The PSESD is excited to launch the Attendance and Engagement Network (A&EN) in January 2021. Over the summer and fall of 2020, the A&EN design team identified student, family, and community voice as a much-needed, but elusive element, in understanding how our education system is, or is not, meeting the needs of our students. While attendance has traditionally served as a proxy variable for engagement, it has always fallen short in specifically identifying root causes and gaps in our education system and supports. Collecting frequent and ongoing student voice allows teachers to quickly identify which strategies they use improve their relationships with students, increase student perception of the relevance of new learning to their future success, and to determine when students need immediate support in their safety and security.

Our network will also be working with families and local business, community organizations, and churches that surround each school to form better partnerships and pathways of supports for our students. Engaging local communities is critical to enlarging the network of supports we can provide to students and families, while also transforming support from a “who you know” basis to a systemic and transparent set of supports available to all students. The combination of student and community voice serves to elevate the narrative of our students, particularly our black and brown students and families who have historically felt unwelcome and excluded from school decision making in policies and practices. 

If you are interested in keeping up with our learning and the strategies, tools, and resources our network schools will be using over the Spring, sign-up for our Attendance & Engagement Network Connections opportunity: https://forms.gle/ZQTKJPxStsVZvNsDA.

This space will alert you of upcoming opportunities to engage with the A&EN synchronously and asynchronously and will provide additional space for community voice. This will also keep you up to date regarding upcoming opportunities for you and the schools and students you serve.

Early Warning Systems provide powerful tools for to shift educator practice in order to ensure that students stay on track for key academic milestones. By combining real-time predictive data with a coordinated response system, educators can identify and proactively engage students who may not be receiving the support necessary to stay on track for key academic milestones at both individual and system levels. PSESD is committed to providing regional support and technical assistance to support shifting educator practice and beliefs to ensure that all students achieve at high levels.

Attendance has been proven to be one of the most powerful predictors of academic achievement and can have a dramatic impact on key milestones, including third grade reading, ninth grade achievement, high school graduation, and postsecondary persistence. Chronic absenteeism is missing 10% of school, regardless of the reason. A focus on chronic absenteeism examines the link between loss of class time, academic achievement, and educator practice, including cultivating authentic relationships with students, families, and community organizations. An awareness of chronic absenteeism and its potential impact will empower students, families, and communities to make informed decisions regarding missing school.