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Attendance Awareness Campaign Update
A project led by Attendance Works
October 3, 2024
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Using Data To Inform Early Action and Relationship Building
Educators should monitor student absences in the first month of school and take early action if needed. Look for students who miss two or more days that month and students who were chronically absent in the prior years. These are early indicators that particular students might benefit from extra support and engagement to start the year off right.
School and district teams can review data to create a high-level picture of all students by tier and by attendance categories (satisfactory, at-risk, moderately chronically absent, severely chronically absent, extremely chronically absent). Is it getting better or worse? Identify any patterns or trends across groups of students. What insights does the team have about the need for tailored solutions for particular student groups?
Relationships can motivate showing up and allow a student and family to feel comfortable sharing why they miss school. Consider using relationship mapping as a tool to examine whether every student has at least one adult they can go to for support.
| | Reducing today’s high levels of chronic absence requires a continual focus on engagement, support and the rebuilding of routines. Donate today to help propel the push for a full educational recovery. | |
Attendance Awareness Webinars | |
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the final AAC webinar on 9/25, Leadership For Sustainability: Superintendents Making A Difference. Please share the recording with your superintendent! Everyone who registered will receive a link to the recording and presentation slides. Find the recording for all 4 webinars on our website! | |
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Attendance Celebrations
Communities across the country stepped up to declare September as Attendance Awareness Month. We were thrilled to see mayors, elected leaders, school boards and superintendents issuing proclamations! Check them out on our website.
In FL, Escambia County Public Schools’ Bratt Elementary School marked Attendance Awareness Month with a coloring contest for students.
In MO, Cassville R-IV School District called on local businesses, non-profits, families and community members to encourage students to attend school regularly. Families were invited to take selfies when leaving home for school and posting on social media with the hashtags #GetYourSelfieToSchoolSWMO and #AttendTodayAchieveTomorrowSWMO.
In OR, Director of the Oregon Department of Education Dr. Charlene Williams published an opinion piece celebrating Attendance Awareness Month, When Oregon communities buy in, students show up.
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We’re encouraging young people to share their experiences with school attendance through school-based participatory research, essay, social media and other projects by supporting the U.S. Department of Education’s Attendance Champions Challenge. The deadline is approaching on November 29! Learn more in our blog post.
Almost 200 school districts across 43 states have joined the Student Attendance and Engagement Solutions Network to learn from each other about how to improve attendance and engagement. The network, part of the National Partnership for Student Success, is open for districts and states to join here.
We were delighted to be a speaker on the Daybreak Health webinar, The Impact of Addressing School Mental Health on Reducing Chronic Absenteeism. Panelists discussed the critical need for trusting relationships and community partnerships. View the recording.
School-based mental health service models have shown positive impacts on students’ school functioning, with significant improvements in attendance. Read our blog post co-authored by Healthy Schools Campaign and Mental Health America.
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Attendance Works and FutureEd reviewed attendance-related legislation and found that at least 18 states approved laws in the past decade clarifying rules around taking student attendance, requiring intervention strategies and softening punitive approaches to truancy. Check out our blog post and watch the webinar, State Policy Solutions for Reducing Student Absenteeism.
The District of Columbia has joined the national challenge to reduce chronic absence by 50% in five years! Find the full list of states that have signed up for the challenge.
In an opinion piece, Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert announced that the state joined our national challenge to reduce chronic absenteeism by 50% over the next five years. "We need to look at the data, we need to own the data and understand what it is the data is telling us,” Ebert said.
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Research by Panorama Education looks at how a student's perceptions of safety, climate, curriculum and other factors affect a student's likelihood of being chronically absent. These factors are distinctly different in elementary, middle, and high school, according to the research. | |
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Event Spotlight
In Rhode Island, 82% of schools and 89% of districts have reduced chronic absence rates in 2023-24 from the previous year. How did they do this? Join FutureEd’s webinar, Rhode Island’s Statewide Strategy for Reducing Chronic Absenteeism, on October 15, 2024.
On October 30, Join Hedy Chang for the Fireside Chat: The Evolving Nature of Chronic Absenteeism: Exploring How Attendance Has Shifted in the United States in the Aftermath of the Pandemic, a plenary held at the International Network for School Attendance conference in New Orleans. Register for the conference.
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Corporate Sponsors
A special thanks to the corporate sponsors who have already committed to supporting our 2024 Attendance Awareness Campaign. Their investment makes it possible for us to provide you with free strategies and materials.
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Campaign Convening Partners
See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.
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Copyright © 2024 Attendance Works, All rights reserved | | | | |
