The RUMERTIME Process as a Protective Factor in School Attendance Problems

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Social-Emotional Learning
• Intervention Strategies

Background:

• Student attendance problems (SAPs) significantly impact academic performance in high-needs urban school districts.
• Traditional disciplinary methods like out-of-school suspension (OSS) and in-school suspension (ISS) are often punitive and may not address underlying social-emotional issues.
• A need exists for culturally responsive, preventative strategies that equip students, educators, and families with social-emotional skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the RUMERTIME Process (RP) as a culturally responsive, social-emotional problem-solving strategy.
• To describe the implementation of the RP within the Cultivating SEEDS System (CSS) framework and the Daytime Intervention Room (DIR) program.
• To examine the RP's role as a protective factor in addressing student attendance problems and its impact on academic and behavioral outcomes.

Main Methods:

• The RUMERTIME Process (RP) is a five-step strategy focusing on recognizing, understanding, managing, expressing, and reflecting on emotions and interactions.
• The RP is integrated into the Cultivating SEEDS System (CSS) framework and implemented through the Daytime Intervention Room (DIR) program in four urban high-needs schools.
• Descriptive data were collected to analyze the effectiveness of the RP as a protective factor for students facing risk factors qualifying them for DIR services.

Main Results:

• The RUMERTIME Process (RP) was utilized to equip diverse communities with social-emotional skills to effectively solve student attendance problems (SAPs).
• The DIR program, incorporating the RP, served as an alternative to traditional suspensions, aiming for holistic student development.
• Data indicated that the RP functioned as a protective factor, contributing to the goals of increased academic performance, decreased behavior referrals, and improved attendance rates.

Conclusions:

• The RUMERTIME Process (RP), embedded within the Cultivating SEEDS System (CSS) and implemented via the Daytime Intervention Room (DIR), shows promise as a protective factor against student attendance problems.
• Culturally responsive social-emotional strategies are vital for addressing complex student challenges in high-needs urban settings.
• The integrated approach of the DIR program fosters holistic development and positively impacts academic and behavioral outcomes.