Research, experience and common sense support the currently shared assumptions that school attendance is related to school success. As a consequence, chronic absence has been identified as a major contributor to academic gaps. As chronic absenteeism has spiked in recent years, student progress has fallen and post-pandemic recovery has remained sluggish despite significant investment and coordinated efforts. Since the pandemic, norms around work and learning have shifted dramatically with rising interest in 4-day school weeks, hybrid learning, micro-schools and other innovations — approaches that are shaking up the idea of showing up at school every day. At the same time, a growing number of parents are choosing home schooling and leveraging the expansion of Education Savings Account policies to join a “parent choice” movement that is shifting away from traditional public schools. In the midst of all those changes, we still know that school attendance remains an essential part of students’ learning and development. And for many students who are lower income, school is also a lifeline of access to meaningful relationships, basic supports like food and the Internet, and more, exposing the long-understated truth that school is as much a place for social connection and supports as it is for learning and development. Against this backdrop, this session will investigate two essential questions: How can and must the understanding of attendance adapt to a more varied learning environment? And how do we ensure that all students — especially those in economically challenged, fragile and otherwise marginalized families — experience the support, encouragement and ability to attend school every day and engage in learning, however that may look? Join us for this thought-provoking and timely conversation that will help you start thinking and working on attendance differently.
