Dealing with Tardiness

Without a doubt, the most consistent behavior problem I have observed in local high schools is tardiness. While many schools do have school-wide tardy policies, many more do not, and many that are in place are ineffective. Tardiness not only effects the student who arrives late, but it can often set forth a dominoe effect for the classroom that day, causing the entire lesson to go awry. I researched some management ideas for dealing with tardiness on various education sites, but found about.com's ideas the most insightful and straightforward. Following are some of the methods that I discovered. As you think about your own tardy policy, reazlie that whatever you decide you'll have to also be able to enforce. A tardy policy without any follow through fromt the teacher's end will not reduce the tardy problem in your classroom.

Tardy Cards
Tardy Cards are basically cards given to each student with a space for a specific number of "free tardies". For example, a student might be allowed three per semester. When the student is late, the teacher marks off one of the spots. Once the tardy card is full, then you could follow your own discipline plan or the school's tardy policy (i.e., write a referral, send to detention, etc.). On the other hand, if the student gets through a semester without any tardies, then you could create a reward. For example, you might give this student a homework pass. While this system is most effective when implemented schoolwide, it can be effective for the individual teacher if strictly enforced.

On Time Quizzes
These are unannounced quizzes that take place as soon as the bell rings. Students who are tardy would receive a zero. They should be very short, typically one to five questions (i.e. sentence corrections for an English class or a single math problem, etc.). If you choose to use these, make sure that your administration allows this. You can choose to have the quizzes count as a single (continually accumulated) grade over the course of the semester or possibly as extra credit. However, make sure that you announce the system in the very beginning of the school year and that you start using them right away- be consistent. If you begin after the school year is well underway, students are more likely to see them as being used to specifically punish one or a few students. To be fair make sure that you randomly place them on your lesson plan calendar and give them on those days so that you don't intentionally or unintentionally single out a student or two who are regularly late to your class. You can increase the quantity if you find that tardies are becoming more of a problem over the year.

Detention for Tardy Students
This option makes logical sense - if a student is tardy then they owe you that time. This is the policy most often used by teachers at Bellingham High School. You would want to give your students a certain number of chances (1-3) before instituting this. However, there are some considerations here: Some students might have no transportation other than the school bus. Further, you do have an additional commitment on your part...you can't expect a student to stay in an empy room, so you'll have to remain at the school for the tardy detention as well. Finally, realize that some students who are tardy might be those who are not necessarily the best-behaved. You will be required to spend extra time with them after school.

Locking Students Out
This policy shocked me because it seems so extreme. But, I can imagine that if tardiness is a big problem for you, this would probably solve it pretty fast. I am not recommending this means for dealing with tardies, I'm just alerting you that it's an option that's out there. In this method, you literally lock your classroom door when the bell rings for class to begin. If students are late, they receive an absence for the day- no exceptions. You must consider your liability for student safety. If something happens to a student while locked out of your class, it would still be your responsibility. Since in many areas tardies do not excuse students from work, you will have to get them their make-up work which would in the end require more of your time.

From my own experience as a high schooler, I recall that teachers who did not deal with tardiness head on were always sorry by the end of the year because the problem would only escalate- we knew who's class we could be late to and we'd stretch out the appropriate tardiness collectively. My best advice is to talk with your fellow teachers and find out what works for them. Each school has a different atmosphere and what works with one group of students might not be as effective with another. Also, it seems that when teachers at a school can adopt a single tardiness policy and enforce it as a group, the policy will be much more effective. Try one of the listed methods or another method, but just remember that your tardy policy is only as effective as you are in enforcing it.