The 50% Challenge: Crafting a State Road Map

Step 1: Organize a Team

Improving student attendance is a complex systems challenge that cannot be solved by a single program or department. To effectively reduce chronic absence in schools across the state, SEAs must organize a cross-functional team — supported by leadership authority and partner voice — that can coordinate strategy, align resources and build the capacity of districts and schools across diverse contexts.

In this step, SEAs will:

  1. Identify the functions that are needed to advance the state’s chronic absence goals
  2. Select team members

Purpose of the state team

To establish the infrastructure needed to:

  • Develop a unified statewide vision and priorities around attendance improvement
  • Align policies, guidance and resources to implement prevention and early intervention
  • Support districts and schools in addressing attendance through a tiered, systemic approach

Key ingredients for state teams

A strong state team ensures that statewide efforts are manageable, scalable and sustainable. This is done by aligning policy, guidance, resources, data and partnerships in support of all districts. These core functions represent the essential statewide tools needed to improve attendance at scale. The state team is responsible for ensuring each function is resourced, coordinated and continuously strengthened.

There are six key ingredients for systemic change that form the foundation for the functions of a state team: actionable data, capacity building, positive engagement, adequate resources, shared responsibility and strategic partnerships.

State teams: Implementing the key ingredients for systemic change

  • Actionable data. Ensure timely, accurate and disaggregated attendance information — both qualitative and quantitative — to identify needs, root causes and opportunities to improve student attendance outcomes.

  • Capacity building. Strengthen district and school ability to implement prevention-first, tiered strategies through guidance, professional learning, coaching and peer learning networks.

  • Positive engagement. Promote trust-building, asset-based messaging and practices that foster belonging, family partnership and student connectedness.

  • Adequate resources. Align funding, staffing and interventions to ensure all districts have the resources to address their needs and attendance barriers — prioritizing communities with the highest levels of chronic absence.

  • Shared responsibility. Ensure clarity and alignment of roles, expectations and supports across the SEA and with districts, families, and partner agencies and organizations so that everyone understands how they contribute to improving attendance and student success.

  • Strategic partnership. Coordinate with state agencies and organizations to address the underlying causes of absences and ensure supports extend in the community.

Critical roles for an effective state team

Although individual members will vary based on the state context, an effective state team includes individuals who represent a range of perspectives and expertise that reflect the statewide functions necessary to make progress on chronic absence goals. The team is ideally inclusive of individuals with formal leadership authority, program and workflow leaders, interagency specialists, cross-sector partners, educators and staff, families and youth. Click here to learn more about the roles and contributions of individual team members.

Sustaining team membership

State teams should plan for turnover and evolving needs by periodically reviewing whether the team continues to include the authority, expertise and perspectives necessary to advance the statewide functions for improving attendance. This includes tracking roles and contributions, identifying gaps in expertise or representation, establishing a clear process for integrating new members and refreshing membership at least annually to align with shifting priorities and staffing changes.

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