Best Practices and Strategies
Guidance on what to do and how to do it well, based on promising approaches or practices from experience in the field
Embedded Files
These resources highlight best practices and strategies for two key areas: 1) communications with students and families about attendance, and 2) interventions to address chronic absenteeism and improve attendance.
Communications
Communications
Best practices for communicating the importance of attendance and chronic absenteeism with students and families
A three-page straightforward guide for conducting home visits, including protocols, timelines, suggestions and safety tips that can be used for planning or training purposes to prepare staff.
Audience: Administrators, Attendance Teams
Source: San Francisco Unified School District
Embracing a New Normal: Toward a More Liberatory Approach to Family Engagement
A research paper and call-to-action for how schools can cultivate effective partnerships between families and educators by examining existing dynamics and moving towards family engagement practices that are liberatory, solidarity-driven, and equity-focused.
Audience: Administrators, Teachers, Staff
Source: Carnegie Foundation
R.E.A.L.: For Talking with Families
with Older Youth
A one-page handout educators can follow when explaining the importance of attendance by using the R.E.A.L. framework of Build Routines, Increase Engagement, Provide Access to Resources, and Support Learning.
Audience: Administrators, Teachers, Staff
Source: Attendance Works
R.E.A.L.: For Talking with Families
with Young Children
A one-page handout educators can follow when explaining the importance of attendance by using the R.E.A.L. framework of Build Routines, Increase Engagement, Provide Access to Resources, and Support Learning.
Audience: Administrators, Teachers, Staff
Source: Attendance Works
R.E.A.L.: For Talking with Youth
A one-page handout educators can follow when explaining the importance of attendance by using the R.E.A.L. framework of Build Routines, Increase Engagement, Provide Access to Resources, and Support Learning.
Audience: Administrators, Teachers, Staff
Source: Attendance Works
Interventions
Interventions
Best practices for identifying and implementing evidence based interventions to address absenteeism in your local context
The Attendance Playbook provides many strategies for providing universal, targeted, and intensive support for addressing absenteeism. Each section describes a strategy and the problem it solves, provides supporting research, identifies whether it should be universal or targeted, and provides examples where the strategy was used successfully.
Audience: School and District Leadership Teams
Source: FutureEd, Attendance Works
Guide to the Attendance Playbook
Developed by Attendance Works, this guide is a companion to the updated Attendance Playbook. The guide assists educators and their teams in thinking through key questions in selecting, prioritizing, and implementing strategies included in the playbook.
Audience: Administrators, Attendance Teams, Staff
Source: Attendance Works
Applying an Evidence-Based Improvement Framework When Selecting Attendance Interventions
Six-page guidance developed to support leadership teams through the application of an evidence-based improvement framework to identify attendance interventions that are aligned with local needs.
Audience: Administrators, Staff
Source: REL West, Institute of Education Sciences
Chronic Absence landing page of framework of tools and resources to assist teams in understanding individual student circumstances and motivations, guiding tailored interventions.
Audience: Administrators, Attendance Teams
Source: Attendance Works
This page features two short videos that explain the importance of attendance, its links to health, and best practices for attendance teams, including a three-tiered intervention model. These videos are helpful for training staff on how to effectively address absenteeism and how to identify patterns early.
Audience: Teachers and Staff
Source: Children's Health Fund, Attendance Works
5 Tips for Building an Attendance Team
A short blog article featuring five tips for attendance teams.
Audience: School and District Leadership Teams,
District Staff
Source: EveryDay Labs
How School Nurses Can Help Fight
Chronic Absenteeism
An article showcasing research about the impact of health-related issues on attendance rates and strategies that school nurses have implemented to address them.
Audience: Administrators, School Nurses, Staff
Source: Harvard Kennedy School
School Nurses' Role in Combating
Chronic Absenteeism
A two-page resource outlining the critical role that school nurses can play in reducing chronic absenteeism with examples from the field.
Audience: Administrators, School Nurses, Staff
Source: National Association of School Nurses
Success Mentors to Address Chronic Absenteeism: A Four-Step Approach
A short video that outlines how “success mentors” can address chronic absenteeism. Paraeducators or others on the attendance team could be assigned the mentor role or a mentor program for attendance could be established.
Audience: Administrators, Staff
Source: National Student Attendance, Engagement, and Success Center
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