Strategic Attendance Planning Playbook for Next Year

Virtual Workshop Series

To support districts in applying the framework, a six-part virtual workshop series has been developed based on the guide. Designed for district leaders, campus administrators, attendance teams, and student services professionals, the series helps teams move from understanding the framework to using it in a purposeful way as they prepare for the upcoming school year.

Each session focuses on a specific component of the guide and includes an overview, guided discussion, and dedicated time for action planning. Participants will work through the framework step by step, applying it directly to their district context and building a stronger, more coordinated approach to attendance for next year.

Series Schedule

April 21: Organize and Mobilize Your Team
April 28: Agree Upon Destination
May 5: Prioritize Routes
May 12: Share Your Roadmap
May 19: Build Capacity and Partnerships
May 26: Implement, Monitor, and Adapt

What You Will Gain

🔹Weekly, actionable steps that can be implemented immediately

🔹A structured, district-specific attendance playbook

🔹Participants will receive CEU credits

🔹Ongoing support through session recaps and summaries

Definitive Guide to Attendance Improvement

Student attendance remains a foundational driver of academic success, yet improving it continues to be a complex challenge for many districts.

The Definitive Guide to Student Attendance Improvement was developed to support school and district leaders with a clear, structured approach to this work. It provides practical, actionable strategies that can be integrated into existing plans, helping teams move beyond tracking attendance toward building a coordinated, system-wide effort.

The guide emphasizes collaboration, shared responsibility, and planning, while also supporting districts in leveraging RaaWee Attendance+ tools and resources. Its purpose is to help teams create sustainable systems that strengthen student engagement and improve attendance outcomes.

Definitive Guide Implementation Templates

As teams begin applying the framework, the focus shifts from understanding to execution. Turning ideas into a coordinated plan requires structure, clarity, and consistency across teams.

To support this work, a set of implementation templates aligned to the Definitive Guide is available in a format designed for easy access and use during planning sessions.

These templates help teams organize discussions, define priorities, and translate the framework into a clear, actionable attendance strategy.

About the Workshop Facilitator

Sharon Bradley is a national educational consultant, author, and speaker with over 25 years of experience in K–12 education. She previously served as a district administrator in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, leading districtwide efforts in truancy prevention and student engagement, and has held roles including student services director, high school principal, assistant principal, and dropout prevention coordinator.

She is the author of Chronic Absenteeism: Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Schools, Families, and Communities and Combating Chronic Absenteeism through Attendance Intervention Plans. Sharon is also a founding member of Attendance USA and was recognized as a 2024 “Leader to Learn From” by EducationWeek and the 2023 “Person of the Year” by the International Truancy and Dropout Prevention Association.

She currently serves as Principal Consultant at RaaWee K12 Solutions, supporting districts with proven attendance and engagement strategies.

About the Guide’s Author

Born and raised in an educator household, Dr. Kim Wallace started her own career in public education 30 years ago as a high school English and history teacher before becoming a site principal and district office administrator. Her most recent K-12 role was as superintendent of one of the 20 largest school districts in California. Kim joined the UC Berkeley School of Education Leadership Programs division as the Associate Director of the 21^st Century California School Leadership Academy (21CSLA) State Center in 2020.

She also runs her own consulting company, Process Makes Perfect, specializing in real-world solutions for practitioners in the field. Kim consults, writes, and presents internationally on systems change and emerging trends in educational leadership. An award-winning, innovative educator, Kim leverages her abilities in educational administration, program management, and relationship development to optimize institutional effectiveness and deliver remarkable results.

Dr. Wallace’s book Leading the Launch: A Ten-Stage Process for Successful School District Initiatives was published by Solution Tree Press in 2021, followed by Leading Through an Equity Lens in 2023. Her upcoming book, Gamechanging Leadership in Action: An Educator’s Companion, is in production with Routledge/Taylor & Francis (Fall 2025). Kim attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, for her undergraduate degree in history. She then earned her Master’s in Education (M.Ed.) at the University of California, Los Angeles, and culminated her educational goals with a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) from the University of California, Davis.

Description

The meeting discussed the HEB ISD’s truancy prevention and student success initiatives. Key points included the district’s demographics and graduation rate. The truancy process involves warning letters, parent contacts, and administrative conferences, escalating to court referrals at 13 unexcused absences. Serving 22,837 students, the district uses the RaaWee Attendance+ system tools for tracking and emphasizes timely interventions, community service, and character education programs to improve attendance and achievement.

Chronic Absenteeism & Truancy Interventions

The state-mandated truancy plan includes warning letters at three unexcused absences, parent contact, and student-administrator conferences. At six absences, a parent conference is held, and intervention programs are considered. Nine absences result in in-school suspension (ISS), and at thirteen, the truancy department may refer the case to court, prioritizing family support before legal action. This proactive approach aims to combat chronic absenteeism and ensure students remain engaged in their education.

Elementary students follow a similar process, with tardiness cases escalating from parent contact at five tardies to potential court filing at 30. The truancy department engages families through phone calls, home visits, and campus support to address chronic absenteeism early on.

Community Involvement in Attendance Awareness

Community involvement includes food drives, mobile pantries, and the TEAMS character education program. Retired professionals counsel at-risk families, and Hope Academy provides alternative learning environments.

Ongoing Support and Student Engagement

Best practices include a “hero board” to promote punctuality, door hangers for outreach, and rigorous documentation via RaaWee Attendance+ system tools. The department monitors attendance trends, tracks sibling comparisons, and emphasizes swift intervention for better outcomes.

Regular follow-ups ensure effective chronic absenteeism prevention, keeping students engaged and in school.

About the Presenter

Xavier Warren, Truancy Officer, Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD, TX.

Xavier Warren is a dedicated professional in the Truancy Department at Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District, focused on improving student attendance and fostering accountability. Committed to educational equity, he addresses barriers to truancy, ensuring all students have the chance to succeed.

Through proactive communication and targeted interventions, Xavier collaborates with families, teachers, and community stakeholders to develop effective strategies that promote regular attendance. His expertise in building relationships has positively impacted student engagement and academic success.

Additionally, Xavier serves as the current president and has served as past treasurer of the Texas Association of Truancy & Dropout Prevention (TATDP), committed to best practice networking with his fellow professionals.

Powerful Attendance Improvement

Allison Woods, Assistant Superintendent of Warren Township, shared the district’s attendance efforts. With 11,500 students, including 16% with disabilities and 17% multilingual learners, proactive tracking and engagement reduced chronic absenteeism by 15%. Partnering with RaaWee Attendance+ improved attendance by 8%+ in a year, supported by tiered interventions and family outreach.

The Importance of Student Attendance for Academic Success

Schools increasingly recognize student attendance as vital for academic success. This case study explores MSD Warren’s initiative to improve attendance rates by addressing barriers and fostering accountability. Through strategic communication and targeted interventions, MSD Warren Township has achieved significant improvements.

Background: Challenges in Attendance Rates

Initially, MSD Warren faced attendance rates around 85.11% during the 2021-2022 school year. As a result, different strategies produced uneven results. To address this, the district launched a plan to improve communication, accountability, and student engagement.

Key Strategies for Improving Student Attendance

Cultural Shift in Attendance Perception: The initiative started with changing how attendance was viewed. It stressed the importance of being present for both success and well-being through discussions with families and students.
Systematic Attendance Plan: Additionally, a clear plan outlined communication methods, competitions, and recognition for good attendance, promoting responsibility.
Proactive Communication: Family engagement liaisons also called families of chronically absent students to build support early on.
Tiered Intervention Model: The district implemented a model that addressed attendance issues at three levels, ensuring responses matched the severity of the problem.

Results: Significant Improvements in Attendance Rates

By the end of the 2022-2023 school year, attendance rates improved to about 94%. This change reflects effective strategies and a united effort from the school community.

Conclusion: Lessons Learned for Enhancing Student Attendance

In conclusion, MSD Warren’s approach serves as a helpful example for other schools. By addressing barriers and encouraging accountability, the district raised attendance rates and improved student outcomes. This shows the value of teamwork and proactive actions in making meaningful changes.

About the Presenter

Allison Woods, Asst Superintendent for Exceptional Learners and Whole Child at MSD Warren Township

Allison Woods is an accomplished educator and administrator at MSD Warren Township, dedicated to fostering a positive learning environment and enhancing student achievement. With a strong educational background, she implements innovative teaching strategies and supports teachers in their development. Her commitment to student success is evident through her collaboration with families, staff, and community partners, creating a supportive atmosphere that empowers students.

Allison has been involved in initiatives aimed at improving educational outcomes and promoting equity within the district. Her leadership and dedication have made a significant impact on the MSD Warren Township community, inspiring both students and educators.

Improving Overall Student Attendance

Angela Daniels from Garland Independent School District (ISD) in Garland, TX, recently shared valuable strategies her team employed for student attendance improvement and dropout recovery, showcasing remarkable success in increasing high school attendance from 90.59% in 2023 to 93.2% in 2024. With a student population of 51,000 spread across 70 campuses, Garland ISD faces significant challenges in terms of truancy, which affects approximately 14% of students, and chronic absenteeism, impacting around 9%. Given that 72% of students are economically disadvantaged and 50% classified as at-risk, addressing attendance issues is paramount for the success and well-being of students in the district.

To support their attendance intervention efforts, Garland ISD utilizes the RaaWee Attendance+ system, which provides essential tools and reporting capabilities. This system aids the district in tracking attendance interventions, showcasing proof points, and analyzing trends related to student instructional minutes and funding recovery efforts. By leveraging data effectively, the district can pinpoint areas needing improvement and measure the impact of their strategies.

Addressing Dropout Recovery

Focusing specifically on high school students, particularly ninth graders, the district implemented root cause analysis and flexible scheduling to identify key problem areas affecting attendance. Attendance specialists were designated at each campus, and data was meticulously analyzed by grade level, race, gender, and teacher impact. Recognizing that transition years, such as moving from eighth to ninth grade, often present challenges, the district prioritized these students through home visits and summer outreach initiatives.

One notable initiative is the RISE program, which allows students to customize their schedules to accommodate personal and family challenges. This program encourages collaboration with counseling, special programs, and other stakeholders to establish fair and equitable criteria for participation. Impressively, 85% of participants in the RISE program continued their education or graduated, highlighting the program’s effectiveness.

Angela emphasized the importance of data analysis, collaboration, and celebrating small wins throughout the process. She also stressed the necessity of structured plans, ongoing checkpoints, and stakeholder involvement that extends beyond just the attendance team. By creating equitable solutions and fostering engagement and positive attendance, Garland ISD is dedicated to supporting students in staying present, connected, and thriving in their educational journeys. Their comprehensive approach serves as a model for other districts striving to improve student attendance and overall success.

About the Presenter

Angela Daniels, M.Ed., Student Engagement Administrator, Student Services, Garland ISD, TX

Angela is a former Intervention Coordinator and teacher with 20 years of experience developing unique opportunities to help all students succeed. She has led initiatives that have reduced dropout rates and enhanced student engagement. She holds certifications in Education Leadership and Dropout Prevention.

Description

We are dedicated to helping educators get their students back to school. The purpose of this information is to point out some roadblocks that impede progress; to help schools reduce chronic absenteeism and get their school-avoidant kids back to learning. We will propose solutions that you can employ to remove these barriers and improve successful school returns.

Problem: School Avoidance Disrupts Families and Challenges Schools.

School avoidance wreaks havoc on families. The following are some examples of how families in our school avoidance alliance community describe it:

Pernicious, Isolating, Overwhelming, Draining, Gut wrenching, Hopeless, Stressful, and Torturous.

School avoidance also profoundly impacts educators who want to help these kids. These are some ways educators describe it:

Frustrating, Confounding, Helpless, Discouraging, Time-Consuming, Lack of Interventions, Feeling like a failure, and Tiring.

There has been an underwhelming amount of guidance on this issue, so schools and educators must seek solutions independently.

The good news is that you and your colleagues have the power to improve student outcomes.

Schools have to commit to addressing this problem.
Misinformation and misconceptions will hamper your efforts to engage effectively with students and their families.
School staff must be thoroughly educated to start tackling this problem. Once the team is educated, they will feel empowered to utilize appropriate interventions, strategies, and engagement.

Problem: Truancy and School Avoidance are Different.

School avoidance is motivated by severe emotional distress; the parents know the child is not attending and usually are trying to help their kids back. On the other hand, truancy is usually motivated by pleasure and not anxiety-based, it is concealed from the parents, and kids seek to increase positive emotions.

Labeling school-avoidant kids as truants causes inappropriate and often damaging responses.
Kids with school avoidance are not deliberately ditching school. Internal feelings of distress, discomfort and fear cause their avoidant behavior.
An excellent first step would be to adjust how you define truancy and label kids with school avoidance as truant.

Another huge issue that should be evaluated is punitive responses. And responses that feel punitive to families and their students. Family feedback on this issue reveals the following school responses make families think the school is unfeeling, unkind, and punishing.

Curt and cold attendance letters with threats of fines, truancy charges, and court appearances.
Sending police officers to the home
Failing students without considering their school avoidance is caused by mental health challenges or learning differences.
Utilizing grade retention.
Calling in child protective services with no evidence of parental neglect.

The school attendance, mental health, and SEL community have promoted restorative practices over punitive ones for several years. Unfortunately, this guidance needs to trickle down to individual schools faster. These responses often create acrimony between school and home, countering best practices for getting kids back to school.

Problem: Early Interventions Take Work to Achieve.

Early interventions are among the most critical drivers for reducing school avoidance and getting students back quicker. Performing early action is dependent on the following factors:

Educating families on school avoidance, since most parents are unaware of it, they often miss early signs and are unsure how to help the situation.
Families don’t realize their school has a team of mental health professionals available to help them.
Provide your staff with school avoidance professional development to recognize signs, signals, and triggers. Being educated on this unique challenge will show them how to respond and strategically approach each school-avoidant student according to their individual needs.
Another essential suggestion to help improve early interventions is to include your school counselors, attendance staff, school nurses, and truancy folks when you provide school avoidance professional development. These professionals are on the front lines and have access to these students first. They can intervene in the early stages before absenteeism becomes chronic.

Closing

The problem of school avoidance will continue to grow if schools don’t reevaluate their responses and interventions. You may not realize it, but you are an agent of change. It takes one person to start the process. Educators like you deserve that feeling of self-satisfaction and gratitude when you contribute to helping a child back to school and improve their life trajectory.

About the Author

For the past decade, Jayne has been helping families get kids with school avoidance back to school. In 2014, she started the School Avoidance Alliance to educate families and schools on school avoidance best practices and evidence -based solutions. In additional to the School Avoidance Alliance website, Jayne developed one-of-a-kind educational resources for both parents and educators. Some of their resources are, The School Avoidance Parent’s Ultimate Guide to Working with Your School, The School Avoidance Master Class for Parents: A Tier 2 and Tier 3 Intervention for chronic absenteeism, a course schools purchase for parents, and an Educator training course called, Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Students Back to School.

Jayne serves on the International Network for School Attendance (INSA) conference committee and was recently honored as a featured speaker at INSA’s Making Waves in School Attendance Annual Conference in the Netherlands in October 2022. She’s also been featured in Education Week, The Washington Post, CBS News, Yahool Life and USA Today.

from EDMS Expert Series: 02/17/2023

Interventions for Chronic Absenteeism

You cannot punish me if I am not there. Absent students have been screaming this at schools forever. It is a scapegoat complex. Schools believe adding more punishments or rewards will change behavior. It’s true, but only if the student shows up. Students with prolonged absences, for any number of reasons, become separated from the people and the process. No amount of incentives, positive or negative, will get them back. Wholistic targeted interventions, emphasizing people and services, aimed at re-establishing bonds at tier 3 is what is required. This session engages the participants in reviewing a common few interventions, some emerging ones, and top three tips on how to develop your own. In sum, prolonged absence, and avoidance, is more about the school and the people than the academics.

Beware the Likes

With every social media post comes the “likes” and “shares.” Whether we had a great dinner, passed a test, or just went somewhere new, our experiences are being rated. Of late, the rating has moved beyond the experience to a reflection of how much the person and their experiences are liked or un-liked.

The video RATED asked how many stars would you give yourself, if you were truly being honest about your actions, behaviors, and thoughts around others. Then imagine, based on that rating, you walked around with everyone knowing whether you were a 5 or a 1-star person. Even further, imagine your star now influencing your experiences; where ate, services you received, who talked to you, and how others perceived you?

The audience was asked to give their reactions on how they felt after watching the video trailer. Evident below some said it would feel good. Presumably, those were the ones with 4 or 5 stars who would want others to see that they have been good, kind, and trustworthy. On the contrary, many noted they feel bad, ashamed, pressured, embarrassed, frustrated, worried, and even nervous.

Embracing Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)

The exercise gives us a glimpse into the thinking of students who have higher degree of absenteeism. Though we have embraced evidence-based practices like the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) grounded in public health and framed as an organizing model for response and interventions, the model rates students. Upon reflection, it is a structure, which inadvertently labels students and limits service access based on that label. Thus, when trying to encourage students with prolonged absences to return and engage, they too feel bad, nervous, pressured, frustrated, ashamed, worried, judged, and so on. They feel their good may have been overlooked. The one or two wrong was judged incorrectly and there is no recovery.

Viewing Intervention through a New Lens

The topic my absence, your problem speaks to our response to interventions. We must be able to view interventions through a difference lens. For instance, simply adopting practice that became ‘best practices’ under curated circumstances to our own acculturated student body and resource-gaps is flawed. We must choose interventions to our situated context, leverage the data we have in defining DIY solutions, explore emerging practices in our own schools, and feel free to learn from others to curate our own circumstances. This is imperative because the students are finding themselves in tier 3 of the MTSS model are often less than 5% of our student bodies and require not wholesale interventions but as much specialized attention as possible.

We cannot go any further without defining absenteeism. My definition of absenteeism is

“Absenteeism is the total sum of a student’s in-school and out-of-school experiences”

Each experience fuels the pull and push factor of the student’s engagement in school.

In-school experiences are everything in and about the school environment, everyone in the school environment and all decisions having to do with the school. The converse is also true,
Out-of-school experiences involves everything NOT in or about the school environment, persons in it, and decisions having to do with school.

Therefore, if absenteeism is a problem about experiences, then interventions must be about solving problems. The interventions must solve problems by those who have decision-making power for those who will be impacted through any means (activity, behavior, technology) to disrupt a chain or create an outcome.

My absence means my experiences have created a problem for which YOU must find a solution because it has created a problem for you in keeping me engaged in education. Prolonged absence and school avoidance is more about the school and people in it than the academics. The child still wants to learn and fit in but the dynamics in the school or getting to and staying in the school have affected this desire.

Schools are exceptional in defining and implementing interventions to create outcomes. However, there has never been a true formula simply to enable good or better outcomes for students versus old models of increased punishment. I offer one formula to aid in decision making. Assume A squared is defined as excessive absenteeism and our discussion on experiences and interventions. Then the formula would read A²E + I.

Adjusting the Narrative of Control

The assumption being that anytime we have high rates of excessive absenteeism we would first aim to modify the student experiences in and out of school through interventions that are dialed up or down based on the severity and intensity of the push and pull factors impacting the student. In doing so we are clear that we know no number of in-school incentives will work with the student is absent and that holistic and targeted interventions are the best for the students where emphasize attention to people and services out-of-school to reengage through support, build school bonds, and better relationships. In the end control matters. Students who have moved from direct control to internal control do not respond to rewards and punishment nor pro-social relationships but to their own personal compass. As such, to reclaim them we must do the reverse. We must first appeal to their personal compass, what is important to them through out-of-school supports. Move into building pro-social relationships, which eventually moves them under a surveillance of influence where rewards and punishment can make an impact on decision-making.

Positive outcomes however depend on partnerships. Consider cross-system streaming to share and connect to out-of-school interventions and supports. When doing the intervention via:

DIY – Do. It. Yourself Method:

Be sure to leverage the current data you have and use the formula presented herein. Be sure to Devise, Define, Determine, and Deploy

CURRENT EXAMPLES:

When using a method already in place it is important to ensure that there is a direct match between the defined problem and Solution like the examples below.

EMERGING PRACTICES:

There are many organizations responding to how to effectively meet students where they are. One area is in socio-emotional learning. Some have used training of staff and personnel (like GCSORED)while others have used technology, AI, and other software like (Fight for Life Foundation). The goal is the same identify the problem and match with solution to enable measurement.

Relationships vs Punishment

Sadly, most interventions have been negative and punitive. We have data to show interventions like PBIS, MTSS, Science of Reading, Extra Curricular, etc. can change behavior but many times, we cannot define if the problem for which it was instituted has been solved. We must use the right type of interventions at the right time to make the best impact. Build relationships!

About the Author

Dr. Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, founder, lead consultant, and Chief Education Officer for Pivot Attendance Solutions, has inspired many administrators, educators, students, and school social workers as a past chair of the school’s concentration Masters Curriculum, tenured professor, and Director of the Bachelors for Social Work Program. Having worked closely with Indiana Department of Education to assist school counselors in acquiring a school counselor license and coordinating curriculum mapping and application, she knows the intricacies of working with school-community partnerships. She has been a forerunner in responding to school absenteeism, truancy, and social bonding. She has over 30 years in youth development, 20 years in dropout and truancy and more specifically she brings over 12 years studying, researching, presenting, and writing about absenteeism locally, nationally, and internationally. In the US she is a leader in absenteeism and understanding school attendance problems and translating such into practice models for implementation. She is forging partnerships in colleges to establish the area as a formal field of study.

Federal & State Funding Opportunities

Understanding the world of education finance can be daunting for even the most seasoned of school and district leaders. The good news is, you don’t need to be a financial wizard to make fiscal decisions that will last a lifetime for your students by investing in attendance tracking and improvement technology. Implementing a robust digital platform that includes proactive and reactive strategies, multi-tiered interventions, high quality real time data, and two-way communications has proven to be the most effective approach to truancy abatement.

While chronic absenteeism preceded the pandemic and ballooned during, it has not quite bounced back in the aftermath (if we can even say we have fully reached post-pandemic status). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (July 6, 2022) “Compared to a typical school year prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 72 percent of U.S. public schools reported an increase in chronic absenteeism among their students. So, what’s happening? That’s what we’d all like to know.

Attendance Tracking

Discovering the root causes of absenteeism, school refusal, chronic truancy, avoidance, or whatever other terms exist to describe the post-pandemic epidemic of student non-attendance is essential before allocating funding to address the issues. Since we know that there is no single or predominant reason, but rather an intricate mix of ingredients that contribute to truancy behaviors, addressing the problem systemically requires multi-pronged approaches. If we can reframe non-attendance as a symptom rather than “the problem” we can get closer to addressing the core of why many students have not returned post-pandemic. And only then does the conversation about resource allocation follow.

Most schools and districts have not seen these incredible amounts of education funding coming through to mitigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in decades, if ever. Even so, dollars remain limited and often time-bound, so it’s important to leverage short-term activities with an eye on long-term solutions for attendance improvements. Distinguishing between limited-term revenue and ongoing funding can help leaders determine appropriate and sustainable allocations.

Simply put, one-time dollars, otherwise known as “soft money” should only be spent on actions or items that are expected to fulfill short-term purposes. Ongoing dollars can be relied on for longer term applications. Covid relief funds, for example, such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, and Governor’s Emergency Relief Programs (GEER), all have a shorter shelf life than the annually distributed Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I-IV funds.

When adopting an attendance monitoring program, consider braiding different funding streams to cover your initial costs with limited-term funding, such as professional development and training, hardware purchases, technology infrastructure or upgrades, attendance incentive campaigns, or technical support. After you get up and running, ongoing funding can be used to pay for annual licensing/contracts for attendance and student information systems, support staffing, interventions, and communications.

In my experience, most school and district leaders, outside of business services departments, confess that managing budgets is their least favorite part of the job—and one they weren’t often explicitly trained for.

Try inverting your thinking from the traditional approach…

“We have a grant allocation of $500,000 that lasts for three years; what can we buy?”

…To a different mindset: “We have two major attendance issues to address—one for long-term truants and one for students who were previously attending but stopped after the pandemic.” Then ask these questions:

What tools do we need to monitor and communicate attendance issues effectively?
Which funding sources can we tap that will address each major problem?
What kinds of support are necessary to move the needle for each group?

Once you’ve asked and answered those questions, then the dollars will follow. And your inquiry before investment will pay off in the best ways for the students you serve.

About the Author

Kim Wallace, Professional Educational Consultant & Author at Process Makes Perfect

Kim joined the UC Berkeley School of Education Leadership Programs division as the Associate Director of the 21^st Century California School Leadership Academy (21CSLA) State Center in 2020. She also runs her own consulting company Process Makes Perfect, specializing in real world solutions for practitioners in the field. Kim consults, writes, and presents internationally on systems change and emerging trends in educational leadership. An award-winning, innovative educator, Kim leverages her abilities in educational administration, program management, and relationship development to optimize institutional effectiveness and deliver remarkable results.

Dr. Wallace’s book Leading the Launch: A Ten-Stage Process for Successful School District Initiatives was published by Solution Tree Press in 2021, followed by Leading Through an Equity Lens in 2023. Her upcoming book, Gamechanging Leadership in Action: An Educator’s Companion is in production with Routledge/Taylor & Francis (Fall 2025). Kim attended the University of California Santa Barbara for her undergraduate degree in history. She then earned her Master’s in Education (M.Ed.) at the University of California Los Angeles and culminated her educational goals with a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) from the University of California Davis.

Abstract

Data is only as effective as the use it is put to. Often, data collected in K-12 schools is siphoned from data lakes and warehouses to meet state and federal compliance requirements, rather than being collected with the intent to act upon it. As a result, schools have accumulated large datasets, but they still struggle to report on impactful progress for early student intervention.

With local control, schools have the opportunity to decide the story they wish to tell with their data. While meeting compliance requirements, there can be a duality in data collection, where the data is not always collected to be acted upon.

To address this challenge, the session used a workshop format to guide participants through answering 10 questions, the most crucial being, “What story do you want your data to tell?” Researchers often use these types of questions to determine data collection protocols and define hypotheses.

Ultimately, data must offer a TIP (Train, Interpret, Problem-solve) to its users. Data must help solve problems. If we cannot Train it, Interpret it, or use it to solve Problems, it is essentially useless.

Introduction

Yuk! Math! Like math, data is a love-hate relationship, until basic tenets help you to …Train , Interpret, and Problem-solve (TIP). There is ambivalence with data. Though we ravel in what it can do and what it can say, we hesitate to engage for fear of misunderstanding, error, or embarrassment from getting it wrong. Instead, we hire it out, pass it along, and leave collection and monitoring to someone else for someone else. The fact is when data is collected to meet an external purpose, retrofitting it to aid in intervention may be misleading at best. Recycling anything suggest the ‘thing’ is being used for something different than what it was intended. The same is true with data. Simply repurposing won’t get you the right answers to influence the change or progress you need to make. Therefore, we must know what is expected, what story we want to tell, and what impact or outcomes we want to see.

Engagement is required. And the below Worksheet will assist you in engaging your entire team in the process and the IDEAL model. Click here or below to download the Worksheet.

Basic Research

The IDEAL model (Identify, Define, Explore, Action, Look back) is a popular and simplistic approach used to engage with basic research tenets. The idea is that data collected must have a purpose and work to solve a problem. To ensure it does exactly that, it is essential to establish criteria for inclusion or exclusion and explore how best to collect and analyze the information for action. Once done, it is important to reflect on your progress to determine if more data is needed to tell a complete story or if variables must be removed. Remember, looking back is a must. Storytelling with data is only as accurate as the current data you have at that time. When new data is collected or presented, go back and revisit the process.

IDEAL - Research

☐ Identify – Find and Name Problem

☐ Define – Set Criteria (inclusion and exclusion)

☐ Explore – Collect and conduct analysis

☐ Action – Do something with it. How will you address the problem?

☐ Look Back – Monitor the change; verify if there are new variables

The IDEAL steps are a part of the scientific method. The method historically requires you observe something in a systematic way, then ask a question, form an opinion about it, make a prediction, conduct an experiment, and modify your prediction based on results.

Defining Your Attendance Improvement Story Components through 10 Quesions

Like artificial intelligence and machine learning, the goal is to define, train, interpret, expose, and use existing data to tell a story. Supervised learning and unsupervised learning are required. This means the criteria established will dictate what must be collected (supervised) but as you attempt to solve the problem, trends, and patterns will emerge (unsupervised) which together will tell your story. Below are 10 questions to address varied components of the Attendance Improvement story you want to tell and a rationale context for each question.

10 Questions in Addressing Chronic Absenteeism

SO WHAT? NOW WHAT?

☐ What or who else is needed?

☐ Which documents inform my data?

☐ Which data brings dollars?

Data Question Context

Why do I need data? OR What will I do with data?

Determining the why and what of data are essential components of storytelling. They establish a baseline to assess change; set the performance goals which enable measurement of success; aids in organizing the information to be collected and combine to tell a convincing story through examination of trends and patterns.

What story must data tell?

Assessing good or bad depends on the story we tell. The same is true for determining urgency or a call to action. Data is often used as a call to action. As a result, it must be strategic and relevant, include examples for audience to visualize the why, be intentional with visuals to distill data, and be communicate with the action needed. In sum, data visualization with compelling narratives help to comprehend data and act.

Who must know about the outcomes of data?

If data must move the audience to action, knowing the audience is as essential as reporting the result to stakeholders. Therefore the outcomes must be communicated to those from whom the data was taken, those who must take action, those who will benefit from the action, as well as those who will monitor the change. Data is only as good as what it communicates and who it impacts.

Where must the data come from or be stored?

The location from which the data comes dictates its accuracy and effectiveness. Though we may retrieve data from student information systems, local state departments, from students and teachers, or even from community, the best place to get and store data is from a system where all variables impacted or will be impacted or may change can be added and assessed. Everything you would want to know must be collected in variable form. This will change overtime therefore the system must be able to accommodate the change.

When do I need data and how often?

Data needs change all the time. Despite data collection occurring in regular cycles such as every month, every semester, or as the states requires; it should be collected as often as available but best assessed semi-annually or annually. This is important because data must be collected around interventions or organized changes. The outcome is the ability to spot patterns and trends so when compared we are aware of where and when to intervene. In addition to create change, we are aware of where old variables must be complemented or swapped out for new ones.

How do I know the data answers my questions?

Data can be used to answer any question. The key is, can it answer your question. As such, playing a role in data collection or siphoning data from one place to use elsewhere requires early attention. Not everyone must be on board with what you collect but you must create a hypothesis with the questions you hope to answer. This is the only way you can be sure the data will answer the questions you have. Identifying a hypothesis is a way of listing your problems and identifying the solutions you anticipate.

What actions do I plan to take with data?

After collecting and assessing data, action is necessary for it to have meaning. Revisiting the hypothesis can give direction but data users must take action by informing stakeholders, defining benchmarks, assessing if goals are being met, and planning for change. Most importantly, data evaluators must identify the areas where they would want to introduce intervention or new variables for the best impact from data action. The actions can be targeted and specific to what change you want to see, within the timeframe you have identified within your system.

How do I monitor change from data?

Monitoring change, resulting from data, is simple when we run trend analysis at regular cycles. Monitoring at the start and end of each cycle ensures accuracy and timely variable change. A cycle is defined as a period for collecting information determined by the data collector. Its best to establish your own monitoring plan with all stakeholders who collects, stores, and assesses data. The goal is to use what you collect to set benchmarks, confirm hypotheses, and run trend analysis.

What interventions can facilitate change?

So, you want to use the data to facilitate change? Any intervention can facilitate change; albeit negative or positive but its best to have variable-specific interventions. Intervention success is not dependent on the number of persons impacted or the cost but, on the change anticipated by the hypothesis. In fact, intervention success is dependent on the problem to solve. If there is a match between the problem and the solution, interventions are often effective to facilitate the desired change.

How do I report on and sustain the change?

To complete the cycle, we must share the findings with all stakeholders especially those who identified the problem. Determining what to share is as important as where to share. Sharing on social media, in written or online reports, and annual general meetings are good places to start.

Summary

Data matters! However, without guidance the story it tells can change based on who and what is asked. To use data effectively, it’s important to be clear on what data you need, the story you want to tell, outcomes you want, actions you plan to take, possible interventions, monitoring and reporting plan, and how to sustain change. No matter what, Train your data, find ways to Interpret, and make sure it always solves the problem you need it to solve or identify change. This process is called TIP – Train, Interpret, Problem-solve. In the end, use the EARS process as often as you can to assess success—Elicit, Amplify, Reinforce, and Start over with each change you want to see.

Resources

Perception of School Social Bonding – Instrument and Scoring
The International Network for Student Attendance (INSA) offers other questionnaires effective for absenteeism and attendance. Click on the + sign on the far right to get access to translation versions.
Raawee K12 Solutions with whom we partner: https://raaweek12.com.

About the Author

Attendance Team Collaboration

Teamwork is nothing new to the education field–it is a major part of the way we conduct the important business of educating children. Teachers are involved in grade-level or content area teams. Support and clerical staff work together on teams in the front office. Administrators operate on leadership teams at the district level. And there are teams on everything in between: from school climate committees to parent-teacher organizations to curriculum task forces to governing boards. But just because we’re all on teams doesn’t necessarily mean we automatically know how to interact, function, or execute our jobs or missions as one entity. Think about all of the teams you’ve participated on, either voluntarily or by assignment, and the qualities that made them successful…or not.

Team Building for Success

Building a high-performing attendance team can be a little more complex than groups that are affiliated by subject matter or job roles, since they tend to be multi-disciplinary, cross-functional, and far-reaching. However, they do passionately share the same goal: Improving attendance for our most marginalized students. Here are a few tips for creating and organizing a well-designed attendance team:

Think outside of the box when deciding whom to invite.

Obviously, you want to include the director of student services, a nurse or child welfare specialist, a site administrator from each grade span, a counselor, and attendance clerks, but also think about adding a student, parent/caregiver, student information system manager, and external community partners that also serve families. They can each add unique and valuable perspectives and offer creative solutions to consider as you craft your strategies and approaches to reduce truancies and chronic absenteeism.

Relationships don’t build themselves.

Though there are many pressing and urgent issues to attend to in your meetings, the work can be done much more effectively when team members know each other as human beings, learn to trust each other, and share their stories together. Spend some time exploring what draws each member to the work, why they care, what motivates them, and what they hope to accomplish by joining the team. These strong relationships will help people commit to coming to meetings and participating with their whole selves for the long term.

Know and state your purpose.

In early meetings, the team should establish norms, define appropriate goals and expectations, and establish a flexible decision-making process. It’s also important to communicate with each other openly, freely, and democratically. Consider leveling the playing field and breaking down barriers by using first names rather than titles or ranking. When issues are handled professionally and promptly and each member knows how their own part contributes to the whole, teams can cover more ground and make a greater impact on student attendance.

As the African proverb says “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. And since we have many miles to go before we sleep in the work of improving student attendance, it’s much more sustainable to do so as a team that works!

About the Presenter

Kim Wallace, Professional Educational Consultant & Author at Process Makes Perfect

Proactive Strategies

Take a break from the hamster wheel. Plan your year! Assess why you do what you do and the results you are getting. Intentionally defining and planning to prevent absenteeism requires methods and tools, partnerships and data interpretation, and social connections. The result of these factors lends itself to the content necessary to identify needed messaging strategies and influence change for measurable positive attendance improvement outcomes.

from EDMS Expert Series: 09/22/2022

Discussions in Preventing Absenteeism

Discussions of the importance of schooling and student attendance dates far back to 1635, in Boston. It was similar to the Free Grammar School of England. The Boston Latin School for boys was introduced to prepare students for college, although some like Benjamin Franklin dropped out (See here). Since then and now, there have been questions about how to prevent children from leaving or missing school. The study of school absenteeism, now being advanced worldwide by the International Network for School Attendance (INSA) and supported by various national organizations, is documenting scholarly research on forms, types, categories, and methods to examine school attendance and absenteeism. In fact, their earliest citation dates back to the 1980s with the first accessible article by Berney, Kolvin, Bhate, Garside, Jeans, Kay, & Scarth (1981) on school phobia in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The point is, we have been studying, examining, and trying to figure out how to prevent student absenteeism for centuries. With mountains of data, processes, ways, and means to approach at least one answer we have come to know that methods, tools, and messaging are the hallmark of any effective solution. Such solutions should be consistent and cyclical.

Accomplishing consistency in methods, tools, and messaging speculates, to prevent we must know.

Preventing is knowing!

We must know what we are preventing and what symptoms have been shown to indicate an interest in being absent or signals of willingness to be present. These can include psychosocial matters, home, academic, curriculum demands, functioning, time-based discipline, lesson absence, classroom climate, and more. Therefore, we should be asking “what matters?”

Absenteeism = All Experience

Knowing absenteeism equals the total sum of a students’ in-school and out-of-school experiences, then what matters is what happens in and out of school.

In and out of school means what matters for students regarding:

Attending – Presence and absence from school and curriculum
Participating – Engagement in or not in positive and negative school experiences
Bonding – Feeling attached, committed, involved, and believing in the value of school
Tracking – Who, what, and why track attendance and insights gleaned to improve
Sharing – Using information for benefit of students and shared for improvement for all

Knowing what matters in and out school offers us the opportunity to learn also that control matters. There are three forms of Direct control (rewards and punishment), Indirect control (pro-social relationships), and Internal control (personal compass). Finding and implementing tools and interventions to respond to these three (3) forms of control are sure ways to prevent school absenteeism.

Getting to outcomes however, requires us to have methods, tools and messaging.

Methods should assist in measurement of data and use of data lakes to report on all controls. It should …

Identify indicators: Ways to compare last year to this coming year; RaaWee data tools can help
Find Benchmarks: External partners to whom we can compare progress and set targets

Tools should ensure indirect control and should…

Give a temperature check on impact for students, staff, climate, and families. For all.
Whether it is MTSS, RTI, PBIS, RaaWee, your own solution or emerging solutions, measurable impact is the goal.

Messaging should meet students’ internal control needs and share what matters…

Convey the importance of schooling and celebrating presence.
Inform of current state and growth yet to come
Value partnership and relationships and role of all

When preventing is knowing, control matters. What matters is tracking methods, tools, and messaging in data lakes where consistent reports of impact from all controls can be gleaned and shared. The lives of our students and their families are in our hands. They must know why schooling, in various formats, matters and that we care.

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About the Author

Dr. Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, founder, lead consultant, and Chief Education Officer for Pivot Attendance Solutions, has inspired many administrators, educators, students, and school social workers as a past chair of the school’s concentration Masters Curriculum, tenured professor, and Director of the Bachelors for Social Work Program. Having worked closely with the Indiana Department of Education to assist school counselors in acquiring a school counselor license and coordinating curriculum mapping and application, she knows the intricacies of working with school-community partnerships. She has been a forerunner in responding to school absenteeism, truancy, and social bonding. She has over 30 years in youth development, 20 years in dropout and truancy, and more specifically, she brings over 12 years studying, researching, presenting, and writing about absenteeism locally, nationally, and internationally. In the US she is a leader in absenteeism and understanding school attendance problems and translating such into practice models for implementation. She is forging partnerships in colleges to establish the area as a formal field of study.