1Designating the month of September 2014 as "School Attendance
2Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania and recognizing those school 
3students who maintain perfect school attendance.

4WHEREAS, Good school and class attendance serves as an
5essential component of student achievement since students who
6maintain good attendance records are more likely to graduate
7than those with poor attendance records; and

8WHEREAS, Patterns of good attendance and chronic absenteeism
9can begin as early as kindergarten; and

10WHEREAS, Attendance Works is a national and state initiative,
11established in 2010, which promotes awareness of the important
12role school attendance plays in achieving academic success; and

13WHEREAS, Attendance Works has defined chronic absenteeism as
14a student missing school 10% or more of the time for any reason,
15including excused and unexcused absence, and has identified
16school absence as a proven predictor of academic trouble and

1higher dropout rates; and

2WHEREAS, Chronic absenteeism may predict lower third grade
3reading proficiency, course failure and eventual dropout, which
4weakens our communities and our economy; and

5WHEREAS, The impact of chronic absence is particularly
6significant for low-income students; and

7WHEREAS, These children often do not have the resources to
8make up for lost time and have systemic barriers to school
9attendance, such as unreliable transportation, lack of access to
10health care and unstable or unaffordable housing; and

11WHEREAS, Chronic absenteeism exacerbates the achievement gap
12that separates low-income students from their peers, since
13students from low-income families are more likely to be
14chronically absent and to be affected academically by missing
15school; and

16WHEREAS, Chronic absenteeism undermines efforts to improve 
17struggling schools, as it's hard to measure improvement in 
18classroom instruction if students are not in class to benefit 
19from them; and

20WHEREAS, Attendance Works has deemed September 2014 as
21"National Attendance Awareness Month" as part of its goal to
22ensure that every school district in the country tracks
23attendance data beginning in kindergarten and partners with
24families and community agencies to intervene when attendance
25becomes a problem for children or particular schools; and

26WHEREAS, Improving attendance and reducing chronic
27absenteeism takes commitment, collaboration and tailored
28approaches to particular challenges and strengths in each
29community; and

30WHEREAS, Schools and community partners can reach out more

1frequently to absent students to determine the cause of their
2absenteeism and measures to reduce their absenteeism; and

3WHEREAS, When schools track, calculate and share attendance
4data, they can deliver proper intervention to the students who
5are chronically absent; and

6WHEREAS, Students, even those with good attendance, are
7affected by chronic absenteeism because teachers must spend time
8reviewing for students who missed lessons; and

9WHEREAS, Chronic absenteeism can be significantly reduced
10when schools, parents and communities work together to monitor
11and promote good attendance and address hurdles that keep
12children from attending school; therefore be it

13RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate
14September 2014 as "School Attendance Awareness Month" in
15Pennsylvania; and be it further

16RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives generally
17recognize all students who maintain good school attendance and
18urge recognition of these students by their school districts;
19and be it further

20RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge each school
21district to track, calculate and share data on chronic
22absenteeism and use the data to assist students and their
23families in achieving student academic success.