In the recent ASCD webinar Addressing Chronic Absenteeism: What Works, attendees posed a diverse range of questions for panelists Shadae Harris, Hedy Chang, and Luis Torres. Because we couldn't get to all of them during the live event, Harris, a school engagement expert, and Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, kindly agreed to participate in a "lightning round" Q&A session. Here, they dive into some of the critical questions that went unanswered.
What role does restorative justice and restorative practices play in supporting attendance? Can they help to repair misunderstandings to promote a sense of belonging?
Shadae Harris: Restorative justice is fundamentally about repairing harm and fostering a sense of community and belonging. In the context of supporting attendance, it involves acknowledging the harm that has been done to families and approaching them with grace and a strong desire to unearth root causes that may be impacting attendance. By addressing these root causes through empathetic dialogue and restorative practices, schools can rebuild trust and create an environment where students feel understood and supported. This approach helps to mend relationships, resolve conflicts, and address misunderstandings that may contribute to absenteeism. By promoting a sense of belonging and mutual respect, restorative justice practices can encourage consistent attendance and deeper engagement in the school community.
How do we change the narrative in our community that coming to school is important?
Hedy Chang: As a result of the increased access to online learning materials and pervasive use of virtual learning, families and students may not recognize that, for most students, in-person learning is still essential. Attendance Works has developed the Showing Up Matters for R.E.A.L. toolkit to help communicate why showing up to school in-person matters. Embedded in a whole child perspective, it explains that showing up matters for a student’s well-being because it is an opportunity to:
- Build Routines: Daily attendance routines reduce stress for students and families and create a sense of safety and security.
- Increase Engagement: Being in school helps students get to know peers, teachers, and school staff and create trusting relationships that motivate them to participate in learning.
- Provide Access to Resources: Schools help students and families gain access to basic resources such as meals, physical and mental health services, and fun enrichment activities including sports, clubs, music, etc.
- Support Learning: Learning is most meaningful when it is active, social, and allows students to apply concepts to real-life situations. Showing up to school regularly helps students engage in learning that builds proficiency in reading and math that will help them to graduate from high school.
Can you give specific recommendations for schools that don't have access to the resources that many urban schools do? My school is in a small rural town and has seen huge increases in absenteeism since the pandemic.
Shadae Harris: Addressing absenteeism in resource-limited rural schools requires a strategic approach that prioritizes existing resources and aligns them effectively. It’s not always about having more funding but about setting clear priorities. Schools can leverage community partnerships, such as local businesses, nonprofits, and healthcare providers, to offer support services and resources for students and families. Additionally, using volunteers and training staff in multi-role capacities can maximize the impact of available personnel. Schools should also consider reallocating existing funds toward initiatives that directly address absenteeism, such as mentorship programs, family engagement activities, and transportation solutions. By thinking creatively and prioritizing attendance, even schools with limited resources can make significant strides in reducing absenteeism.
Hedy Chang: While rural schools do not have the same access to community partners such as nonprofits and public agencies like their urban counterparts do, many benefit from the fact that school staff live in the community, are more likely to know students and their families on a personal level, and often personally know the other people, like school nurses or staff from agencies, who can offer other supports. School staff can make a huge difference because they are more likely to notice and offer support when students are absent. School staff can also actively build a culture of attendance. Consider this NPR story about a district in rural Livingston, California, that has leveraged the power of relationships, attendance data, and access to health services to ensure students, especially kindergartners, are showing up to school every day. Another inspiring example is found in rural Johnstown in upstate New York. Featured during the White House Every Day Counts Summit, Johnstown used attendance teams and Tier 1 strategies along with success mentors (caring adults who connected with chronically absent students multiple times a week) to significantly reduce its chronic absenteeism rates.
Our attendance has been poorest with our early childhood students. Do you have any specific strategies that have helped improve attendance with our youngest learners?
Hedy Chang: As the Attendance Works toolkit, Early and Often, shows, improving attendance can and should begin in the preschool years. It starts with sharing that developing a habit of attendance is a key component of school readiness. It involves helping families learn about how many absences are too many, encouraging families to bring their children to school every day, even when it is hard, and engaging students once they are in the classroom. It can also include getting families assistance to solve a significant barrier to getting their young children to school, such as a transportation challenge or lack of access to healthcare. Early childhood programs can also use a multitiered system of intervention to make addressing chronic absence more manageable and nurture a culture of attendance.
If we are trying to avoid a "punitive" approach, how do we keep students and families accountable?
Shadae Harris: To shift from a punitive approach to one based on partnership, it is essential to prioritize relationships and foster collaborative efforts between schools and families. In a partnership, both parties identify needs and work together to address challenges. Schools should create initiatives centered on families, focusing on building mutual trust and accountability. Regular, open communication is key, where schools listen to the concerns of families and involve them in decision-making processes. Recognizing and celebrating positive attendance can reinforce the partnership and encourage continued collaboration. By showing families that the school is a supportive ally, rather than an enforcer, schools can create a culture of mutual respect and shared responsibility, leading to improved attendance and engagement.
Hedy Chang: Daily attendance in school is a matter of shared responsibility. Schools need to ensure learning is engaging and relevant, inform families when absences are becoming problematic, and offer access to resources to help overcome barriers to attendance. Schools and community partners can help hold students and families accountable by ensuring they understand how absences negatively impact their goals, whether it's learning to read, developing crucial math skills, graduating from high school, or getting a job.
Such actions help families recognize why showing up matters as well as reflect upon the critical role they play in this partnership. Schools can promote parent engagement in attendance by respectfully partnering with families to ensure they understand what students gain by attending and what they miss by being absent, sharing how their actions make a difference through resources like student success plans, and engaging in joint problem-solving. Community partners, including local agencies, nonprofits, businesses, faith-based organizations, and volunteer groups can support schools and families in all these efforts.
