Monitoring Attendance in the 2021-22 school year
To respond to the challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic, Attendance Works promotes an expanded framework for monitoring attendance and the opportunity to learn. This is an evolving framework. Check back to this page for updates.
For the 2021-22 school year, we recommend adopting this framework, which advises monitoring five key metrics, Contact, Connectivity, Relationships, Prior Chronic Absence and Attendance (in-person and remote). Together, these data paint a holistic picture of whether students are positioned to benefit from current learning opportunities. They also alert schools and communities that timely action is needed when students face challenges to showing up to class.
The section below offers a deeper definition and rationale for our recommended metrics to monitor during the 2021-22 school year.
We do know that showing up matters, and that when students show up to learn, they are more likely to be able to stay on-track, stay engaged and meet major educational milestones. It is more essential than ever to measure attendance and notice which students are facing difficulties in showing up for learning. Our responsibility to use data for early warning, and ensure we are helping schools, students, and families solve the barriers to learning, is paramount to ensuring long-term recovery from this moment.
Updated August 4, 2021