Making the Most of Make-up Work

Chronic absenteeism—missing at least 1 in 10 school days—correlates with low test scores and other achievement deficits. The fact that these measures can reflect negatively on the school is one motivation for building- or district-wide programs aimed at improving attendance. Classroom teachers, however, have a more personal window into the lives of individual students. We know that the more days a student misses the farther behind he is likely to get—and the harder it might become to engage him. We also know the reason for missing class might not be the student's fault. Family disruptions, transportation difficulties and chronic illness (of the student or a family member) may all contribute to absenteeism.

For all these reasons, it’s important to establish systems and routines that support the whole child and set him up for achievement when he returns. The following suggestions address both classroom management and curriculum strategies that can help.

Classroom management: What do students do when they first come into my classroom?

You may have established a bell ringer or warm-up activity that helps students shift into thinking about your content. When students are accustomed to a self-led routine at the beginning of class, teachers can give individual students attention in the first few minutes. During this pre-established time, absent students can find out what was missed, gather needed materials and be ready to rejoin the class community. Set routines also help students who miss class transition back into learning because they know what to expect when they return.

In addition to the designated warm-up activity, establish the communication system so students can find out what material they missed. This system will look different at different grade levels, and many methods will work. Here are a few to try:

In the elementary classroom:

Mailboxes. Mailboxes or cubbies where students keep their materials are standard in most elementary classrooms. Leaving a half-page note is a way to communicate to an absent student what he missed while he was out. To promote social emotional skills, assign your elementary students a class buddy—one peer who can help out by filling in the blanks when her partner is gone.

You may not always know why a student missed class. A friendly heading on the note expressing that the student was missed helps him transition back into the class community in a positive way, regardless of what may have kept him out of class.

In the middle level classroom:

Class calendar. Use a bulletin board or the back of the door to post a large calendar. Write objectives and assignments on the calendar each day and refer to the calendar when returning to objectives and goals during instruction. Keep learning objectives up for three to four weeks, and include a folder near the calendar for any handouts students might have missed.

In the high school classroom:

Daily class journal. Assign a student in each class to record the date, objectives, activities and any assignments in a class notebook. Keep the notebook in the same location in the classroom. Returning students should know to check the class journal during the bell ringer. Rotate which student writes in the journal each week.

Social media. A social media platform provides another method to communicate missing work with absent students. If your district firewalls allow access to Facebook, you can create a private group for each class and post objectives, activities and assignments daily to that group’s wall. Edmodo is another free online platform that allows teachers to populate calendars, upload documents, track student progress and communicate with families, all in one location.

Curriculum: What is the purpose of the assignment?

Graded assignments provide students an opportunity to independently practice skills and demonstrate their progress toward mastery of objectives. They also allow teachers to collect data about student learning for planning future instruction. Because they are rooted in standards, it should matter to student achievement if an assignment is not completed.

Ask yourself: How do students know the value of class assignments?

Share class goals and objectives with your students and keep them posted in a visible location in your classroom. Point out how assignments are explicitly linked to those goals and objectives, and make it clear that students who complete the assignment by the due date move to the next skill or assignment based on mastery. This reinforces the authentic importance of attendance and of making up work when students miss a day.

Students should also understand the distinction between a due date and a drop-dead due date. Drop-dead due dates are driven by the school calendar and marking periods. Reporting midterm and end-of-term grades is mandatory, and students must complete all required work by these dates. Help students understand that assignments are intentionally built into the quarter or semester to help them work toward previously identified goals and objectives. The desired outcome is to master all class objectives within the marking period. Making this connection allows students to see their learning as cumulative and fosters self-monitoring and awareness—skills that become increasingly important as more and more independence is required of them.

Facilitating and tracking student make-up work can feel like a chore, but incorporating strategies designed to maximize student success serves two important purposes. One, it keeps learning on track and kids moving forward academically. And, two, it makes your classroom an environment that welcomes students back rather than heightens their anxieties about being gone in the first place.

Wicht is the senior manager for teaching and learning for Teaching Tolerance.