“In our district, we are struggling with attendance and I think a lot of districts are with attendance,” says Judith Gamez, Hearing Officer and Truancy Coordinator at Edgewood ISD.

“We felt like our data entry, while we track attendance electronically with a database, that works—but we don’t have a real system where other vital information can be
input afterward, such as a note from parents, or any notes about different excuses.”

What is the value of a dedicated system for chronic absenteeism and truancy prevention?

Using only a Student Information System, Gamez explains, “We can code them, or if the children were absent, it’ll give us a report,” she says, but trying to use an SIS to truly improve attendance or route out chronic absenteeism is simply too constrictive, “and it’s not as friendly as what RaaWee can do for us.”

Before RaaWee, “A lot of our attendance clerks were collecting names and addresses and phone numbers of kids that were absent and the parents, their information, if they were absent, and then maybe we’d get some notes, but the way they were using all that or processing it was all antiquated,” Gamez says.

“Some were using maybe Excel documents. Some were just typing it out on Word. Some was on paper.”

“And so what RaaWee has done for us is given us a structure or a format the whole district can use so that that way, it can be much more efficient and spin out some reports that we might need that our database might not do for us in a friendly manner.”

What are the two key aspects of effective truancy prevention and attendance management?

The two key aspects of effective truancy prevention and attendance management are understanding the reasons for absence with current data and maintaining accurate record-keeping. Gamez emphasizes the importance of current data to assist students with immediate challenges, stating, 'For us, it’s really important that it’s the data that just occurred.' The other side is record-keeping, which ensures efficiency and prevents families from falling through the cracks, allowing for accurate data-driven conversations with parents.

“There are a lot of reasons why children may not come to school,” says Gamez. “One of our jobs is to find out why—and how we can assist,” she says.

“The other side of that is record keeping. Without it, we’d be very inefficient, helping some parents and families, while others fall through the cracks. With this system, when we talk to parents and when we look at data, we’re able to be accurate.”