal research • Explore strategies used in other communities

Our Plan: Semester 2, 2005-2006

• Host Community-School meeting #3 (include students)

• Build cultural understanding and competency

• Review and develop high school structures to support Asian students