Ohio education program aims to improve student attendance, engagement

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A new Ohio education program is determined to help K-12 students who continue to face challenges with school attendance and engagement.

ENGAGE Ohio is an attendance recovery program aimed to assist school efforts and go beyond routine solutions.

There are many reasons why a student might be struggling right now. Even those who were successful in school before the pandemic could be having a hard time now.

ENGAGE Ohio program hopes to fill the gaps.

“[The program is] unique because it uses email, text, home visits, phone calls to go find students who aren’t getting to school regularly…for a lot of different reasons,” says Brittany Miracle, Assistant Director of the Office of Whole Child Supports for the ODE.

According to the ODE’s program overview, students eligible for the program are:

• In grade K-12
• Chronically absent
• Disengaged from learning
• Academically at-risk

ENGAGE Ohio created different tiers of the program to address different barriers for students and their families.

Tier one consists of initial contact and finding solutions to an isolated problem such as transportation.

State officials report that about 82% of families currently participating in the program say that transportation is a barrier for student attendance.

According to ENGAGE’s website, the program made 1.6 million outreach attempts in 2020.

Miracle says, “An Engage Ohio outreach coordinator would make contact with the family and say, ‘you know, we heard that you’re having trouble getting to school, how can we help’ and in some cases, they’ll say ‘I don’t have a ride.’”

Tier two is a more in-depth profile of the student to support their specific needs, including risk assessment or records update. Academic success coaches can be paired with the student at this time to provide consistent one-on-one attention.

Coaches mitigate student obstacles, provide remote learning skills, monitor student progress and serve as mentors. On average, tier two establishes monthly check-ins.

Tier three is more intense with weekly coach contact and a personalized plan. It could also link families to community resources to solve more severe hurdles.

The ODE is still corresponding with large school districts in the greater Cincinnati area that have not opted into the program, but parents can enroll their students by calling (614) 344-5028 or visiting the ENGAGE Ohio website.

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