A sixth-grade student at Bronx Writing Academy used to be chronically absent.

“She has severe asthma,” explained the student’s mother, who is also the parent-teacher association president at the school. On days when the student felt under the weather with allergies, she found it difficult to muster motivation to go to school even though she knew it would be safe to attend, since allergies are non-communicable and the school was equipped to respond to an asthma attack.

But then the student took part in the school’s attendance improvement program. Bronx Writing Academy’s staff and parent-teacher association worked together on a two-pronged approach to improve attendance: First, they identified chronically absent students and required them to meet with educators every week, which included talking with parents to address issues that stemmed from home. This allowed school staff to address the root causes of absenteeism. Second, they created incentives for students — monthly parties, raffles and a school store where students can make purchases with “bucks” they’ve earned for each week of perfect attendance.

The sixth-grade student with asthma was a part of this program, and she’s no longer chronically absent. In fact, her mother reports that the student has a newfound sense of responsibility.

“She wakes up on her own,” said the student’s mother. “She even helps get her brother up in the morning.”

Bronx Writing Academy now has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in its district. That’s just one example of the great work UCS schools are doing to improve attendance. At PS 30 in Manhattan, for example, the percentage of chronically absent students dropped from 64% to 39% after the school instituted interventions.

Attendance is an excellent predictor of positive outcomes. According to the U.S. Department of Education, irregular attendance can predict dropout rates better than standardized test scores. It’s also concentrated among English language learners, students with disabilities and students of color — groups more likely to encounter barriers to attendance such as illness, housing or transportation issues.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days, which is a surprisingly low number — just two days per month. Nevertheless, it’s the key number of absences at which learning loss starts to settle in.

PS 30 based its incentive on that number, organizing monthly parties for students with 90% or higher attendance rates and who were therefore not chronically absent. CSD Ronald Thomas and his colleagues also looked at chronic absenteeism patterns by grade level and investigated root causes by engaging directly with families. They found that 45% of the students on the chronically absent list at PS 30 were in pre-K.

United States DOE data shows that chronically absent students in pre-K, kindergarten and first grade are less likely to read at grade level by the third grade, but few parents know that. Thomas explained that this is because pre-K is a time for crucial lessons on “socialization, following school rules,” and the fundamental skills of “how to be students,” he said.

By talking with parents, PS 30 staff can explain why attendance is important even in early grades, help families identify patterns and refer families to community school services. For example, if a student struggles to wake up in the morning, the family may be referred to the school counselor for support with bedtime routines.

And those fun monthly parties help a lot! As students enjoy an evening of activities like karaoke, sports and crafts, parents get the evening to themselves.

Although each UCS school develops unique strategies to meet their communities’ needs, they all use discussions and incentives rather than punitive approaches.

At PS 65 in Queens, CSD Margaret Maria Jackson compiled a list of chronically absent students to include in a “Presence = Presents” program. The initiative gives out gifts and toys to a randomly selected group of students on an unannounced school day. The students know it’s coming, but not when it will be, which “sparks enthusiasm and excitement” to come into school, she said.

At PS 335 and PS 40 in Brooklyn, students can come to school early to enjoy some roller-skating. They don’t want to miss the fun, so they don’t miss the school day, either.

The PTA president from BWA explained that incentives are not bribes, but a realistic way to prepare students for life: As they move into college and careers, they’ll continue to experience positive consequences for reliability.

“Kids are looking forward to coming to school every day,” said Thomas, “because they’re seeing every day that we celebrate their success.”