The fourth and final webinar of the 2024 Attendance Awareness Campaign, “Leadership for Sustainability: Superintendents Making a Difference,” (September 25, 2024), heard from local and state superintendents who are leading efforts to reduce absenteeism and engage students and families in school. The webinar also explored a new Ad Council survey on family attitudes towards attendance and tips on how to message about chronic absence.
Listen to the webinar recording, and find the presentation slides and chat room summary, when you scroll down this page.
Kwesi Rollins, Vice President of the Institute for Educational Leadership, opened the webinar by emphasizing the importance of leadership in addressing absenteeism. Moderator Hedy Chang, Executive Director of Attendance Works, noted that while chronic absence nearly doubled during the pandemic, data from the 2023-2024 school year shows that rates are starting to decline. Reducing chronic absence requires a sustained, long-term effort and superintendents are pivotal in leading this change, Chang said. Schools can make meaningful progress by fostering a culture of trust, support and engagement.
Derrick Feldmann, Managing Director of the Ad Council Research Institute, presented findings from research conducted over the summer on post-pandemic attendance messaging. He emphasized the importance of framing attendance messaging around the positive opportunities students have when attending school regularly, rather than focusing solely on the consequences of absences.
Dr. Andrés Zamora, Superintendent of Livingston Union School District in California, discussed his district-wide approach that has resulted in significant improvements, including a 4.86% reduction in absenteeism over the past year. He credited consistent messaging and efforts to engage families in the community as key strategies. Zamora explained that his district’s diverse student population, including many migrant families, requires targeted support and a collaborative effort involving teachers, counselors and attendance clerks.
Dr. Tiffany Anderson, Superintendent of Topeka Public Schools in Kansas, talked about district efforts that resulted in chronic absence rates drop as low as 9% in some schools. She focused on how the district is creating systems that heal rather than punish. Topeka Public Schools utilizes wraparound services such as mobile food pantries, free laundry services and mental health supports to address the root causes of absenteeism.
Dr. Angela Chapman, Superintendent and CEO of Columbus City Schools in Ohio, discussed how her district reduced chronic absence rates from 75% during the height of the pandemic to 54% through a variety of approaches including community partnerships and enhanced data tracking. Chapman stressed the importance of embedding attendance goals into school improvement plans and leveraging local partnerships, such as those with the Columbus Rotary, Columbus Public Health Department and the Columbus Clippers to support their attendance awareness campaign.
- Miss a webinar? Access the recordings, presentation slide and discussion guides from all four webinars in the series here!
We greatly appreciate Kaiser Permanente’s Thriving Schools, Scholastic, and School Technology Associates Inc. for their generous support of the 2024 Attendance Awareness Campaign and this webinar. We could not have held this event without their support.