How to Improve Student Attendance in Schools

Understanding the causes of chronic absenteeism and acting to improve attendance present huge challenges for building and district leaders. 

And the challenges have only grown: chronic absenteeism has doubled from pre-pandemic rates to around 16 million students in 2022. Attendance matters because chronic absenteeism correlates with negative outcomes such as lower test scores or dropping out. 

Educators, researchers, and policy makers are all struggling to address chronic absenteeism. That’s why we’ve gathered resources to support you, including evidence-based attendance interventions.

Download Your Decreasing Absenteeism Toolkit

Ways to Improve Attendance in Schools

There are several different approaches that can be taken to reduce chronic absenteeism and improve attendance in schools. In this blog, we break down some of the most impactful ways that schools can improve attendance: 

• Notification based interventions
• Mentoring based interventions

1. Nudge Letters
2. Attendance Postcards
3. Attendance Groups
4. Check and Connect

2 Types of Attendance Interventions

Despite the strong focus on improving attendance, researchers have identified relatively few evidence-based approaches. Two of these approaches are:

• Notification-based interventions
• Mentoring-based interventions 

Notification-based interventions are fairly simple to implement. They include both sharing with family members how many school days a student has been absent, as well as underscoring the importance of regular attendance.

Mentoring-based interventions are more resource-intensive. They aim to increase engagement for students who don’t feel as connected to school.

To match the correct type of support strategy with a student in need of support, it helps to take time to understand the root cause of chronic absenteeism for that student. It may be located within or outside of the school environment.

Below are four examples of evidence-based attendance interventions.

How To Use The Intervention Guides

Educators who download our Decreasing Absenteeism Toolkit can access and share these intervention guides as well as templates and a guide to using data to identify attendance trends and the students who need additional attendance support. 

Some ideas for sharing these resources with your school and district teams: 

• District Leaders: Incorporate these strategies into your district-wide intervention menu. Share these resources with your school teams and consider ways to consistently implement interventions districtwide.
• School Leaders: Bring these strategies to PLCs, staff meetings, or MTSS and Student Support team meetings to share with staff and support students at every tier.
• Classroom Teachers and Support Staff: Try these activities in class, small group, or individual settings to support the engagement and academic growth of every student.

Nudge Letters: An Example Evidence-Based Attendance Intervention 

About This Strategy:

Nudge Letters is an intervention focused on communicating about a student's absenteeism with parents or guardians. Information about the child’s attendance is provided to family members through brief postcards, letters, text messages, phone calls, or email. Nudging is an inexpensive and effective means of reducing chronic absenteeism. 

The goals of this intervention include:

• Engaging parents or guardians in their child's school attendance.
• Reducing student absenteeism by providing actionable insights and encouragement through letters.

Preparation:

• Confirm that current attendance data is accurate. 
• Determine family members’ preferred means of contact.

Instructions:

1. Identify Target Students

• • Review attendance records to identify students who have missed more than the acceptable number of days according to your school's policy. 
  • Different states and districts have different thresholds for what constitutes "chronic absence" but most define it as missing 10% or greater of the total number of days enrolled during the school year for any reason.
  • Compile a list of students that are struggling with attendance, along with their attendance records and parent/guardian contact information.

2. Determine a Communication Cadence

• • Decide when and how frequently parents will receive information about their student’s absences. Follow this policy consistently.

3. Personalize the Nudge Letter

• • Using this pre-designed Nudge Letter template as a starting point, create a customized letter for a specific student.
  • Insert the student's specific attendance data in the designated areas of the template.
  • Add any additional resources available to students and families at your school that might be supportive for attendance purposes (e.g., home visits, afterschool programming, etc.).
  • Ensure that a brief message about the importance of regular school attendance is included. Provide one way that parents can contact the school in response to the message (for example, a phone number or an email address).

4. Send Letters

• • Nudge Letters can be sent home with a student, mailed to their family as a postcard, shared via email, or messaged via text.

5. Follow-Up

• • After the letters have been sent, mark a follow-up date on your calendar for two to three weeks later.
  • On the follow-up date, review the attendance records of the students who received the Nudge Letters.
  • If improvement is noted, consider sending a positive reinforcement note. If no improvement is noted, prepare for further intervention, such as a follow-up letter or phone call.

Attendance Postcard: An Example Evidence-Based Attendance Intervention

About This Strategy:

This intervention focuses on sending Attendance Postcards to parents or guardians to increase their awareness of their child’s absences and encourage proactive involvement.

Preparation: Download or create an Attendance Postcard template that includes fields for the student’s name, number of absences, and resources/suggestions for improvement. Prepare a list of students who have been absent more than a certain number of days (e.g., 5 days in a semester).

Instructions: 

1. Identify Target Students 

• • Use attendance data to identify students who have been absent more than the predetermined number of days. 

2. Personalize Attendance Postcard 

• • Use the template to complete the Attendance Postcard for each identified student, filling in the specific details. 
  • The message should be framed positively and include a gentle reminder about the importance of attendance, the number of days the student has missed, and additional resources to support the family.

Attendance Groups: An Example Evidence-Based Attendance Intervention 

About This Strategy:

This intervention aims to use Attendance Groups as a means of positively reinforcing students to increase their engagement and attendance in school. Attendance Groups operate on the idea that students who feel involved and inspired are more inclined to attend school regularly. These groups serve as a form of positive encouragement to boost students’ active participation in school.

Preparation: Identify students who are struggling to attend school consistently. Prepare a Reward Chart to track attendance and participation in the Attendance Groups. 

Instructions: 

1. Form Attendance Groups 

• • Divide the identified students into small groups of 4-6. These groups should meet weekly for at least four consecutive months. 
  • Educator Script: “Think of these groups as your ‘Attendance Squad.’ You’ll be supporting each other to improve attendance and engagement.” 

2. Introduce the Reward Chart 

• • Discuss and set achievable goals for attendance and participation, along with corresponding rewards. Co-create these goals with students.
  • Show students the Reward Chart and explain how it will be used to track attendance and participation.
  • Educator Script: “This Reward Chart is like your scoreboard. The more you attend and participate, the more points your Attendance Squad earns.” 

3. Set Goals and Rewards 
   • Discuss and set achievable goals for attendance and participation, along with corresponding rewards. Co-create these goals with students. 
   • Educator Script: “Goals are your game plan, and rewards are your trophies. Let’s set some achievable goals and exciting rewards to keep everyone motivated.” 

      4. Weekly Group Check-ins

• • Conduct weekly check-ins to discuss progress, challenges, and strategies for improvement.

  • In the group sessions, students establish attendance objectives for the week and interact with their peers. The group takes part in diverse activities aimed at boosting both self esteem and active involvement in school. 

  •  Activities can range from filling out worksheets centered on goals, engaging in games, activities that build self-confidence, earning rewards, filling out attendance records, self monitoring of attendance, and exercises that focus on problem-solving. 

     5. Distribution Awards

• • Give out rewards based on the Reward Chart during the weekly check-ins. 

  • Educator Script: “It’s trophy time! Let’s celebrate your achievements and keep the momentum going.”

Check and Connect: An Example Evidence-Based Attendance Intervention 

About This Strategy:

Check and Connect is an intervention focused on building a trusting, supportive relationship with a mentor to help K-12 students who show signs of disengagement with school (such as poor attendance, behavioral issues, and/or low grades).

Instructions: 

1. The Mentor 

• • This is an individual assigned to a specific student for the purpose of building a strong relationship with them. This relationship is developed over time, with a focus on long-term success at school and with learning. 

2. The “Check” 

• • The process where a mentor monitors student performance across attendance, behavior, and academics 

3. The “Connect” 

• • This refers to mentors providing personalized and timely interventions for the student that are designed to support skill-building in specific areas. These interventions should be informed by “check” data that is readily available to school personnel. 

4. Family Engagement 

• • Mentors deliberately partner with the student’s family and function as liaisons between home and school, striving to build authentic family-school partnerships and develop a two way communication system. 
  • Each week, the mentor spends approximately one hour performing the “Check” and “Connect” components of the intervention, along with other activities (engaging with family members, collaborating with school staff, or referring to resources) when appropriate.

What's Next?

When students regularly come to school they can learn and thrive. Learn what's working to reduce chronic absenteeism.

• Recommended Resource: Boston Public Schools and the Utah Board of Education are leveraging MTSS to understand and address attendance barriers. Learn what works from them and Attendance Works when you watch the on-demand webinar: Decreasing Absenteeism and Its Effects With Meaningful Strategies.
  
  
• Pro Tip: Use Panorama Student Success student attendance tracking to identify students who are chronically absent, and to create attendance intervention plans. Watch the Demo on Demand: Achieving Your Attendance Goals with Panorama Student Success.
  

Decreasing Absenteeism Toolkit

Panorama's Decreasing Absenteeism Toolkit includes these four evidence-based strategies with proven effectiveness when it comes to authentically engaging families and their students to improve attendance:

1. Nudge Letters

2. Attendance Postcard

3. Attendance Groups

4. Check and Connect

Each guide provides even more information about the strategy, recommended use in terms of MTSS tiers and developmental stages, and detailed implementation instructions. The toolkit also includes an attendance self-assessment for school teams, a nudge letter template, and a guide to improving student attendance with data analytics. 

Download The Free Decreasing Absenteeism Toolkit