This is a guest blog post by Amanda Alexander, Chief Academic Officer, Scholastic Education

For more than 100 years, Scholastic has remained steadfast in its commitment to helping children make sense of the world and their unique place in it through rich literature. We strive to ensure all children have equitable access to authentic and engaging stories that help them learn to read and love to read. Supporting educators in achieving better outcomes for their students is also core to our mission. This is why Scholastic is enthusiastic about supporting the 2024 Attendance Awareness Campaign, spearheaded by Attendance Works, whose efforts to combat chronic absence nationwide represent a crucial first step in nurturing the next generation of leaders and thinkers.

School attendance is fundamental to academic success. Foundational literacy skills are acquired in the early grades. The skills are necessary for students to thrive in all subjects during their entire schooling experience and beyond. When children fail to attend school regularly, they risk falling behind. It can be difficult for some students to catch up, increasing the likelihood of long-term consequences, including dropping out.

By leveraging our reach to expand knowledge of the Attendance Awareness Campaign, we aim to help our district and school partners uncover the root causes of absenteeism in their communities. When districts understand the root causes of student absenteeism, they are better equipped to address it effectively.

Scholastic is also uniquely positioned to help our partners tackle absenteeism, particularly when disengagement or aversion are the root causes. As much of the research suggests, Scholastic has found that collaborating across family, school and community lines has a profound impact on increasing attendance and academic achievement. This research specifically demonstrated that schools with strong pre-existing family engagement experienced a 39% lower chronic absence rate in 2021–2022 than similar schools with weaker family engagement. Students with engaged families have been shown to not only have better attendance rates but also more positive attitudes about learning and higher rates of graduation.

This is why some of the most successful districts understand that family, school and community engagement are key to their overall instructional strategy. Scholastic supports many of these districts to focus on a comprehensive approach to enhance attendance and improve learning outcomes on four research-based practices:

• Welcoming and Engaging all students and their families through responsive learning environments.
• Elevating Staff to build strong, trusting relationships with students and families centered on academic outcomes.
• Empowering Families with the tools, resources, and confidence to participate in and support their child’s learning.
• Partnering with Community and organizations to expand literacy and responsive instruction.

  We have learned that there are multiple reasons why students are chronically absent. Given Attendance Works’ reputation in the space, Scholastic is proud to join with them and their campaign partners to employ comprehensive strategies needed to get students back in school.

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