Spring 2017
A Note from the Executive Director
We are buoyed by the expansive growth in action addressing chronic absence this year! Today much of the decision making is happening on the state and local levels.  A growing number of states are including chronic absence as a proposed school accountability metric in their plans to comply with Every Student Succeeds Act.  The bipartisan support for strong school attendance is palpable: We believe that providing students every opportunity to learn by being in school every day is part of the American dream!
 
This month we launch Attendance Awareness Campaign 2017! Join us as we continue to build on the momentum created last year around chronic absence. Join your peers at the first Attendance Awareness webinar  on March 28 to continue with this important work.
 
Special Note: We have had a record number of people register for the March 28 webinar and are likely to exceed the webinar room capacity of 500! Please note that once you register you are guaranteed a copy of the webinar recording and other materials whether you attend or not. If you are unable to sign in consider organizing a separate session, after March 28th, to watch with a group using the recording and discussion guide. Log in 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the webinar.


Hedy N. Chang
Executive Director, Attendance Works

Attendance Awareness Month 2017


This year's theme Engagement = Attendance highlights the important role everyone can play in creating a welcoming and engaging school environment that motivates students and families to come to school every day. 
 
The Campaign kicks off during the first  Attendance Awareness webinar, It's a Matter of 1, 2, 3!  This year's webinar series emphasizes the importance of taking a comprehensive, tiered approach to improve attendance. Webinars will focus on one of three tiers of intervention   and examples from districts, schools and communities that have moved the needle using data-driven, preventive strategies.

Attendance Awareness Action Map

Check out the 2017 Map and let us know what you are planning. For the first time, we will highlight pins from Superintendents who answer the Call to Action.
 
Keep an eye out for our updated Count Us In! Toolkit released on March 28th. This essential guide to planning for September and beyond shares example activities from communities across the country and will include updated resources on messaging based on the latest research. 

Research Spotlight
Can a postcard to parents get kids to school?
Carefully worded messages on postcards reminding parents of the value of attendance and showing total absences reduced students' chronic absence by as much as 10 percent across grades 1-12. But messages about how children's absences compare with students in the same class had no impact. The research, by Todd Rogers, shows that simple reminders to caregivers can begin to engage families. Find the paper here.

 
Delayed bell times may boost attendance
School districts are considering steps to delay morning bell times to improve student attendance and achievement. New research published by Pamela Malaspina McKeever and colleagues shows that moving morning bell times later resulted in an average increase in attendance rate from 90 percent to 94 percent. Find the paper here. 

Tools Spotlight

National center hosts e-summit
The new National Student Attendance, Engagement, and Success Center (NSAEC)'s online summit  on April 3rd and 4th will kick off the Center and its partnership with the US Department of Education. The Center's webinars will share practices around early warning systems and for the 30 My Brother's Keepers cities. Register for the webinars  and read our blog.  
 
Tips for creating relationships around school
Caring mentors who help students and families feel welcome and supported in school are a common sense and proven strategy for reducing chronic absence. Our new toolkit, Relationships Matter:  Launching an Elementary Success Mentor Initiative  has  information and tips. Check out our blog.   

Support Attendance Works
A special thank you to those who have included Attendance Works in their charitable contributions helping us to provide Attendance Awareness Month materials and other toolkits free of charge. If you haven't had a chance, you can donate now by clicking:


Supporter :
$1-$49

Friend: 
$50-$199
 
Bronze Attendance Champion:
$200-$499
 
Silver Attendance Champion: $500-$999

Gold Attendance Champion:
$1,000 or more

Upcoming Webinar
Tuesday, March 28
(11:00 am - 12:30 pm PT / 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm ET) 
 
It's a Matter of 1, 2, 3 The first Attendance Awareness webinar showcases universal strategies in Florida and Pennsylvania!

News Highlights
About Attendance Works
Attendance Works is a national and state initiative that promotes awareness of the important role that school attendance plays in achieving academic success. We aim to ensure that every school in every state not only tracks chronic absence data for its individual students but also partners with families and community agencies to help those children.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page!

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Contact Us
Questions?  

For more information contact:  [email protected] 
Attendance Works would like to express its deep appreciation to the foundations that are currently funding our work nationally and in communities across the country: Jefferson County Public Education Foundation,   Kaiser Permanente, Open Society Institute -Baltimore, Packard Foundation, The Patterson Foundation,  Thomas J. Long Foundation,  W.K. Kellogg Foundation,  Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation,   San Francisco Foundation , Skilllman Foundation, and Stuart Foundation .