Strong attendance and academic performance are closely tied.

When chronic absenteeism is affecting more than 50% of students in some schools, county offices of education have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to lead the charge. That’s exactly what Elizabeth Bartholomew from the Riverside County Office of Education (COE) is doing. After relaunching an annual attendance summit post-COVID, Riverside COE has created a powerful model for how COEs can build momentum across districts, exchange best practices, and make attendance improvement a shared, energized priority. Here are key takeaways and actionable ideas from Elizabeth’s approach that other COE leaders can use to plan their own successful attendance-focused events—and how EveryDay Labs can help.

The Tangipahoa Parish School System (TPSS) serves 19,200 students across 34 campuses in southeastern Louisiana. After the pandemic it became clear that low student attendance was getting in the way of academic achievement. In the 23-24 school year, over 37% of Tangipahoa students were chronically absent, missing 10% or more school days. Recognizing that addressing chronic absenteeism would be necessary in order to increase academic achievement, Superintendent Melissa Stilley prioritized improvement as one of three strategic “rocks”, and TPSS launched a partnership with EveryDay Labs in 2024. The partnership was part of a pilot funded by the Louisiana State Department of Education to improve student attendance in select districts across the state. Over the first full year of the partnership, TPSS achieved incredible success, reducing the number of chronically absent students by 19% (6.8 percentage points), and increased attendance by over 43,000 days.

Educators are working overtime to get students back on track for academic success, and districts nationwide have invested in resources like new curricula, high-impact tutoring, and additional staff. But despite these new instructional investments, on average student academic performance is not where it needs to be, and it’s no coincidence that persistently high chronic absenteeism rates accompany these lagging results. What if we began with improving attendance and let academic achievement follow? If you’re still skeptical, read on to discover the clear connection between attendance and academics.

With so many demands on today’s educators, from nurturing a safe and welcoming school climate to addressing unfinished learning, good attendance may not seem like the top priority. But absenteeism can have far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the classroom. Read on as we dive into what's at stake when absenteeism is not properly addressed.

Consistent attendance is one of the most vital components of success, whether it’s a new gym routine or K-12 education. However, in the wake of the pandemic, chronic absenteeism has posed a formidable threat to student achievement. When students miss school, they lose valuable opportunities that translate to significantly negative impacts on their overall educational journey. Here are just three.