Attendance Awareness Campaign Update
A project led by Attendance Works
September 3, 2020
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Volunteers & Community Partners Support Attendance & Participation
Districts, schools and teachers shouldn’t be expected to respond to the challenges presented by Covid-19 on their own. Partners across the community as well as national volunteer organizations have implemented new safety protocols and shifted how they are helping schools and families improve attendance during remote or in-person learning. Consider reaching out for assistance.
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Youth who meet regularly with their mentor are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school, research shows. MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, in collaboration with partners, has released the Virtual Mentoring Portal. This free tool provides safe and monitored mentoring platforms for mentors and mentees to continue their relationships while they may be separated due to COVID-19.
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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.
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National service programs, such as City Year, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps are responding to Covid-19 by helping to address student and family needs and boosting student attendance in schools across the country. City Year offers near-peer mentors, tutors and role models to create caring, consistent and positive relationships with the students they serve every day. AmeriCorps and Senior Corps volunteers collaborate with local organizations to help in a variety of ways including virtually teaching, tutoring and mentoring students.
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Read our AAC Key Messages for 2020 to find ideas for how governments, public agencies and community partners can support families by addressing barriers to being in school, and how district and state leaders can encourage the collection of data on absences.
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We’re urging state, district and school site leaders to determine how to reinstate practices for taking daily attendance and using data on absenteeism to target and offer needed supports to students and families. To support such practices, we developed a framework and additional metrics for monitoring attendance in any type of distance learning: contact, connectivity, relationships and participation. Learn more.
To highlight support for September as Attendance Awareness Month, superintendents, local officials, mayors and school boards can download our template, Proclamation of September as Attendance Awareness Month. State education agencies, nonprofit organizations and community partners can all tailor the proclamation. Download the proclamation.
Tweet it!
Messages sent home are critical for keeping everyone informed, especially this school year. Multiple apps and platforms for educators automate messaging and help address absenteeism. Some offer basic services at no charge. Calling or emailing families still works, yet districts and schools should consider how they can effectively use automated options. Read our blog, Technology + Apps Can Boost Family Engagement.
A new report from the Learning Policy Institute outlines how education leaders and policymakers can address the pressing question of how to reopen schools safely, effectively, and equitably to serve the needs of the whole child. Restarting and Reinventing School: Learning in the Time of COVID and Beyond offers recommendations to support attendance and equitable, effective teaching and learning, whether in-person or online.
How are parents coping with education changes brought on by Covid-19? In a blog post, Windy Lopez describes 3 key takeaways from a national survey of families conducted by Learning Heroes. One takeaway? Education is a priority, especially for Black and Latinx families. Find the post on Scholastic Education’s website.
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Policy News
As many as 15 million, or 30%, of all U.S. students have inadequate internet connection or lack devices to allow them to participate in school and in remote learning. Common Sense Media has released a new report showing how big the digital divide is for America's students and their teachers and how to close this gap. An interactive map shows how many educators and students in each state are affected by the digital divide.
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Webinars
Registration is open for our final AAC 2020 webinar, Every Learning Opportunity Matters: Promising Strategies to Help Students Show Up, on September 30 at 11am-12:30pm PT / 2pm-3:30pm ET. Our speakers will share promising approaches used by schools, districts and communities to engage and support students and families in this initial transition to school. Register!
Everyone who registers will receive a link to the webinar recording and presentation slides. If you can’t make the live event, consider scheduling a time to watch with colleagues when it works for you.
Look online for recordings of the live event, presentation slides and copies of the Zoom chat for our two previous AAC webinars, Creating an Engaging and Restorative Environment to Support Transitions to School (8/19), and Data + Relationships to Support Transitions to School (7/22). Find it all on our website.
Tweet It!
Join @attendanceworks @IELconnects final AAC webinar, Every Learning Opportunity Matters, on 9/30! We'll share promising approaches used by schools, districts & communities to engage & support students & families during Covid-19. https://awareness.attendanceworks.org/resources/webinars/ #SchoolEveryDay
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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.
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The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) is the unifying champion for expanding quality youth mentoring relationships in the United States. For more than 25 years, MENTOR has served the mentoring field by providing a public voice; developing and delivering resources to mentoring programs nationwide; and promoting quality for mentoring through evidence-based standards, innovative research and essential tools.
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United Way Worldwide is engaged in nearly 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide. We 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. United Way’s Equity Framework, Strengthening Our Equity Muscle to Accelerate Impact, was developed to build the capacity of United Way to integrate an explicit equity lens in their work with partners to create positive community change. The Framework also contains a glossary (to help create shared language), an organizational assessment, discussion guide, and related tools and resources.
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Thank You Corporate Sponsors!
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Spread the Word!
Sample Tweets
Join @attendanceworks @IELconnects final AAC webinar, Every Learning Opportunity Matters, on 9/30! We'll share promising approaches used by schools, districts & communities to engage & support students & families during Covid-19. https://awareness.attendanceworks.org/resources/webinars/ #SchoolEveryDay
To assist educators & administrators plan for school resuming amid the unique challenges presented by #Covid19, @attendanceworks developed Present, Engaged and Supported: A Guide to Planning Transitions to School. Take a look: https://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/transition-guide/ #SchoolEveryDay
Building strong, trusting relationships that promote belonging is fundamental to improving student attendance and participation. https://tinyurl.com/y5vgokxg #SchoolEveryDay
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Campaign Convening Partners
See the full list of Attendance Awareness Partners here.
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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
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Copyright © 2020 Attendance Works, All rights reserved |
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