A Note from the Executive Director

Even during these tumultuous times, we can agree that children and youth need to be in school regularly to thrive and learn.

As the weather cools, it’s a good time to create opportunities for students to recharge physically and emotionally. Not only are active students stronger learners, but play at school allows kids to practice getting along with each other. Playworks has a variety of resources for recess activities that can nurture a sense of belonging among students. 

Tapping into student perspectives can increase student engagement and improve outcomes. The National Partnership for Student Success Support Hub at the Johns Hopkins University Everyone Graduates Center created a resource with three strategies to support schools and community organizations with nurturing student voice. 

Staff at many schools are feeling stretched thin. Yet addressing today’s chronic absence and creating a school environment that supports the whole child requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. Community partners can be the extra set of hands to support school staff. Learn more in our R.E.A.L. toolkit about how to choose community partners and find resources to help you identify partners located near your school. 

I’d like to express my gratitude to each of you for the extra work we’ve done during these past few years. I hope that you are able to find a moment for relaxation with friends and family during the Thanksgiving break.

Warmly, 

Hedy Chang

Founder and Executive Director

We’d love your feedback on this year's Attendance Awareness Campaign. Our short survey will just take 5 minutes to complete. Fill in your contact information and enter a drawing to win one of two $75 gift cards. 

Tackling today’s very high levels of absenteeism requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. In a blog post marking Attendance Awareness Month, Communities in Schools describes its tiered approach that begins with prevention and early intervention and nurtures positive conditions for learning. 

Teachers, principals, superintendents and community partners all have a role to play in improving student belonging, engagement and attendance. Hear how they are doing this work in the AAC webinar series. Listen to all four of the AAC webinars posted on our website, and download the presentation slides and a discussion guide.

Share with local pediatricians the Fall Newsletter of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics with info on why pediatricians should support school attendance and tips on what they can do. Read Chronic Absenteeism: What's a Pediatrician to Do? 

Two new reports released by Healthy Schools Campaign focus on addressing student substance abuse. For schools, Advancing School-Based Substance Use Prevention & Early Intervention Approaches, describes non-punitive supports, policies and culturally responsive services. A companion action tool offers guiding questions to help schools align their policies and programs.

States can refer to Maximizing School Medicaid for Substance Use Prevention, Early Intervention & Treatment: 10 Actions States Can Take Now, to find practical measures for attaining funding for student healthcare needs. HSC also offers examples of programs and identifies funding opportunities.

Supporting Success: Attendance Solutions for Multilingual Students, a brief by Attendance Works, offers comprehensive support measures to help multilingual learners navigate challenges and achieve academic success, with a focus on the post Covid-19 era.

In a new brief, the Legislative Education Study Committee in New Mexico investigates chronic absence interventions. It also shows how higher levels of chronic absence had a greater impact on achievement among more affluent schools—while possibly serving as an indicator of overall challenges facing a school.

A study of nearly 50,000 K-3 students in Delaware shows that very high levels of chronic absence in schools have an even more adverse impact on achievement than the absences of individual students. The paper also discusses education policy and interventions.

• The researchers participated in a podcast, Missing Out on More: A Look at the Evidence on Early Elementary School Absenteeism’s Impact on Student Achievement. 

A recent study from Talking Points, a multilingual technology platform that connects schools and families with two-way communication, improved absenteeism at Tulsa Public Schools.  

Join the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading on November 12 to explore the collaboration in Philadelphia that brought together researchers, practitioners and local organizations to create literacy-rich environments in spaces where children and caregivers spend time. Register.

ICYMI: Watch the second session of the CCEE Chronic Absenteeism Bright Spots series, Open Door: The Role of Social-Emotional Learning in Boosting School Attendance.

Registration is open for our Spring 2025 National E-Learning Series, a three-part training series for educators to learn evidence-based tiered strategies to promote attendance. School administrators are encouraged to attend with their teams. All three sessions are eligible for Title 1 and Title 2 funds.

Anxiety, illness, missing the bus: all can lead to chronic absenteeism. What can Wisconsin schools do to get students back in class?, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 23, 2024

Panel of educators in Little Rock addresses chronic absenteeism in schools post-covid, Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, October 25, 2024

How a caring teacher can make or break school for young students, EdSource, October 15, 2024

Nation's 5th Largest School District in Clark County, NV, Reduces Chronic Absenteeism by Nearly 10% Using Whole-Child, Whole-Family Approach, National University, October 15, 2024

Together, we’re making progress. Please help to ensure that we have what it takes to continue providing you with resources designed to help students show up to school every day possible. Donate today!