Attendance Awareness Campaign Update for April 5, 2024

Attendance Awareness Campaign Update

A project led by Attendance Works

April 5, 2024

Launching Attendance Awareness Campaign 2024!

Attendance Awareness Campaign 2024 is off and running with the theme Be Present, Be Powerful! This year’s slogan is a call for everyone to focus on ensuring students show up every day, even when it isn’t easy.

Be Present, Be Powerful! is a reminder of the connection between school attendance and realizing our hopes and dreams. It highlights the role that school plays in promoting student well-being and achievement.

We’re busy updating AAC resources! Download a Facebook banner and a badge for your email. View the Count Us In! toolkit with tips for your campaign.

Join with us and more than 100 national partners working to bring more communities into our movement by signing up for updates.

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Webinars

The 2024 free webinar series will emphasize the role of teachers, school principals, district leaders, as well as youth, families and community partners in building awareness about the value of a daily routine of showing up to school. Webinar speakers will share their experiences organizing their school communities to work together to address today’s education challenges.

Our first free webinar, On The Front Line: the Crucial Role of Teachers, kicked off on Wednesday, April 3. Find the recording and presentation slides.

Save the date for the next 3 webinars!

May 15, Essential Partnerships for Showing Up: Families, Youth and Community
August 7, Creating a Culture of Belonging and Engagement: Principals in Action
September 25, Leadership For Sustainability: Superintendents Making A Difference

Everyone who registers will receive a link to the webinar recording and presentation slides!

We need your help to get the word out! Please share the sample social media message below.

Attendance Tools

Healthy students are more likely to attend school and be ready to learn. Send the message to families that they can help their child stay healthy. Download our handout developed in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente and the National Association of School Nurses.

Do your students receive Medicaid-funded school health services? Oregon’s state education agency has developed some tools for school districts to use when looking to implement a School Medicaid billing program. Check out Oregon’s School Medicaid billing checklist, cost-benefit analysis tool, and readiness assessment tool.

What to do when your school/district has schools with extreme levels (30%+) of chronic absenteeism? Read about six action steps in, From Absences to Action: Strategies to Reduce Chronic Absence and Increase Educational Equity, published by Western Educational Equity Assistance Center.

Research Spotlight

A working paper from Jeremy Singer at Michigan State University examines attendance practices in high-absenteeism districts in Michigan, and finds a need for additional infrastructure and district-led support.

School Attendance Following Receipt of Care From a School-Based Health Center, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, finds that visiting a school-based health center is associated with improvements in student attendance, particularly for kids with mental health challenges.

Events

RaaWee K12 is offering a free, virtual workshop for districts on April 18, titled Individualizing Interventions and Targeting Resources using Barrier Identification. The workshop is part of a series that includes an educator’s forum.

District Leadership

Would you like to better engage your district team to improve student attendance rates? Our Professional Leadership Attendance Network (PLAN) provides a chance to learn from national experts as well as peers and organize a clear plan of action in a collaborative learning environment.

The practical tools, peer interactions and coaching will empower district leaders to build better systems to improve student attendance and engagement. For more information email Lorri Hobson Lorri@attendanceworks.org and Zach Freeman Zach@attendanceworks.org

Corporate Sponsors

A special thanks to the corporate sponsors who have already committed to supporting our 2024 Attendance Awareness Month Campaign. Their investment makes it possible for us to provide you with free strategies and materials.

Attendance in the News

Chronic absenteeism rises in El Paso schools post-pandemic, El Paso Matters, April 1, 2024

Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere, New York Times, March 29, 2024

Ed Dept: Districts should start now to improve 2024-25 attendance, K12 Dive, March 12, 2024

Sample Social Media

Miss the first AAC webinar? Hear guest speakers share how teachers are making a difference in attendance & the conditions they need to play this frontline role:

https://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/webinars/

Campaign Convening Partners

See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.

Attendance Works is a non-profit, national and state initiative. Our mission is to promote equal opportunities to learn and advance student success by reducing chronic absence. Find free downloadable resources, research, consulting services and more on our website: www.attendanceworks.org

For more information contact: info@attendanceworks.org