News Brief

02/14/13

School Attendance Data Eyed

Bucyrus Telegraph Forum (02/14/13) Lanka, BenjaminOhio Auditor Dave Yost says the state needs to change how it counts school populations after examining attendance data manipulation across school districts, noting that changes should include incentives for schools to get students to class every day. He says using school attendance during one week in October to determine school funding for the entire year invites attendance data manipulation, as some schools provide incentives like gift cards, pajama days, and other items to students to get them to attend classes that week. He says attendance should be counted daily to gauge a district's true population and provide incentives to schools to get students to class more consistently. Yost also recommends increasing oversight for school districts and giving the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) more tools to check school attendance data. Acting State Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Sawyers says the report demonstrates the many ways the department can improve oversight. "We understand we can improve our policies and practices, improve safeguards, and make our data system more robust. ODE will give serious consideration to each recommendation to determine if a recommendation will correct an identified issue; to decide if a recommendation is feasible to implement; and to decide how a recommendation can be best implemented," he explains.

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