City wants to boost 1st-day attendance August 22, 2001 BY FRAN SPIELMAN CITY HALL REPORTER Citing the ''striking correlation'' between first-day attendance and student performance, Mayor Daley on Tuesday kicked off a massive public education campaign aimed at convincing parents to take their kids to school on Sept. 4. Last year, the top 30 elementary schools in Chicago, as measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, had a first-day attendance rate of 93 percent, compared with 70 percent for the bottom 30 schools. The high school differential was even more staggering. The top 10 percent achievers on the Test of Academic Proficiency had an average first-day attendance of 95 percent, compared to 65 percent for the bottom 10 percent, records show. ''If they don't show up for a week or two weeks or three weeks, then a parent demands that the teacher get that child going by the next week, while all the other kids have been moving along,'' the mayor said. ''You can't say, 'Hold it. Two kids walked in. We have to go back and start all over.' That is really unfair to the teacher.'' Schools CEO Arne Duncan said, ''This is a big, big deal. We want this to be the most successful start of the new school year ever in the city of Chicago.'' The decision to launch a campaign follows last year's attendance debacle. That's when school started before Labor Day and seemed to catch vacationing parents by surprise, despite the mayor's call for businesses to let parents take a few hours off to take their kids to school. This year, opening day was pushed back to Sept. 4--even though the mayor insists that last year's dismal showing was ''nothing new'' and merely a reflection of more accurate record-keeping. School officials also have identified what Board President Michael Scott called ''all of the major impediments'' that discourage kids from showing up and scheduled programs to address them. Letters, telephone reminders, public service announcements and Chicago's first back-to-school parade will highlight the 10-day countdown. ---------------------------------------------------- This is the CPS Mathematics Teacher Discussion List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
