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College of Education

Attendance

Attendance = Success

Regular attendance is a critical part of a student's success in school. 

 

Everything you wanted to know about school attendance

  • Do you know how to tell if your child is considered chronically absent?
  • Did you know that your child could be considered truant with just three days of unexcused absences?
  • How can I communicate with my school to address concerns?

Find answers to all of these questions and more in our Everything You Wanted to Know About School Attendance Town Hall.

Hosted by the Carolina Family Engagement Center with SC Department of Education attendance experts, this Town Hall focuses on specific attendance-related answers for parents and families in South Carolina.

 

Resources

Family engagement is a key strategy in an overall plan to achieve improved attendance and on-time arrivals. The following are several of the many resources available online that can assist schools in addressing absenteeism and tardiness:

Attendance Playbook: Smart Solutions for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic

To help education policymakers and practitioners respond to the post-pandemic absenteeism crisis in the nation’s schools, FutureEd and Attendance Works have expanded their Attendance Playbook to reflect schools’ realities during and after the pandemic. The new analysis includes more than two dozen effective, readily scalable approaches covering topics ranging from family engagement to the value of attendance incentives, as well as students’ social and emotional well-being, a high priority for educators post-pandemic.

Attendance Works

As a non-profit initiative, Attendance Works collaborates with schools, districts, states, communities and organizations to ensure that everyone recognizes that chronic absence is a serious issue that can be addressed using a positive, problem-solving approach grounded in an understanding of educational inequities. Find resources, tips, and tools on their interactive website.

American Institutes for Research: Attendance Lab

AIR experts have studied the effectiveness of strategies and programs designed to mitigate chronic absenteeism and increase student engagement. Our experts also have worked with partners at the U.S. Department of Education and groups such as AttendanceWorks, to generate and share tools and resources that align with the 2024 Agenda to Improve Student Achievement. Read tips on ways teachers can help mitigate absenteeism.

Attendance Everyday Brochure

Developed by the South Carolina Department of Education Office of Student Intervention Services, this brochure highlights the attendance requirements required by South Carolina Law and explains the difference between lawful and unlawful absences.

Chronic Absenteeism - SC Department of Education

Beginning with the 2017-18 school year, a new definition of “absent” will be used to identify students who are chronically absent. As part of the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, districts and schools are required to report to the South Carolina Department of Education the number of students who are chronically absent each year. The South Carolina Department of Education outlines what levels of absenteeism qualify as "Chronic Absenteeism."

Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) Resources for Supporting Student Engagement and Attendance

IES has created four handouts that discuss research findings and research-based tools from across IES that educators and policymakers can use to improve student attendance and engagement

 

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