An attendance policy can be put in place to motivate students to come to school - this is how you do it right.
Then when the time comes to present you look up from the front of the room and notice you’re missing most of your staff. Even worse, these may be teachers that need to hear the information you have to share as it pertains to them.
That’s the reality that many of your teachers are facing in their classrooms… every day. They create lessons that are filled with critical content for their students…and the students aren’t there to participate.
This means they are constantly playing catchup with students who are here one day and gone the next. It’s…tough.
If you lead a school and this scenario sounds just a bit too close to home then it looks like it’s time to incentivize good attendance!
Before we dive into the specifics of creating an attendance policy that relies on incentives, we need to be able to define the term itself.
An attendance incentive policy is something a principal, or school district can put in place to motivate students to come to school on a regular basis.
You may feel that you have the most captivating teachers in the world within your building. But some students still do not feel the need to be in the school setting on a regular basis.
The hope with an attendance incentive policy is that something will get them into the building and be excited to be there. It might not necessarily be something academic.
As excited as I was to get to school to learn about Ancient History, I realize that students may not share my passions when it comes to learning about various topics. This is where the attendance incentive policy comes into play!
Frequently, attendance policies are punitive. If you miss “x” amount of days, you were given “y” punishment. While that may work for some, the other option is to take a more proactive approach to incentivize students to come to school.
If they show up to school for so many days, they earn a special privilege. This change in thinking is something that has shown a lot of positive success in school buildings across the world.
For more information on attendance incentives check out Episode 37 of The LiveSchool Podcast.
In a perfect world, an attendance policy would simply not be needed. Students would come to school or an individual class no matter what. However, that is simply not the world we live in.
It is our job in education to develop an attendance policy that clearly spells out what is required of our students when it comes to them coming to school on a regular basis. If we create an incentivized attendance policy, we also show the students that they can earn special rewards and privileges when they are in the building.
Not only will they be in the building, but they’ll be able to learn more on a regular basis. Ultimately that is the goal that all educators strive for. This is why the incentive plan is so important.
To students, it might just be something that spells out the rewards (or reprimands) of attendance, but for schools, it gets students in the door so that the learning can actually happen!
This technique also allows students to earn both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
If they attend school on a regular basis they may earn something tangible that is extremely valuable to them.
However, they’ll also be in the class and be exposed to a curriculum that will help them earn positive scores or grades which acts as more intrinsic motivation.
Now we need to actually create our attendance policy. There are a variety of ways to tackle this in regard to whether or not you want to encourage good attendance or discourage bad attendance through punishment.
While one may quickly think these are one and the same, it’s not quite that simple. For the sake of this article, we’ll be working through the incentive side of the task. The first target that will need to be tackled is specifically spelling out the different types of absences that students may need to utilize.
This is where terms like unexcused and excused come into play. From here, you’ll need to identify what specific situations may fall under each umbrella of either unexcused absences or excused absences.
Typically, this may be the time when administrators may decide what punishments or consequences they need to dole out for various absences. However, remember we want to try and flip this into an incentivized attendance policy.
When incentivizing the attendance policy it’s best to try and develop various levels of rewards for students to attempt to earn. You’ll also want to tailor these to the grade levels you serve.
If you run an elementary building, we might start off small, for example, with a few additional minutes of extra recess after so many weeks of attendance.
We can work our way up to a larger reward like Deputy SRO or the ever-coveted Line Leader reward. If they continue to show progress you can take it another step further by potentially offering something tangible like school spirit wear.
This idea shows that we are rewarding the behavior we want to see from our students instead of just punishing those that don’t follow the status quo. It also gives us a chance to honor the students that are following the rules and policies to the best of their ability.
Often they tend to fall by the wayside because they are following the rules.
Another component of the attendance policy that could be beneficial, especially in the high school setting, would be to allow your Student Council to be active stakeholders in developing it.
Having Student Council members take suggestions from the student population and then brainstorm with administrators to create a plan together can be an extremely powerful message.
It also shows that students have a voice in what is happening in their school.
Think back to that awesome meeting you had planned that no one showed up for that we mentioned earlier. With an incentivized attendance plan in place, not only would they have shown up, but they’d be eager to be there!
Remember, at first, you might feel like students just show up because they “get something.” It’s perfectly normal if you feel that way. Oftentimes in education, our first thought is punitive as opposed to proactive.
Thankfully, over time, your student body will begin to see the benefits of being in the classroom setting on a regular basis and realize it has other rewards than just the tangible ones.
If you want to expand your rewards system you could consider encouraging teachers to use classroom incentives as well. Or, if you need help customizing your plan by grade level you can try our resources built around elementary school incentives, incentive ideas for middle school students, or incentives for high school students.
Then when the time comes to present you look up from the front of the room and notice you’re missing most of your staff. Even worse, these may be teachers that need to hear the information you have to share as it pertains to them.
That’s the reality that many of your teachers are facing in their classrooms… every day. They create lessons that are filled with critical content for their students…and the students aren’t there to participate.
This means they are constantly playing catchup with students who are here one day and gone the next. It’s…tough.
If you lead a school and this scenario sounds just a bit too close to home then it looks like it’s time to incentivize good attendance!
Before we dive into the specifics of creating an attendance policy that relies on incentives, we need to be able to define the term itself.
An attendance incentive policy is something a principal, or school district can put in place to motivate students to come to school on a regular basis.
You may feel that you have the most captivating teachers in the world within your building. But some students still do not feel the need to be in the school setting on a regular basis.
The hope with an attendance incentive policy is that something will get them into the building and be excited to be there. It might not necessarily be something academic.
As excited as I was to get to school to learn about Ancient History, I realize that students may not share my passions when it comes to learning about various topics. This is where the attendance incentive policy comes into play!
Frequently, attendance policies are punitive. If you miss “x” amount of days, you were given “y” punishment. While that may work for some, the other option is to take a more proactive approach to incentivize students to come to school.
If they show up to school for so many days, they earn a special privilege. This change in thinking is something that has shown a lot of positive success in school buildings across the world.
For more information on attendance incentives check out Episode 37 of The LiveSchool Podcast.
In a perfect world, an attendance policy would simply not be needed. Students would come to school or an individual class no matter what. However, that is simply not the world we live in.
It is our job in education to develop an attendance policy that clearly spells out what is required of our students when it comes to them coming to school on a regular basis. If we create an incentivized attendance policy, we also show the students that they can earn special rewards and privileges when they are in the building.
Not only will they be in the building, but they’ll be able to learn more on a regular basis. Ultimately that is the goal that all educators strive for. This is why the incentive plan is so important.
To students, it might just be something that spells out the rewards (or reprimands) of attendance, but for schools, it gets students in the door so that the learning can actually happen!
This technique also allows students to earn both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
If they attend school on a regular basis they may earn something tangible that is extremely valuable to them.
However, they’ll also be in the class and be exposed to a curriculum that will help them earn positive scores or grades which acts as more intrinsic motivation.
Now we need to actually create our attendance policy. There are a variety of ways to tackle this in regard to whether or not you want to encourage good attendance or discourage bad attendance through punishment.
While one may quickly think these are one and the same, it’s not quite that simple. For the sake of this article, we’ll be working through the incentive side of the task. The first target that will need to be tackled is specifically spelling out the different types of absences that students may need to utilize.
This is where terms like unexcused and excused come into play. From here, you’ll need to identify what specific situations may fall under each umbrella of either unexcused absences or excused absences.
Typically, this may be the time when administrators may decide what punishments or consequences they need to dole out for various absences. However, remember we want to try and flip this into an incentivized attendance policy.
When incentivizing the attendance policy it’s best to try and develop various levels of rewards for students to attempt to earn. You’ll also want to tailor these to the grade levels you serve.
If you run an elementary building, we might start off small, for example, with a few additional minutes of extra recess after so many weeks of attendance.
We can work our way up to a larger reward like Deputy SRO or the ever-coveted Line Leader reward. If they continue to show progress you can take it another step further by potentially offering something tangible like school spirit wear.
This idea shows that we are rewarding the behavior we want to see from our students instead of just punishing those that don’t follow the status quo. It also gives us a chance to honor the students that are following the rules and policies to the best of their ability.
Often they tend to fall by the wayside because they are following the rules.
Another component of the attendance policy that could be beneficial, especially in the high school setting, would be to allow your Student Council to be active stakeholders in developing it.
Having Student Council members take suggestions from the student population and then brainstorm with administrators to create a plan together can be an extremely powerful message.
It also shows that students have a voice in what is happening in their school.
Think back to that awesome meeting you had planned that no one showed up for that we mentioned earlier. With an incentivized attendance plan in place, not only would they have shown up, but they’d be eager to be there!
Remember, at first, you might feel like students just show up because they “get something.” It’s perfectly normal if you feel that way. Oftentimes in education, our first thought is punitive as opposed to proactive.
Thankfully, over time, your student body will begin to see the benefits of being in the classroom setting on a regular basis and realize it has other rewards than just the tangible ones.
If you want to expand your rewards system you could consider encouraging teachers to use classroom incentives as well. Or, if you need help customizing your plan by grade level you can try our resources built around elementary school incentives, incentive ideas for middle school students, or incentives for high school students.
Justin has been an educator for over a decade including various teaching roles ranging from Special Education, ELA, and Social Studies! When he's not busy, he enjoys spending time with his family including his daughter, his wife, and his half labrador/half dachshund, "Mac."
In addition to this you can find him working on his podcast production skills for his goofy sports and pop culture podcast, Baseball and Whatever, playing ice hockey, water skiing, or playing video games. He's probably playing video games.
Then when the time comes to present you look up from the front of the room and notice you’re missing most of your staff. Even worse, these may be teachers that need to hear the information you have to share as it pertains to them.
That’s the reality that many of your teachers are facing in their classrooms… every day. They create lessons that are filled with critical content for their students…and the students aren’t there to participate.
This means they are constantly playing catchup with students who are here one day and gone the next. It’s…tough.
If you lead a school and this scenario sounds just a bit too close to home then it looks like it’s time to incentivize good attendance!
Before we dive into the specifics of creating an attendance policy that relies on incentives, we need to be able to define the term itself.
An attendance incentive policy is something a principal, or school district can put in place to motivate students to come to school on a regular basis.
You may feel that you have the most captivating teachers in the world within your building. But some students still do not feel the need to be in the school setting on a regular basis.
The hope with an attendance incentive policy is that something will get them into the building and be excited to be there. It might not necessarily be something academic.
As excited as I was to get to school to learn about Ancient History, I realize that students may not share my passions when it comes to learning about various topics. This is where the attendance incentive policy comes into play!
Frequently, attendance policies are punitive. If you miss “x” amount of days, you were given “y” punishment. While that may work for some, the other option is to take a more proactive approach to incentivize students to come to school.
If they show up to school for so many days, they earn a special privilege. This change in thinking is something that has shown a lot of positive success in school buildings across the world.
For more information on attendance incentives check out Episode 37 of The LiveSchool Podcast.
In a perfect world, an attendance policy would simply not be needed. Students would come to school or an individual class no matter what. However, that is simply not the world we live in.
It is our job in education to develop an attendance policy that clearly spells out what is required of our students when it comes to them coming to school on a regular basis. If we create an incentivized attendance policy, we also show the students that they can earn special rewards and privileges when they are in the building.
Not only will they be in the building, but they’ll be able to learn more on a regular basis. Ultimately that is the goal that all educators strive for. This is why the incentive plan is so important.
To students, it might just be something that spells out the rewards (or reprimands) of attendance, but for schools, it gets students in the door so that the learning can actually happen!
This technique also allows students to earn both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
If they attend school on a regular basis they may earn something tangible that is extremely valuable to them.
However, they’ll also be in the class and be exposed to a curriculum that will help them earn positive scores or grades which acts as more intrinsic motivation.
Now we need to actually create our attendance policy. There are a variety of ways to tackle this in regard to whether or not you want to encourage good attendance or discourage bad attendance through punishment.
While one may quickly think these are one and the same, it’s not quite that simple. For the sake of this article, we’ll be working through the incentive side of the task. The first target that will need to be tackled is specifically spelling out the different types of absences that students may need to utilize.
This is where terms like unexcused and excused come into play. From here, you’ll need to identify what specific situations may fall under each umbrella of either unexcused absences or excused absences.
Typically, this may be the time when administrators may decide what punishments or consequences they need to dole out for various absences. However, remember we want to try and flip this into an incentivized attendance policy.
When incentivizing the attendance policy it’s best to try and develop various levels of rewards for students to attempt to earn. You’ll also want to tailor these to the grade levels you serve.
If you run an elementary building, we might start off small, for example, with a few additional minutes of extra recess after so many weeks of attendance.
We can work our way up to a larger reward like Deputy SRO or the ever-coveted Line Leader reward. If they continue to show progress you can take it another step further by potentially offering something tangible like school spirit wear.
This idea shows that we are rewarding the behavior we want to see from our students instead of just punishing those that don’t follow the status quo. It also gives us a chance to honor the students that are following the rules and policies to the best of their ability.
Often they tend to fall by the wayside because they are following the rules.
Another component of the attendance policy that could be beneficial, especially in the high school setting, would be to allow your Student Council to be active stakeholders in developing it.
Having Student Council members take suggestions from the student population and then brainstorm with administrators to create a plan together can be an extremely powerful message.
It also shows that students have a voice in what is happening in their school.
Think back to that awesome meeting you had planned that no one showed up for that we mentioned earlier. With an incentivized attendance plan in place, not only would they have shown up, but they’d be eager to be there!
Remember, at first, you might feel like students just show up because they “get something.” It’s perfectly normal if you feel that way. Oftentimes in education, our first thought is punitive as opposed to proactive.
Thankfully, over time, your student body will begin to see the benefits of being in the classroom setting on a regular basis and realize it has other rewards than just the tangible ones.
If you want to expand your rewards system you could consider encouraging teachers to use classroom incentives as well. Or, if you need help customizing your plan by grade level you can try our resources built around elementary school incentives, incentive ideas for middle school students, or incentives for high school students.
Then when the time comes to present you look up from the front of the room and notice you’re missing most of your staff. Even worse, these may be teachers that need to hear the information you have to share as it pertains to them.
That’s the reality that many of your teachers are facing in their classrooms… every day. They create lessons that are filled with critical content for their students…and the students aren’t there to participate.
This means they are constantly playing catchup with students who are here one day and gone the next. It’s…tough.
If you lead a school and this scenario sounds just a bit too close to home then it looks like it’s time to incentivize good attendance!
Before we dive into the specifics of creating an attendance policy that relies on incentives, we need to be able to define the term itself.
An attendance incentive policy is something a principal, or school district can put in place to motivate students to come to school on a regular basis.
You may feel that you have the most captivating teachers in the world within your building. But some students still do not feel the need to be in the school setting on a regular basis.
The hope with an attendance incentive policy is that something will get them into the building and be excited to be there. It might not necessarily be something academic.
As excited as I was to get to school to learn about Ancient History, I realize that students may not share my passions when it comes to learning about various topics. This is where the attendance incentive policy comes into play!
Frequently, attendance policies are punitive. If you miss “x” amount of days, you were given “y” punishment. While that may work for some, the other option is to take a more proactive approach to incentivize students to come to school.
If they show up to school for so many days, they earn a special privilege. This change in thinking is something that has shown a lot of positive success in school buildings across the world.
For more information on attendance incentives check out Episode 37 of The LiveSchool Podcast.
In a perfect world, an attendance policy would simply not be needed. Students would come to school or an individual class no matter what. However, that is simply not the world we live in.
It is our job in education to develop an attendance policy that clearly spells out what is required of our students when it comes to them coming to school on a regular basis. If we create an incentivized attendance policy, we also show the students that they can earn special rewards and privileges when they are in the building.
Not only will they be in the building, but they’ll be able to learn more on a regular basis. Ultimately that is the goal that all educators strive for. This is why the incentive plan is so important.
To students, it might just be something that spells out the rewards (or reprimands) of attendance, but for schools, it gets students in the door so that the learning can actually happen!
This technique also allows students to earn both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
If they attend school on a regular basis they may earn something tangible that is extremely valuable to them.
However, they’ll also be in the class and be exposed to a curriculum that will help them earn positive scores or grades which acts as more intrinsic motivation.
Now we need to actually create our attendance policy. There are a variety of ways to tackle this in regard to whether or not you want to encourage good attendance or discourage bad attendance through punishment.
While one may quickly think these are one and the same, it’s not quite that simple. For the sake of this article, we’ll be working through the incentive side of the task. The first target that will need to be tackled is specifically spelling out the different types of absences that students may need to utilize.
This is where terms like unexcused and excused come into play. From here, you’ll need to identify what specific situations may fall under each umbrella of either unexcused absences or excused absences.
Typically, this may be the time when administrators may decide what punishments or consequences they need to dole out for various absences. However, remember we want to try and flip this into an incentivized attendance policy.
When incentivizing the attendance policy it’s best to try and develop various levels of rewards for students to attempt to earn. You’ll also want to tailor these to the grade levels you serve.
If you run an elementary building, we might start off small, for example, with a few additional minutes of extra recess after so many weeks of attendance.
We can work our way up to a larger reward like Deputy SRO or the ever-coveted Line Leader reward. If they continue to show progress you can take it another step further by potentially offering something tangible like school spirit wear.
This idea shows that we are rewarding the behavior we want to see from our students instead of just punishing those that don’t follow the status quo. It also gives us a chance to honor the students that are following the rules and policies to the best of their ability.
Often they tend to fall by the wayside because they are following the rules.
Another component of the attendance policy that could be beneficial, especially in the high school setting, would be to allow your Student Council to be active stakeholders in developing it.
Having Student Council members take suggestions from the student population and then brainstorm with administrators to create a plan together can be an extremely powerful message.
It also shows that students have a voice in what is happening in their school.
Think back to that awesome meeting you had planned that no one showed up for that we mentioned earlier. With an incentivized attendance plan in place, not only would they have shown up, but they’d be eager to be there!
Remember, at first, you might feel like students just show up because they “get something.” It’s perfectly normal if you feel that way. Oftentimes in education, our first thought is punitive as opposed to proactive.
Thankfully, over time, your student body will begin to see the benefits of being in the classroom setting on a regular basis and realize it has other rewards than just the tangible ones.
If you want to expand your rewards system you could consider encouraging teachers to use classroom incentives as well. Or, if you need help customizing your plan by grade level you can try our resources built around elementary school incentives, incentive ideas for middle school students, or incentives for high school students.
Imagine you are preparing for an extremely important meeting with your teaching staff. You were up hours the night before painstakingly putting the finishing touches on your slide deck.
Then when the time comes to present you look up from the front of the room and notice you’re missing most of your staff. Even worse, these may be teachers that need to hear the information you have to share as it pertains to them.
That’s the reality that many of your teachers are facing in their classrooms… every day. They create lessons that are filled with critical content for their students…and the students aren’t there to participate.
This means they are constantly playing catchup with students who are here one day and gone the next. It’s…tough.
If you lead a school and this scenario sounds just a bit too close to home then it looks like it’s time to incentivize good attendance!
Before we dive into the specifics of creating an attendance policy that relies on incentives, we need to be able to define the term itself.
An attendance incentive policy is something a principal, or school district can put in place to motivate students to come to school on a regular basis.
You may feel that you have the most captivating teachers in the world within your building. But some students still do not feel the need to be in the school setting on a regular basis.
The hope with an attendance incentive policy is that something will get them into the building and be excited to be there. It might not necessarily be something academic.
As excited as I was to get to school to learn about Ancient History, I realize that students may not share my passions when it comes to learning about various topics. This is where the attendance incentive policy comes into play!
Frequently, attendance policies are punitive. If you miss “x” amount of days, you were given “y” punishment. While that may work for some, the other option is to take a more proactive approach to incentivize students to come to school.
If they show up to school for so many days, they earn a special privilege. This change in thinking is something that has shown a lot of positive success in school buildings across the world.
For more information on attendance incentives check out Episode 37 of The LiveSchool Podcast.
In a perfect world, an attendance policy would simply not be needed. Students would come to school or an individual class no matter what. However, that is simply not the world we live in.
It is our job in education to develop an attendance policy that clearly spells out what is required of our students when it comes to them coming to school on a regular basis. If we create an incentivized attendance policy, we also show the students that they can earn special rewards and privileges when they are in the building.
Not only will they be in the building, but they’ll be able to learn more on a regular basis. Ultimately that is the goal that all educators strive for. This is why the incentive plan is so important.
To students, it might just be something that spells out the rewards (or reprimands) of attendance, but for schools, it gets students in the door so that the learning can actually happen!
This technique also allows students to earn both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
If they attend school on a regular basis they may earn something tangible that is extremely valuable to them.
However, they’ll also be in the class and be exposed to a curriculum that will help them earn positive scores or grades which acts as more intrinsic motivation.
Now we need to actually create our attendance policy. There are a variety of ways to tackle this in regard to whether or not you want to encourage good attendance or discourage bad attendance through punishment.
While one may quickly think these are one and the same, it’s not quite that simple. For the sake of this article, we’ll be working through the incentive side of the task. The first target that will need to be tackled is specifically spelling out the different types of absences that students may need to utilize.
This is where terms like unexcused and excused come into play. From here, you’ll need to identify what specific situations may fall under each umbrella of either unexcused absences or excused absences.
Typically, this may be the time when administrators may decide what punishments or consequences they need to dole out for various absences. However, remember we want to try and flip this into an incentivized attendance policy.
When incentivizing the attendance policy it’s best to try and develop various levels of rewards for students to attempt to earn. You’ll also want to tailor these to the grade levels you serve.
If you run an elementary building, we might start off small, for example, with a few additional minutes of extra recess after so many weeks of attendance.
We can work our way up to a larger reward like Deputy SRO or the ever-coveted Line Leader reward. If they continue to show progress you can take it another step further by potentially offering something tangible like school spirit wear.
This idea shows that we are rewarding the behavior we want to see from our students instead of just punishing those that don’t follow the status quo. It also gives us a chance to honor the students that are following the rules and policies to the best of their ability.
Often they tend to fall by the wayside because they are following the rules.
Another component of the attendance policy that could be beneficial, especially in the high school setting, would be to allow your Student Council to be active stakeholders in developing it.
Having Student Council members take suggestions from the student population and then brainstorm with administrators to create a plan together can be an extremely powerful message.
It also shows that students have a voice in what is happening in their school.
Think back to that awesome meeting you had planned that no one showed up for that we mentioned earlier. With an incentivized attendance plan in place, not only would they have shown up, but they’d be eager to be there!
Remember, at first, you might feel like students just show up because they “get something.” It’s perfectly normal if you feel that way. Oftentimes in education, our first thought is punitive as opposed to proactive.
Thankfully, over time, your student body will begin to see the benefits of being in the classroom setting on a regular basis and realize it has other rewards than just the tangible ones.
If you want to expand your rewards system you could consider encouraging teachers to use classroom incentives as well. Or, if you need help customizing your plan by grade level you can try our resources built around elementary school incentives, incentive ideas for middle school students, or incentives for high school students.
Imagine you are preparing for an extremely important meeting with your teaching staff. You were up hours the night before painstakingly putting the finishing touches on your slide deck.
Then when the time comes to present you look up from the front of the room and notice you’re missing most of your staff. Even worse, these may be teachers that need to hear the information you have to share as it pertains to them.
That’s the reality that many of your teachers are facing in their classrooms… every day. They create lessons that are filled with critical content for their students…and the students aren’t there to participate.
This means they are constantly playing catchup with students who are here one day and gone the next. It’s…tough.
If you lead a school and this scenario sounds just a bit too close to home then it looks like it’s time to incentivize good attendance!
Before we dive into the specifics of creating an attendance policy that relies on incentives, we need to be able to define the term itself.
An attendance incentive policy is something a principal, or school district can put in place to motivate students to come to school on a regular basis.
You may feel that you have the most captivating teachers in the world within your building. But some students still do not feel the need to be in the school setting on a regular basis.
The hope with an attendance incentive policy is that something will get them into the building and be excited to be there. It might not necessarily be something academic.
As excited as I was to get to school to learn about Ancient History, I realize that students may not share my passions when it comes to learning about various topics. This is where the attendance incentive policy comes into play!
Frequently, attendance policies are punitive. If you miss “x” amount of days, you were given “y” punishment. While that may work for some, the other option is to take a more proactive approach to incentivize students to come to school.
If they show up to school for so many days, they earn a special privilege. This change in thinking is something that has shown a lot of positive success in school buildings across the world.
For more information on attendance incentives check out Episode 37 of The LiveSchool Podcast.
In a perfect world, an attendance policy would simply not be needed. Students would come to school or an individual class no matter what. However, that is simply not the world we live in.
It is our job in education to develop an attendance policy that clearly spells out what is required of our students when it comes to them coming to school on a regular basis. If we create an incentivized attendance policy, we also show the students that they can earn special rewards and privileges when they are in the building.
Not only will they be in the building, but they’ll be able to learn more on a regular basis. Ultimately that is the goal that all educators strive for. This is why the incentive plan is so important.
To students, it might just be something that spells out the rewards (or reprimands) of attendance, but for schools, it gets students in the door so that the learning can actually happen!
This technique also allows students to earn both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
If they attend school on a regular basis they may earn something tangible that is extremely valuable to them.
However, they’ll also be in the class and be exposed to a curriculum that will help them earn positive scores or grades which acts as more intrinsic motivation.
Now we need to actually create our attendance policy. There are a variety of ways to tackle this in regard to whether or not you want to encourage good attendance or discourage bad attendance through punishment.
While one may quickly think these are one and the same, it’s not quite that simple. For the sake of this article, we’ll be working through the incentive side of the task. The first target that will need to be tackled is specifically spelling out the different types of absences that students may need to utilize.
This is where terms like unexcused and excused come into play. From here, you’ll need to identify what specific situations may fall under each umbrella of either unexcused absences or excused absences.
Typically, this may be the time when administrators may decide what punishments or consequences they need to dole out for various absences. However, remember we want to try and flip this into an incentivized attendance policy.
When incentivizing the attendance policy it’s best to try and develop various levels of rewards for students to attempt to earn. You’ll also want to tailor these to the grade levels you serve.
If you run an elementary building, we might start off small, for example, with a few additional minutes of extra recess after so many weeks of attendance.
We can work our way up to a larger reward like Deputy SRO or the ever-coveted Line Leader reward. If they continue to show progress you can take it another step further by potentially offering something tangible like school spirit wear.
This idea shows that we are rewarding the behavior we want to see from our students instead of just punishing those that don’t follow the status quo. It also gives us a chance to honor the students that are following the rules and policies to the best of their ability.
Often they tend to fall by the wayside because they are following the rules.
Another component of the attendance policy that could be beneficial, especially in the high school setting, would be to allow your Student Council to be active stakeholders in developing it.
Having Student Council members take suggestions from the student population and then brainstorm with administrators to create a plan together can be an extremely powerful message.
It also shows that students have a voice in what is happening in their school.
Think back to that awesome meeting you had planned that no one showed up for that we mentioned earlier. With an incentivized attendance plan in place, not only would they have shown up, but they’d be eager to be there!
Remember, at first, you might feel like students just show up because they “get something.” It’s perfectly normal if you feel that way. Oftentimes in education, our first thought is punitive as opposed to proactive.
Thankfully, over time, your student body will begin to see the benefits of being in the classroom setting on a regular basis and realize it has other rewards than just the tangible ones.
If you want to expand your rewards system you could consider encouraging teachers to use classroom incentives as well. Or, if you need help customizing your plan by grade level you can try our resources built around elementary school incentives, incentive ideas for middle school students, or incentives for high school students.
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