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Attendance Awareness Campaign Update
A project led by Attendance Works
September 30, 2026
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Using Data Throughout the Year
Chronic absence data at the district and school level is a gold mine. When school starts, review data from the prior year to see which students might need extra support to start the year off right. After the first month, check your data once more to see which students are missing two days or more.
Use this list of questions to help you dig deeper and better understand what the quantitative data is telling you about which groups of students are chronically absent. Find ideas and resources to help you calculate, analyze and use your data to provide targeted support throughout the year in our Showing Up Matters for R.E.A.L. toolkit.
Ensuring data is available and monitored throughout the year is a key strategy being used in states that are achieving substantial reductions in chronic absence. Register and join us at 11 ET on October 1 for Portraits of Progress: How States Can Reduce Chronic Absence, featuring the chief state school officers from the Rhode Island Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Education. This event demonstrates how improving attendance remains a cross-partisan priority!
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Webinars
Many thanks to the 15,056 individuals who registered for an AAC 2026 webinar! Please share the recordings with your districts, schools and community partners! Find the recordings for all four webinars on our website, along with a tailored webinar discussion guide.
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Attendance celebrations
For Attendance Awareness Month, Kane County Regional Office of Education is highlighting its Student Services team and the work it does directly with students and families to address barriers to attendance. Thanks for sharing how your community is working to make attendance a priority!
Pleasant Hill Elementary School launched a fun way to celebrate strong attendance: every Monday, students with good attendance from the previous week are placed on a prize wheel. One student from each grade is selected to earn a spot in the school’s Eagles Nest and the school shares photos of the students being recognized.
At Bethune-Bowman Elementary School in Rowesville, South Carolina, the names of all students who have good attendance are entered into a weekly drawing. The selected students receive treat bags that include a drink, chips, a piece of chocolate and a prize.
At Heritage and Haaff Elementary in Pueblo, Colorado, students with good attendance each week are entered into a drawing to win a four-pack of tickets to a CSU Pueblo home football game. The incentive encourages students to attend school every day while giving them an opportunity to enjoy a college football game with their families and spend quality time together.
Don’t see your celebration listed here? Submit this form and we’ll add it to our Community News 2026 page!
We’re also collecting AAM proclamations to share on the Attendance Awareness Campaign’s website. Submit this form and we’ll add it to the page!
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State news
The North Carolina State Board of Education highlighted the state’s AttendNC Bright Spots initiative, which identified more than 300 schools making meaningful progress in reducing chronic absence. Common practices include identifying attendance problems early, understanding why students are absent, working as a team and building meaningful connections.
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Attendance tool spotlight
Small to mid-sized school districts will find our free data tools helpful for analyzing their attendance data to see if missing school is a significant problem. The tools are designed to work with a school’s student information system.
The National League of Cities and Attendance Works created Why Engagement and Attendance Matters, a fact sheet for mayors and other city leaders.
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Research
A study from NWEA, the research assessment organization, shows that chronic absence continues to be a major barrier to academic recovery, especially in our highest-poverty schools. Researchers used a sample of 2,000 districts with achievement data in grades 3–8 from 2019 to 2024.
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office K-12 Education: Actions to Improve Oversight of Key Federal Programs and Address High Chronic Absenteeism, examines federal efforts to address chronic absence and the quality of national attendance data. GAO recommended steps to improve data reliability and federal oversight.
The Center for Early Learning Success report, Family Partnerships to Support Regular Attendance synthesizes research on how positive, authentic, and caring parent and family partnerships support regular attendance across preschool through Grade 3. It highlights the role of trust, a sense of belonging and shared power and understanding in family partnerships.
A new report from the Children’s Agenda surveyed high school students in Rochester, NY for two years to learn students’ reasons for missing school. The data show that chronic absence is the product of overlapping barriers, including physical and mental health, transportation and school discipline.
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Events
Join the National Conference of State Legislatures, Attendance Works and SchoolHouse Connection on October 6 for Bridging Silos: a webinar exploring the connection between chronic absence and student homelessness and what states can do. Register.
Learn more about Attendance Works! We’re inviting everyone to join us on October 13 for an update about where we're headed next and what it will take to get us there. We’d like to share with you what your donation could make possible. RSVP here.
We’re presenting during Edia’s webinar, Inside the Attendance Turnaround at Massachusetts' 3rd-Largest District, on October 21. Register.
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Professional development
Our Professional Leadership Attendance Network (PLAN) for district leaders is not a program — it’s a leadership approach. The next cohort begins January 20, 2027. For more information contact Lorri Hobson (Lorri@attendanceworks.org) and Zach Freeman (Zach@attendanceworks.org).
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Partner spotlight
MENTOR aims to drive equity and close the mentoring gap through quality mentoring relationships for young people. They activate a diverse cross-sector movement that prioritizes relationships and fuels opportunity for young people everywhere they are — from schools to workplaces and beyond. Registration is open for the 2027 National Mentoring Summit, January 28–29, bringing together leaders across mentoring, education, youth development, research, and advocacy to connect, learn, and strengthen support for young people.
The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. Working in partnership with the 49 state municipal leagues, NLC serves as a resource to and an advocate for the more than 19,000 cities, villages and towns it represents. The Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, a special entity within NLC, helps municipal leaders take action on behalf of the children, youth and families in their communities.
Regular attendance in afterschool programs is a proven way to improve school-day attendance. If you’re looking to advocate for expanding access to programs in your community, take a look at this new Afterschool Messaging Guide from the National League of Cities.
United Way Worldwide is engaged in nearly 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide. They bring people and organizations from all sectors of society together to improve education, income and health, the building blocks for a better life and stronger community.
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Campaign convening partners
See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.
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Campaign sponsors
A special thanks to the campaign sponsors who have already committed to supporting our 2026 Attendance Awareness Campaign. Their investment makes it possible for us to provide you with free strategies and materials.
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News highlights
Many of California’s youngest students keep missing weeks of school, data show, EdSource, September 24, 2026
Michigan student attendance improves for 4th straight year, officials say, CBS News, September 19, 2026
1 in 3 NYC students chronically absent as rates remain stubbornly high, Chalkbeat, September 17, 2026
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