Attendance Awareness Campaign Update A project led by Attendance Works August 27, 2020

Good (mental + physical) Health Supports Strong Attendance! Every student and family, as well as education leaders, teachers and staff, experienced some level of stress due to the pandemic, while others have experienced deep trauma from family illness, death and loss of income. This fall it’s more important than ever to carefully address the fears or anxieties students, families and staff may have.   The International Institute for Restorative Practice offers ideas for implementing restorative practices at school that can help address this stress so prevalent in these uncertain times. Read the blog post.

Our work with schools, districts and states is helping educators and their partners think strategically about how they can effectively support students and families during Covid-19, and what they should have in place over time, to improve attendance, educational equity and student achievement. Donate here.

In this podcast, David Osher with American Institutes for Research (AIR) explains how parents can create a safe, supportive learning environment at home while their children are away from school during Covid-19, and the science of learning and development. Listen.   Our AAC Key Messages for the 2020-21 school year highlight the importance of partnering with health professionals to determine reopening strategies, as well as strategies that address the health needs of students and communicate with families.   Our new AAC badges can be used whether learning is in person, remote or a hybrid. Download badges for your email signature line or to illustrate your 2020 attendance campaign. Find new social media images for the 2020 AAC here.

Attendance Tools

We’ve developed worksheets and more in-depth analysis tools to help district and school teams develop a thoughtful back-to-school plan for the fall and subsequently a year-long transition plan. The worksheets help teams identify urgent issues and other factors that need to be considered as they adapt and develop a plan. Those with the capacity to take a more intensive approach can pilot the Transition Attendance Analysis Tool. These tools are in Present, Engaged and Supported: A Guide to Planning Transitions to School. Kaiser Permanente’s Thriving Schools created videos describing each section of its new Planning for the Next Normal at School toolkit. In one video, Elizabeth Cook with Alliance for a Healthier Generation, shares the mental health and well-being chapter of the Playbook. Find the video.  The shift to middle school is an important transition, often marking when parents rely upon students to show up to class on their own. This year’s strategies will require some rethinking, writes Edutopia’s Sarah Gonser, in 7 Ways to Help Kids Start Middle School When They’re Rarely in the Building.   Playworks’ School Re-opening Workbook calls attention to investing in play to help ease the start of school this year. It offers guidance and practical tools for infusing play and playfulness into the back-to-school process.

Research Attendance and student engagement is top of mind for educators during the pandemic. A new brief, Promising Practices Brief: Improving Student Engagement and Attendance During COVID-19 School Closures, from Insight Policy Research and American Institutes for Research (AIR) includes promising practices and research, in addition to lessons learned from five school districts.

Policy News Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE)’s new brief, Multi-Tiered System of Supports to Address Childhood Trauma, offers examples of practices and resources to help mitigate and/or prevent trauma symptoms, a summary of research about multi-tiered trauma-informed approaches in schools, and system-level supports that schools and educators might need for fall 2020 and beyond. Read the brief. ICYMI: Read our new brief published by PACE, Measuring Daily Attendance and Participation During COVID-19: An Invaluable Tool for Reducing Educational Inequity.

Webinars Families really are the most underappreciated resource in education! Thanks to the 3,750+ people who registered for our 2nd AAC webinar, Creating an Engaging and Restorative Environment to Support Transitions to School, held on August 19, 2020. Missed the live event? We’ve posted the recording and presentation slides. Find this and our first AAC webinar held on July 22nd on our website.   Save the Date! Our final AAC 2020 webinar, Best Practices for Successful Transition During Covid-19 (draft title), will be held at 11am-12:30pm PT / 2pm-3:30pm ET on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. We’ve teamed up with AllHere for a September 1, 2020 webinar. Join us and Joanna Smith, CEO of AllHere, for Rethinking Attendance Interventions for Remote or Hybrid Learning. You’ll learn the latest techniques for managing remote era attendance interventions and hear about new technology that supports attendance at scale. Register.

Events The Together for Families Conference connects various stakeholders from across the U.S. and Canada to focus on best and promising practices for supporting families’ advancement. Held virtually on Oct. 14-16, the conference will offer expert presentations, innovation sharing, peer learning and networking. Register today.

Partner Spotlight

Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) is dedicated to making schools healthier places for all students. HSC provides leadership development and tools to school stakeholders and advocates for better access to nutritious school food, physical activity, school health resources and clean air to shape children’s lifelong learning and health. HSC’s, Addressing the Health-Related Causes of Chronic Absenteeism: A Toolkit for Action, developed for school district decision-makers and other educators, offers knowledge and practical guidance.

Thank You Corporate Sponsors! We so appreciate our Attendance Awareness Corporate Sponsors. Find out more on our webpage.

Attendance in the News From the Kitchen Tables of Jenn and Paige: What We’re Watching, Week of August 10, Data Quality Campaign, August 10, 2020 Overcoming COVID-19 Learning Loss, Education Week, August 20, 2020 A tough task for NY schools: How to track attendance in an online world? Times Herald-Record, August 14, 2020 Getting kids to log onto class is Fresno parents’ first assignment of the new school year, The Fresno Bee, August 14, 2020

Spread the Word! Sample Tweet The transition back to school this year is like no other in recent history. @attendanceworks new Present, Engaged & Supported: A Guide to Planning Transitions to School, calls for a systemic approach that's data-informed & restorative: https://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/transition-guide/ #SchoolEveryDay

Campaign Convening Partners See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.

Attendance Works is a non-profit, national and state initiative. Our mission is to advance student success and reduce equity gaps by addressing chronic absence. Find free downloadable resources, research, consulting services and more on our website: www.attendanceworks.org For more information contact: info@attendanceworks.org Sign up for our newsletter: https://awareness.attendanceworks.org/contact/aam-updates

‌ ‌

Copyright © 2020 Attendance Works, All rights reserved