As a trusted school leader, you can recommend changes in policy and resource allocation that will make it easier to reduce chronic absence. You will find policy and budget opportunities at every level of government, from the local school board to the state legislature.

Call for your district to provide real-time data to all schools. Ask your school district to track chronic absence data and provide data in real time to schools. If needed, share the free District Attendance Tracking Tools, which can help districts visualize patterns and quickly identify students or groups in need.

Advocate for coordination and sharing of best practices across schools. Call for opportunities to meet and coordinate attendance practices with other school administrators in your district, especially those who serve the same neighborhoods or a particular feeder pattern. These gatherings, which could be a component of existing principal meetings, can help identify common attendance challenges across schools in your area that may require a coordinated response. Coordinating with other schools can also ensure that your school receives information about incoming students with a prior history of poor attendance or chronic absence from the students’ original schools, including the type of support they may have already received.

Call for district leadership to address chronic absence. Encourage your local superintendent to lead efforts to reduce chronic absence and ensure that the district’s overall plan to improve engagement and learning integrates attendance strategies. If your district lacks clear attendance-related policies and protocols, advocate for creating consistent guidance to support developing and implementing effective practices across schools. As you review district policies, have your district leadership consider these questions:

• Which policies encourage learning and motivate showing up every day?
• Do some policies add to the problem by punishing students and families in a way that makes attending school more difficult and does not address the underlying cause of absence?
• What systemic district-wide effort provides training and technical assistance for all staff on creating a positive school climate that welcomes students and families?

Alert district leaders to problematic policies so that they can consider changing them.

Reach out to your local school board. Encourage your school board and city or town council to use chronic absence and attendance data when allocating resources for after-school, early learning and other programs. These approaches promote regular attendance and engagement in learning.

Learn about current local or state attendance policy and join with other administrators and professional associations to advocate for better policy. Research district and state policies and determine if they present systemic barriers to good attendance. Ask state legislators to support policies that increase tracking and reporting of chronic absence state-wide and to use chronic absence data in accountability metrics and allocation of resources.