Attendance Works

February 16th, 2012

Join Our Peer Learning Network, Early Learning Webinar Feb. 27

When we started Attendance Works two years ago, we knew about 30 to 40 researchers and practitioners working to reduce chronic absenteeism,  and we invited them all to join a peer learning network. Since then, we’ve met dozens of educators, advocates, policymakers and funders who are dedicated, as we are, to improving student achievement by reducing chronic absence.

We’ve also adjusted our notion of peer learning, expanding each webinar we offer to different audiences and benefitting from the unexpected contributions of folks across the country. So we’re inviting everyone involved or interested in improving attendance to join our network. Email Attendance Works technical assistance coordinator Cecelia Leong at cecelia@attendanceworks.org, browse through our webinar archive  or register for our next webinar on Feb. 27, from 2-3:30 EST.

The webinar, jointly sponsored with the federal Administration for Children and Families, will focus on why attendance starting in Pre-K matters for academic success and how early childhood programs can build a culture of attendance and help young children set the foundation for future learning. Our presenters include:

• Louise Wiener, President and Founder of Leadership and Learning with Families, who will discuss how the Perfectly Punctual Campaign marshaled the efforts of Head Start teachers, aides and parent volunteers to create a new mindset about the impact of attendance and punctuality on school readiness.
• Cecilia Robinson, Senior Director of Early Childhood Programs, and Cindy Decker, Senior Research Associate for Data and Accountability from the Community Action Project of Tulsa County, which manages Head Start and Early Head Start programs as well as the Oklahoma State Pilot Program serving children birth to three. In addition to describing their promising attendance practices, they will discuss the impact of improved attendance on early literacy development.
• Sandra Gutierrez, National Director of Families in Schools, who will talk about how her organization’s Abriendo Puertas / Opening Doors curriculum has been used in 28 states to educate Latino parents about their key role in their children’s early years of education and to empower parents to act as their children’s advocates.

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