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All in for Attendance:

Collective action for public health strategies that address chronic absence.

Opportunity

A NEW APPROACH TO CHRONIC ABSENCE

More than one in four children in the U.S. are chronically absent, defined as missing 10% or more of their school days, putting their long-term learning health, development, and economic prospects at risk. Chronic absence affects all students, with significant disparities by geography, race, and socioeconomic status. Absences due to mental or physical health challenges are one of the most common contributors. The root causes of chronic absence including limited access to health care, housing instability, and family stress – arise from the broader social drivers of health and often originate outside of the school setting. It is common, however, to consider chronic absence as solely an educational issue.

There is an alternative perspective: seeing chronic absence as a public health challenge.

Taking a public health approach will help bring in new partners, leverage data to guide action, and encourage prevention-focused, cross sector strategies.

The Principles

THE PRINCIPLES

Cross-sector partners are encouraged to adopt three guiding principles to advance a public health approach to address chronic absence. These principles are intended for use by U.S. state and local education and health agencies; school district leaders; public health departments; health care providers; child welfare and human service agencies; policy makers; researchers; advocacy organizations; and community-based partners. They support cross-sector leaders working to create the conditions and systems needed to promote regular attendance and reduce chronic absence.

Principle 1Principle 2Principle 3

Principle 1.

Use school attendance data as a vital sign of student and system well-being to drive action

Action 1: Improve the quality of actionable data for decision making

Action 2: Strengthen the collective use of individual level attendance data

Action 3: Improve use of population data to inform strategic decision making

Principle 2.

Develop strategic partnerships to align goals and drive progress on reducing chronic absence

Action 1: Align goals across strategic partners

Action 2: Build trust and engagement through partnerships that support attendance

Action 3: Improve coordination of funding and service delivery to support sustainable attendance strategies

Principle 3.

Develop strengths-based policies and programs to promote school attendance and prevent chronic absence

Action 1: Use evidence to guide policy making

Action 2: Coordinate efforts to tackle the root causes of chronic absence

Action 3: Build and share the evidence base for prevention approaches through cross-sector research and evaluation

Download the White Paper
Download a One Page Summary

Tools and Resources

Tools and Resources

Resources

The Healthy Schools Campaign have published a resource ‘EVIDENCE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM’ which includes evidence-based practices and guidance for taking action to address some of the most common specific health needs linked to chronic absenteeism.

CARE in Action: How to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
How A Program that Connects Pediatricians With Schools Helps Prevent Chronic Absenteeism in Washington, DC

Contact Us

Email: [email protected]

Support

Support for this project was provided by:
Bloomberg American Health Initiative
Kaiser Permanente

Useful links

Attendance Works is a national nonprofit initiative that advances success in school and beyond for all students by reducing chronic absence. Its website offers a wide array of free materials, tools, research, and inspiring stories to help schools, districts, and communities work together to reduce chronic absence.

Kaiser Permanente’s Thriving Schools initiative works to strengthen the health and well-being of school communities across the country, so every school succeeds, every employee excels, and every child thrives.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Social Organization of Schools studies how the organization of schools directly impacts effectiveness, and how promoting equity and social justice increases student outcomes in school and long after.

Webinar

Click here to watch a virtual discussion highlighting the public health impacts of chronic absence on young people in America. Watch leaders in health and education share strategies to use chronic absence data as a shared outcome for health and education, develop strategic partnerships to drive progress, and implement policies and programs to prevent absenteeism and promote school attendance.

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