This week’s RAND Corporation , which focuses on high school, cites educators who warn that teens continue to struggle with “anxiety, depression, apathy, and communication skills” even as districts have expanded on-campus mental health counseling and other care programs.

RAND’s multi-year SEL study offers insights into staffing, high school-specific social-emotional learning practices, district-level support and equity-oriented practices.

On the move: San Francisco USD suddenly has a new leader

“School practices that support social-emotional well-being for high school students include team meetings, advisory periods, collaboration with outside mental health agencies, professional development for teachers, and connections between academic content and college and career readiness initiatives,” the report’s authors assert.

“Challenges at the district level include staff churn, disorganization and lack of support from central office leadership,” the authors add.

SEL expansion

To bolster social-emotional learning in high school, the report recommends superintendents and their teams:

• Find sustainable funding for mental health specialists.
• Hire principals, district leaders and support staff trained and competent in SEL.
• Conduct a district-level social-emotional well-being audit and use the results, alongside other formal and informal SEL data, to drive future initiatives.
• Design districtwide SEL plans that contain programs designed specifically for high school students and that focus on depression, anxiety, apathy and communication skills.
• 油Ensure that SEL initiatives provide individualized support for students of color, females and LGBTQ+ students; incorporate districtwide diversity, equity and inclusion efforts; and connect with equity-oriented clubs and safe spaces.

More 91心頭 coverage

A look at the latest news in student well-being and behavior from油District 91心頭istration:油

More parents now support banning cell phones at school油

Fewer phones in class means students would develop stronger social skills, the majority of adults said in a new survey.

Student mental health: Teens are feeling a little better

The latest data from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey show that slightly fewer teens in 2023 reported persistent sadness or hopelessness, compared to two years prior.

The post SEL in high school: How K12 leaders provide better support appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

The human element, however, outlasts any federal relief program or obsolete hardware, and it���s the most important component of any district���s safety strategy, says Mary Pat Carr, a former assistant principal who is now head of safety and security for Consolidated High School District 230 in Chicago���s outer suburbs.

���Early recognition and mitigation are the best ways to prevent violence in our schools, whether that���s something as small as an altercation, up to a school shooting,��� says Carr, whose district is a strong proponent of .

Best states for teachers: Why these are the top 3油

“Identifying students who are showing concern and mitigating those concerns with staff and the cooperation of families can keep them safe and keep others safe.���

Ken Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services, agrees that doubling down on the human element is essential. ���The most effective thing that school officials can do is allocate time for planning, training and communicating about safety, and it���s the thing we find hardest for people to do,��� says Trump.

���Research consistently shows the value of what we call ���shared mental models,��� or, translated into English, ���being on the same page.������

Reporting is prevention, not snitching

Carr points out that security cameras and other technology, along with policies like locking doors, are key parts of the safety equation. But prevention is where humans can excel in safeguarding school communities.

91心頭istrators must provide year-round training to staff, students and families on spotting signs of students at risk of harming themselves or others.

Carr���s district has training built into the beginning of the school year, at the start of the second semester and throughout the calendar.

���The beginning of the year can be a time when there���s increased anxiety for families and for kids,��� she notes. ���The training tells them, ���We���re looking out for you and now you can also look at for each other.������

District 230 uses digital signs throughout its three high schools and a range of other channels to let students and families know it is a ���say something��� district. Student leaders are also involved in getting the message out about alerting adults to potential threats.

���We really focus on that part of the training���if something doesn���t feel right, trust your instincts, we can always rule anything out,��� Carr explains. ���We���re creating a culture of reporting, which gives students and staff a way to feel empowered in their own safety.���

Rachel Masi, a clinical psychologist and research consultant for Sandy Hook Promise, encourages administrators to make it clear to that reporting a concern is not the same as snitching or getting a classmate in trouble.

���The No. 1 thing is letting kids know that this about getting your friend or yourself help,��� Masi says. ���When they know the difference, they���re more willing to raise their hands.���

District leaders and their teams must work to identify all the causes of violence within their buildings and respond appropriately. That could mean ensuring students are well-fed and that a school offers mental health support.

Creating a sense of connectedness among students is another key prevention step.

���Kids don���t feel safe because they walk through metal detectors,��� Masi notes. ���They feel safe because their homeroom teacher knows who they are, because they have a buddy, because have a coach they can go to.���

What about hardening schools?

The behavior and anxiety-related issues spurred by the pandemic have not gone away. In many cases, they���ve increased, argues Trump, the safety expert.

���We���re seeing schools cutting social workers, intervention specialists and student support services,��� he says. ���Schools are not going to have the money for social-emotional, mental health supports that ESSER funds provided.���

Leaders should host conversations with community stakeholders, who will come to the table with their own thoughts, perspectives and ideas. Leaders have also been tasked with keeping the peace among parents, who mainly want schools to install the latest security hardware to guarantee students��� safety.

Still, leaders are bolstering their physical security measures. That���s a good thing, but are they prepared for when an incident occurs despite these added safeguards?

���We���ve been telling superintendents and school boards, ���It���s a fine line to walk,��� says Trump. ���We understand the need to reassure your community about safety measures you have in place, but at the same time be cautious not to over promise.���

The school community can quickly become compromised in the event of a logistical failure. All it takes is for a student to find a vulnerability in your weapons detection systems. Perhaps all it takes is entry through a side door.

Another question leaders should ask is who is going to be responsible for operating the hardware? Trump says schools should refrain from pulling employees from one end of the building to supervise the weapon screening process at the front door, for example. At that point, you���re simply shifting the area of risk, he warns.

Protecting student data

Leveraging security systems may put student data privacy at risk. Districts are introducing new software that often stores sensitive information that can be breached by cyber criminals, says Ken Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services.

���All of that is drawing more attention not only to ransomware attacks, but also the information that is being given to outside vendors,��� explains Trump. ���Who owns that information?���

Trump advises administrators to have their vendor contracts reviewed carefully by their school attorney.

���If you look at who staffs most school districts��� IT departments, they are educators and administrators who have moved into these departments,��� he adds. ���They���re not cybersecurity experts.���

Schools should contract these services and consult cybersecurity experts instead.

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He was bullied in school.

He threatened to shoot up a middle school on social media.

He missed many classes.

He had access to guns at home.

His mother called the school to warn them of the threat he posed.

These are just some of the troubling details emerging about the 14-year-old boy who killed two students and two teachers and wounded several more at Apalachee High School in northern Georgia on Sept. 4.

Tragically, these attributes are not unique; they echo the characteristics found in many previous school shootings and they continue to surface as these tragedies unfold again and again.

In a post last year, I asked, “How do Education Leaders Know They’ve Done Enough to Address School Safety?” At the time, I was an elected school board member in the district where my own children attend. Whenever the topic of school safety came up at board meetings, I would often say, “I never want to be in a position to say, ���I wish we would have done more.���”

What more should we be doing?

School safety is top of mind for voters and families, according to recent data gathered by, well, everyone. Unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight to these horrific events. While it is impossible to predict every act of school violence, there is much more that districts can do to reduce the likelihood of one occurring in their own community.

After the Georgia school shooting, every parent of a school-age child received a communication from their district’s superintendent. These emails followed a similar format: expressing sadness and sympathy, followed by a list of safety measures���mostly physical barriers such as locked entrances, panic buttons and district-wide communication systems���that are in place to protect students.

While well-intentioned, these emails often feel like a rush to assure the community that enough is being done. But is it really enough? Have districts assessed their safety protocols against current best practices? Are they covering the full spectrum of measures that can keep schools safe? And if not, what more should they be doing?

Shifting from reaction to prevention

Schools are tasked with creating environments where every child feels a sense of belonging. Visit the website of any school district, and you���ll see, in various forms of language, a commitment to ensuring that all students are safe to learn.

The scope of school safety, therefore, begins long before any incident occurs���it starts with fostering connections and building relationships. Schools must: ensure students have meaningful ties with caring adults, provide necessary support, physically prepare the campus to deter threats and, if the worst happens, have plans in place to recover.

A shift in mindset from reaction to prevention is critical. We should be able to send our children to school with the confidence that they will return home safe and unharmed. Until that confidence is restored, much more needs to be done. Superintendents must lead this charge���they are ultimately responsible for the safety of the students and staff in their schools.

The good news is that superintendents already possess the essential skills: strong leadership, cross-divisional collaboration and managerial expertise. Moreover, there is no shortage of resources related to school safety, including manuals, training programs, toolkits and procedures, all of which provide links to even more support. But how can superintendents determine which safety measures are most effective?

To build truly safe schools, we must understand all aspects of school safety���not just physical security measures. Schools need to rethink safety through a comprehensive framework that assesses, plans, tracks and audits safety solutions across both proactive and reactive measures. A holistic approach to school safety should include:

• Creating conditions that reduce the risk of school violence
• Providing targeted supports for students identified as at higher risk
• Preparing the school to mitigate risks and potential threats
• Developing plans for the community���s response to an incident
• Coordinating resources necessary for recovery after an incident

When students walk into school each morning, their focus should be on learning, developing new skills and spending time with their friends���not on fearing for their safety. In an ideal world, there would be a single solution to prevent school shootings. But in the world we live in, we must integrate a variety of safety protocols into a strategy that offers the best chance of keeping our children safe.

This is our call to action. We must do more���and we must do it now.

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Students and teachers told the Center’s researchers that a “substantial amount” of explicit imagery, both authentic and deepfake, was circulated during the 2023-24 school year. The images often depict “individuals associated with their school … with the primary perpetrators and victims being students,” the report warns.

Female students are more likely to be depicted in the imagery and they, along with LGBTQ+ youth, expressed less confidence that their schools know how to prevent or respond to the growing problem. Teachers also told researchers that few schools have policies and procedures to combat sharing of real or fake NCII.

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“This unfortunately leaves many students and parents in the dark and seeking answers from schools that are ill-equipped to provide them,” the report contends. “When schools do respond, they focus heavily on imposing serious consequences on perpetrators without providing support to victims.”

In other words, while perpetrators have faced expulsion, long-term suspensions and even referrals to law enforcement, victims have not as regularly been offered counseling or help removing imagery from social media. The report, therefore, encourages schools to provide more support to students who are victimized.

That assistance includes ensuring students know how to report NCII confidentially and how to remove the images with resources such as ���,” from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Parents, meanwhile, want more information about deepfakes and NCII so they can team up with schools to better educate students about the harm the imagery causes. Parents also want to be involved in developing school disciplinary policies.

The post Deepfakes: Why they are now K12’s problem, too appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

A Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s of more than 143,000 teens and tweens identified mental health as the top concern of young people but it’s also the No. 1 issue “they���re most likely to change.” Some 95% of the respondents said they are confident that they can accomplish most things if they try their best and two-thirds reported having post-secondary education plans.

Beyond mental health, teens’ and tweens’ top concerns are freedom of speech, racial justice, women���s rights and community violence. Still, the survey finds the majority of young people always or often feel happy (72%) and motivated (61%). They’re most interested in jobs where they can be creative (39%), inspire others (29%), help or provide a service to people (27%), start a business (25%) and serve their community (24%).

Teacher pay still lags

You’re not alone if you and your team will be working to make teacher salaries competitive with neighboring districts and油the private sector. While teachers’ average weekly wages have risen ever so slightly (by 1.7%), they still lag substantially behind college graduates in other professions, according to by the Economic Policy Institute.

The so-called “pay penalty” for teachers grew to a record 26.6% in 2023. That’s more than four times the 6.1% gap recorded in 1996. Teachers earned 73.4 cents for every dollar paid to other professionals in 2023. The report also found that teachers’ more advantageous benefits packages do not offset the wage gap, which exceeded 20% in 36 states. The largest disparity was in Colorado (38.4%) and the smallest, in Wyoming (9%).

More perspective on the working environment for teachers can be found in油District 91心頭istration’s油recent article: “Best states for teachers: Why these are the top 3.”

Here’s another sign of the tough environment that teachers face as the school year takes shape and leaders bolster their safety strategies. Teachers are increasingly worried they will fall victim to gun violence in their school, according to the . One in six teachers “works in a district that has been touched by gun violence since the 2019���2020 school year,” the report found.

Just under half of the teachers surveyed said active shooter drills made them feel more prepared to respond to an active shooter. Nearly 70% said the drills “had no impact” on how safe they feel at school.

Also know this for next week: Math rules

If you’re just now developing your district’s next strategic plan, it may help to peek at what other districts prioritize in their long-term visions for teaching and learning. The school data tracking service, Burbio, regularly searches for keywords in the strategic and accountability plans that cover 50% of the U.S. student population.

Their latest report on STEM and CTE portions of strategic plans found math to be the most prominent subject, appearing in 64% of strategic plans, followed by science, engineering, technology integration and computer science.

More from 91心頭: Why these 3 states are the best for teachers

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The pressing need to boost attendance calls for innovative, evidence-based strategies that prioritize student engagement and integrated support services. As administrators, educators, policymakers and stakeholders, it is in our hands to take the lead in ensuring that every student receives the support and resources they need to foster their full potential for academic learning.

An attendance imperative

Attendance is a critical indicator of student success. Research consistently shows that students who attend school regularly are more likely to excel academically, graduate on time and pursue higher education or career opportunities. However, many students face barriers that hinder regular attendance, such as health issues, family responsibilities, transportation challenges and disengagement from school.

Addressing these barriers to attendance is not a simple task. It requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond traditional methods. It involves reimagining the educational experience to make it more engaging, supportive and relevant to students’ lives.

Integrated support is essential

To effectively tackle the root causes of absenteeism, schools must provide comprehensive support services that address students’ holistic needs. Comprehensive student support services are as crucial as delivering high-quality instruction, as both are fundamental to fostering an environment conducive to learning and regular attendance.

High-quality instruction is essential for engaging students intellectually and ensuring academic achievement. However, without addressing the broader spectrum of student needs���such as mental and physical health, socio-emotional development, and familial challenges���educators cannot fully engage students or mitigate barriers that lead to chronic absenteeism.

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Integrated support services help create a stable and supportive environment where students feel safe, valued and capable of succeeding. These services include but are not limited to:

1. Health and wellness: Access to physical and mental health services is vital. Collaborating with community health providers to offer on-site clinics, counseling and wellness programs can meet students’ health needs, reduce illness-related absences and improve overall well-being.
2. Family engagement programs: Engaging families in the educational process is fundamental for student success. Offering workshops, resources and support groups will help families understand the importance of attendance and how to support their children’s education. Effective communication and partnerships with families can bridge gaps and address issues that may contribute to absenteeism.
3. Mentorship and counseling: Mentorship programs connect students with caring adults who can provide guidance and support. School counselors are crucial in identifying students at risk of chronic absenteeism and working with them to develop personalized attendance plans. These relationships can be a lifeline for students facing challenges at home or school.
4. Community partnerships: It truly takes a village to support student success. Leveraging partnerships with local organizations, businesses, and social services to provide additional resources and support is a great way to build community strength. These partnerships can offer students access to basic needs services and resources, extracurricular activities, career exploration opportunities and other essential services such as transportation assistance.

This holistic approach enhances student well-being and academic performance and directly influences attendance by reducing the non-instructional barriers often preventing students from attending school. Combining high-quality instruction with integrated support services ensures that students are present, prepared and motivated to learn, making both elements indispensable for a successful educational experience.

A practical engagement approach

To truly engage students and ensure they are present and thriving, we must embrace innovative practices that address students��� diverse needs and foster a deep connection to their educational journey. This begins with a commitment to personalized learning pathways, culturally responsive teaching, amplifying student voice and choice, and integrating social and emotional learning.

These four practices are not just desirable but necessary to create a vibrant, inclusive, and supportive learning environment.

1. Personalized learning pathways: One-size-fits-all approaches often fail to meet diverse student needs. Personalized learning pathways allow students to engage with the curriculum in ways that resonate with their interests and strengths. Schools can create a more inclusive and engaging learning environment by integrating technology, project-based learning and flexible pacing.
2. Culturally responsive teaching: Understanding and valuing students’ cultural backgrounds can significantly enhance engagement. Culturally responsive teaching practices help students see themselves reflected in the curriculum, fostering a sense of belonging and relevance. This approach also encourages educators to address biases and create more inclusive classrooms.
3. Student voice and choice: Empowering students to have a say in their learning journey can boost motivation and attendance. Schools can implement programs that allow students to choose projects, electives and extracurricular activities that align with their interests. This sense of agency can lead to increased investment in their education.
4. Social-emotional learning: Integrating SEL into the curriculum supports students’ emotional and social well-being, which is crucial for academic success. Programs that teach self-awareness, self-management and interpersonal skills can help students navigate challenges inside and outside the classroom.

Setting the stage for the new school year

As we embark on a new school year, the imperative to improve attendance and engagement requires a commitment to innovative, evidence-based practices. School district administrators have the unique opportunity to lead transformative change by fostering environments that prioritize student engagement and well-being. By implementing these strategies and integrated support services, we can ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed.

This year, let us envision a future where every student is engaged, supported and inspired to attend school regularly. Together, we can create a culture of attendance and achievement that sets the stage for a brighter future for all students by committing to making our schools places of inspiration and possibility, where students show up eager to learn, grow and thrive and can reach their full potential, both inside and outside the classroom.

Let’s seize this moment to make a lasting impact on our students, our communities and the world they will shape.

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Yes, the long-awaited ESSER spending deadline is finally upon us. Is your district prepared? Or will you have to make drastic changes to labor and other investments? You���re probably in pretty good shape if you’ve followed certain recommendations.

���When the federal government gave out all these relief funds and said you have until 2024 to spend them, I think a lot of districts assumed this was the new spending level that would continue on and made spending choices as if all these commitments were recurring,��� says Marguerite Roza, research professor and director of the at Georgetown University.

So what comes next? And what guidance should leaders follow as they formulate post-ESSER spending plans, craft smartphone policies and try to keep kids in schools? Read on, there are solutions below.

Doing budgeting differently

Traditionally, districts start each budget cycle by taking last year���s spending plan and deciding what needs to change. Frankly, that���s an outdated approach, argues Roza.

Districts often don���t know what strategies worked. They���re rolling over budgets before test scores and other valuable data come in.

Districts also need to be honest about what works and what doesn���t. If you brought on an edtech tool and you didn���t see improvement, you should reconsider its value, and vice versa. It could be possible that technology is improving academics, and your labor tactics need rethinking.

���Take Title I for instance,��� says Roza. ���Districts tend to use their Title I on the same thing year after year, regardless of whether it���s working.���

Because it is tied to labor, leaders feel inclined to protect those investments, she adds. If edtech tools are a significant driver of academic improvement, then leaders should be honest with themselves and sustain the initiatives that are producing results, even if it���s a difficult decision for the community.

���I think we need to take a more critical eye to this budgeting process,��� she says. ���That���s going to be Edunomics Lab���s big push in the next couple of years. We���ve really got to do budgeting differently than we���ve done. It���s part of what���s getting us in trouble.���

So, you���ve been preparing for this deadline for months. Now what���s next? The inevitable conditions ahead will require stronger financial leadership from administrators. For some, that means accepting strategies that result in a shrinking workforce.

���There are better and worse ways to do that, and my advice is to be intentional instead of defaulting to using attrition or seniority-based layoffs,��� Roza says.

Leaders who are hiring are in luck, she adds. There are more applicants than openings, allowing you to be picky and choose the highest-quality candidate.

This is also a time for leaders to think differently about pay and use data to better understand which positions need filling. Leaders should be targeting pay to staff in high needs schools and areas that are difficult to fill vacancies, including special education, math and science. Special programs could also use a new approach.

���We���re finding that while costs are rising, some of these programs aren���t delivering real value for students,��� says Roza. ���Rule of thumb: doing a better job at teaching reading to all students works to raise outcomes for students with disabilities.���

Overall, financial success post-ESSER requires leveraging limited resources to find ways to drive progress for students, Roza concludes. It���ll require a fresh set of communication skills to drive your workforce forward.

Are your students seen and heard?

Chronic absenteeism is one problem that superintendents and their teams are not planning to tackle on their own. More leaders are now reaching out to their communities to co-design more effective ways to keep kids in school after the disruptions of the COVID years, says former superintendent Baron Davis, who is now a senior advisor to the nonprofit Digital Promise.

���If you���re sitting around the table designing solutions to a challenge and the people who are closest to the issue are not there, then stop,��� Davis advises. ���Stop doing things to and for people and start doing it with them. Design the solutions with them.���

Digital Promise is currently working with 16 school districts and their communities to investigate the causes of chronic absenteeism and strategize solutions that meet the needs of each system.

“So often, families give feedback and they don���t hear anything back,��� says Kimberly Smith, head of the Digital Promise���s Center for Inclusive Innovation. ���You have to clearly demonstrate to families and community members that their participation is going to result in a level of co-creation.”

Inclusive innovation relies on gathering contextual expertise and understanding lived experiences. District officials should take a fact-finding approach rather than a punitive approach to attendance–this will help educators better ���understand a day in the life of a chronically absent student,” Davis advises.

This student-voice-driven approach will reveal the main barriers to regular attendance. School officials can sometimes take the default position that absenteeism is the fault of the family or community.

And while the climate at home can be a cause, educators must ask themselves, ���How much is related to students not feeling seen or heard at school? Students not having engaging curriculum? Students not feeling support in a particular classroom,��� Davis queries.

Smartphones become scarcer

“It is OK to say ���no��� to cell phones and to social media,��� is a key piece of advice Superintendent Shari Camhi gives to families at moving-up ceremonies in New York���s Baldwin Union Free School District

Students are not allowed to bring smartphones to class in the Long Island district though high schoolers can access their devices during lunch, when they are allowed to leave campus.

Camhi relies on parents��� help to enforce the rule and shield kids from the harmful effects of social media.

“What needs to be the most popular word in the English language for parents at this point in life? ‘No,������ she contends. “We are wrapping our arms around our kids. We are trying to protect them. We love them, and we want them to grow up to be healthy young people.���

In an NBC New York poll conducted over the summer, an overwhelming majority of principals said students��� smartphones are causing distraction and fatigue, increasing anxiety, depression and isolation, and worsening interpersonal conflicts and bullying. School leaders also reported that female students are suffering more than boys.

In recent months, some of the nation���s largest districts���including Los Angeles USD���blocked smartphones. LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho also has his sights set on social media.

���It is time to formulate a legal strategy that contemplates, but is not restricted to, litigation against social media entities that use algorithms designed to directly appeal and eventually develop, an unhealthy addiction with mental and physical deleterious consequences for our youth,��� Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said in a statement. ���When coupled with social media, phones are a harmful vehicle that negatively impacts young people.���

A handful of states took similar steps. In July, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin directed the state���s school divisions to ban smartphones.

���This essential action will promote a healthier and more focused educational environment where every child is free to learn,��� Youngkin said in announcing his decision. ���It also kicks off the robust conversations among parents, students, teachers, and school and community leaders necessary to design and implement these policies and procedures at the local level.���

The post Let’s take a look at back-to-school’s ���Big 3��� appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

To address the new causes of chronic absenteeism, we need new strategies���which we explore at the end of this commentary.

First, the data: Our report from the American School District Panel project estimates that 19% of K-12 students nationwide were chronically absent���meaning they missed 10% or more of school days���during the 2023-2024 school year. This marks a decrease from the startling 28% observed in 2021-2022, but it’s still substantially higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 15%.

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The question, then, is why. To the superintendents in our study, it was clear: there has been a seismic shift in attitudes towards school attendance post-COVID.

“I think COVID changed ��� the ‘I have to go to school to learn’ mentality,��� said a superintendent from a district with a 42% reported chronic absenteeism rate.

The pandemic didn’t just disrupt learning; it fundamentally altered how students and families view the role of school in their lives.

Is school still compulsory?

District leaders report implementing a wide array of strategies to get kids back in class. Our survey found that 70% of districts use early warning systems to flag students at risk of becoming chronically absent, 58% conduct home visits, and 47% have teachers make calls home. Additionally, 30% have hired dedicated staff to focus on reducing absenteeism.

Despite these efforts, nearly a quarter of districts reported that none of their interventions had been particularly effective���perhaps because they aren���t addressing ���the new normal��� in terms of how students and families now view school.

From our interviews with district leaders, we learned that the reasons for chronic absenteeism have fundamentally changed post-pandemic. They���ve seen a cultural shift away from viewing school attendance as truly compulsory due to, among other things, increased student mental health challenges, families that prioritize flexibility and decreased student engagement diminishing students��� drive to attend school.

As one leader put it, “If the work that you do every day is not relevant and meaningful, [students] stop showing up.”

A few solutions to chronic absenteeism

Districts need new solutions to reduce chronic absenteeism because old techniques like early warning systems and calls home simply aren���t working. Instead, here are some ideas for updated approaches:

Focus on leveraging relationships and tailoring approaches to specific student populations. Some districts have re-established the perceived importance of daily attendance through targeted, personalized communication with families about their student’s situation.

found that telling families how many days their children missed or how their children���s attendance compared to their peers reduced total absences by 6% and the share of students who were chronically absent by 11%. Researchers report that ���nudging��� families helps address misconceptions they may have about their children���s absences.

Similarly, districts have been able to address student mental health challenges by increasing counseling services or social-emotional learning programs. Increased access to counseling services, through school-based teletherapy and partnerships between schools and mental health providers, has been shown to improve student attendance rates. School climate initiatives and other social-emotional learning programs may also improve attendance.

Several superintendents we spoke with were trying to increase students��� desire to come to school every day. Some were working to increase students��� sense of belonging at school by strengthening their social connections through counseling, personalized greetings and engaging group work. Experts in adolescent development suggest that should leverage students��� drives to understand, impact and feel belonging in their communities.

To increase student engagement, other districts have experimented with making coursework more directly applicable to career skills and real-world scenarios. The found that students who participate in career-focused programs, like cybersecurity and nursing, are more excited to go to school and have about a 6% increase in attendance compared to students who don���t participate in career programs.

By recognizing how the reasons for chronic absenteeism have shifted over time, we can develop targeted, innovative approaches to ensure all students benefit from the irreplaceable experience of daily, in-person learning. The challenge is significant, but with new understanding comes the opportunity for meaningful change.

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Sensory rooms, however, may have become an afterthought even as districts everywhere redesign the traditional classroom to inspire more hands-on, tech-driven and collaborative learning, notes Joey DiPuma, district coordinator of innovation at Florida’s Flagler Schools. DiPuma and lead behavioral specialist Mindy Morris recently created new sensory spaces at nine of the district’s middle and elementary schools and are hoping to exchange ideas with other educators working on similar projects.

“People don’t realize what they can afford or how to go about doing it, and a lot of times you don’t have to spend a lot of money to do these things,” DiPuma said in a Zoom interview from one of the sensory rooms that resembled a low-key, low-lit and spacious children’s museum.

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“A lot of this, it’s touchy-feely. It’s lightweight. It needs to be wipeable. So you don’t always have to go buy stuff,” he added. “You can create things with kids. Your STEM kids can build stuff.”

Still, Flagler’s Title 1 and ESE departments secured a $450,000 grant to outfit Flagler’s new sensory rooms with interactive touch panels, ball pits, bubble tubes, soft seats and soothing light fixtures, among other equipment. The furniture is crucial for sensory room success and so is getting educators in the right mindset for using the spaces, Morris advises.

Morris, along with help from the sensory equipment suppliers, provides professional development on sensory concepts. She also wrote guidelines, asking teachers to only bring two to three students into the room for 10 to 15 minutes max. Each school has a master schedule for when teachers can take students to the rooms though the spaces can also be used on an as-needed basis.

DiPuma and Morris are constantly assessing the rooms by filming (with each family’s permission) how students interact with the furniture and equipment. “We watch what’s working and what’s not working and the things that are not working we change out,” explains DiPuma, who has presented his ideas at the and ISTE. “We might have some things that look great and they’re all over Pinterest, but if they’re not serving kids, then they gotta go.”

Flagler’s sensory rooms are not meant for de-escalation but for students who need a break. DiPuma and Morris want teachers to bring students to the room on a regular schedule or when kids are beginning to show signs of feeling overwhelmed.

And the rooms are not designed just油for students. “We purposely don’t design just for students,” concludes DiPuma, who has presented his ideas at the . “Our designs are more for humans. Because we don’t just want students in here. We also油want stakeholders and community members to benefit from these spaces.”

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The data is striking. Schools with robust family engagement before COVID-19 had chronic absenteeism rates 6 percentage points lower than comparable schools struggling to connect with families. That’s the difference between sky-high absences and most students consistently showing up, ready to learn.

The impact doesn’t stop at attendance. These engaged schools saw significantly higher 2021-2022 math and reading scores, gains on par with replacing over half of the previous year’s remote learning with in-person instruction. Simply adding more in-person days alone didn’t correlate to better attendance or test participation.

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This illuminates an under-appreciated reality: When treating families as genuine partners, the payoffs transcend attendance. Students show up more engaged and absorb more.

The family engagement advantage revealed itself across all school types���those serving both affluent and low-income communities, elementary and high schools, urban and rural settings. An upfront investment in trusting relationships pays dividends.

Involving families in student attendance

What does building effective family engagement look like? Evidence points to eight core strategies:

1. Prioritize accurate attendance tracking and regularly review data to identify at-risk students early.
2. Foster an attendance-focused culture by embedding it into all communications, policies and celebrations.
3. 油Provide proactive, engaging messaging spelling out attendance priorities in families’ home languages.
4. Quickly initiate personalized interventions like calls, texts and meetings at the first sign of absences.
5. For severe cases, coordinate intensive case management and wraparound services.
6. Establish clear attendance teams, roles and accountabilities for executing strategies.
7. Implement positive reinforcement systems such as rewards, recognition and attendance competitions.
8. Continually track metrics, analyze trends and adapt approaches based on results.

A national survey illuminated a crucial gap in how schools communicate the importance of attendance to families. While schools are putting in efforts, nearly half (45%) of families reported only receiving messaging about attendance after their child had already missed school. This finding represents a pivotal missed opportunity for earlier intervention.

The data reveals families want more proactive and personalized guidance: 53% want to know how missing school specifically impacts their child’s academic performance and half seek information on the effects of tardiness. Furthermore, only 40% currently receive regular communications on concrete steps they can take to support better attendance.

By understanding these preferences for timely, actionable attendance messaging, schools can more effectively implement several of the evidence-based best practices. Prioritizing proactive communications in home languages that spell out the importance of attendance (best practice #3) addresses a key need.

Initiating personalized interventions like calls, texts and meetings at the first sign of absences (best practice #4) allows for the tailored guidance families desire but aren’t receiving. And implementing positive reinforcement systems (best practice #7) meets the over 70% of families wanting those motivational updates.

The reasons for the impact are clear. Partnered families develop greater motivation and accountability. They’re informed about the academic impacts of absences. And teachers can more readily understand and address root causes.

Single-semester turnaround

supports the power of a comprehensive approach to managing student data. In just one year, participating districts reduced chronic absenteeism by a remarkable 22%, far outpacing national improvement rates. Elementary schools saw the highest reductions, with decreases of up to 27.8%.

One district, Prince William County Public Schools, faced chronic absenteeism rates nearing 40% among Hispanic and low-income students before implementing a proactive, data-driven attendance management system. Within a single semester, chronic absence rates stabilized district-wide. After the first full year, their overall chronic absenteeism dropped 18%.

No simple solution can single-handedly “solve” chronic absenteeism’s complexities. But prioritizing equitable family engagement opportunities is a proven, high-leverage strategy���one benefiting not just attendance, but achievement and school climate.

When schools face intense demands and limited resources, investing in family partnerships provides an undeniable return. By examining the data and bright spots, leaders can focus efforts on evidence-based practices moving the needle. For unlocking every student’s potential, family engagement stands out as one of the smartest investments we can make.

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