Skip to Main Content

WCAX story about chronic absenteeism in schools across VT (April, 2024)

Problem-Solving Blueprint for Chronic Absenteeism by Character Strong

  • This is an evidence-based process to tackle this issue of absenteeism head-on. This process helps get to the root cause of the issues at hand to re engage students and keep them in the classroom.

Better Together: Integrating Attendance and Behavior Webinar

  • The National Center on PBIS, Attendance Works, and a panel of educators share their strategies for combining efforts to create systems that support good attendance and behavior. Notes from webinar here

Panorama Decreasing Absenteeism Toolkit

  • Toolkit with proven tools and practical guidance to help you reduce chronic absenteeism in your district. Includes: 4 Evidence-Based Attendance Interventions, Nudge Letter, Attendance Self-Assessment for School Teams – A tool from Attendance Works, Improving Student Attendance with Data Analytics

Attendance Playbook

  • FutureEd and Attendance Works have created a comprehensive compendium of strategies to address the many different dimensions of the absenteeism dilemma. Building on an earlier attendance playbook the two organizations first published in 2019, the new analysis includes more than two dozen effective, readily scalable approaches covering topics ranging from family engagement to the value of attendance incentives and students’ social and emotional well-being, a high priority for educators post pandemic. 

Other FutureEd resources on chronic absenteeism

Attendance Works website

  • Attendance Works promotes equal opportunities to learn and advances student success by reducing chronic absence. See all their free tools and resources posted on their website.

Attendance Works Self-Assessment tool for school teams

Attendance Works’ and Johns Hopkins University’s analyses of the 2021-22 chronic absence data: 

  1. Rising tide of chronic absence challenges schools released October 12, 2023.

(Focus: Chronic absence affects ⅔rds of students and schools)

  1. All Hands On Deck, Today’s Chronic Absenteeism Requires a Comprehensive

District Response and Strategy, released November 17, 2023.

(Focus: Demographics and Inequity)

  1. Turning Back the Tide: The Critical Role of States In Reducing Chronic Absenteeism released January 31, 2024. (Focus: Critical Role of States)

FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Actions and Resources for Increasing Student Attendance and Engagement as Part of the White House Every Day Counts Summit. Read their blog post about the summit and view the recording.

Resources shared at the Summit: 

  • The Digital Backpack, from the National Partnership for Student Success Support Hub offers a curated set of publicly available resources — including some from Attendance Works — to address chronic absenteeism in your community.
  • PowerPoint presentation by Robert Balfanz, Everyone Graduates Center, and Hedy Chang, Attendance Works, describes key components of an action plan for schools, districts or states.
  • An action planning tool from the GRAD Partnership with guiding questions and planning templates that schools and districts can use to create a comprehensive approach to reducing absenteeism.
  • The Ed Research for Action Brief from The Annenberg Center at Brown University and Research for Action supports an evidence-based approach to increasing school connectedness.
  • A fact sheet from the White House describes new resources and grant availability to help states and districts increase student attendance and engagement.

From National Center for MH in Schools & Student/Learning Supports at UCLA:

Regional Education Laboratory Southwest handout on strategies to address chronic absenteeism

Signposts for School Refusal Interventions, Based on the Views of Stakeholders

Bright Spots research (from Attendance Works) on why absenteeism is lower in some districts