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2005 SESSION

051817292
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 576
Offered January 12, 2005
Prefiled January 3, 2005
Requesting the Department of Education to study the correlation between student attendance and achievement in the Commonwealth and methods of improving attendance. Report.
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Patrons-- Dillard, Albo and Landes
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, educational research indicates a high correlation between a student's school attendance rate and his academic achievement; and

WHEREAS, there is also a significant correlation between a student's absence rate and the likelihood of dropping out of school; and

WHEREAS, research indicates that “students who attend school between 85 and 100 percent of the time pass the state tests in reading and math at much higher rates than students who attend school less than 85 percent of the time”; and

WHEREAS, school completion reduces incarceration, unemployment and dependency; and

WHEREAS, school personnel are increasingly held accountable for student achievement; and

WHEREAS, consistent with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Virginia has based its definition of adequate yearly progress not only on performance on the Standards of Learning assessments in reading and mathematics, but on high school graduation rates and attendance rates in elementary and middle schools; and

WHEREAS, students who fail to attend classes cannot benefit from instruction offered; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education be requested to study the correlation between student attendance and achievement in the Commonwealth and methods of improving attendance. In conducting the study, the Department shall consider, among other things, the implementation of a statewide attendance policy and other methods of improving the attendance rates of students in Virginia’s elementary and secondary schools.

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Department for this study, upon request.

The Department shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2005, and shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the 2006 Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.