Monthly Tips (September): Building a Tiered Attendance Strategy to Start the Year Strong

EveryDay Labs kicked off the 2025–26 school year with a webinar for community members on using multi-tiered strategies to improve student attendance. Emily Orngard, Director of Learning, shared how districts can leverage the EveryDay Labs platform, resources, and community to put prevention at the heart of their attendance work. Here are some key takeaways:

1. Strengthen Tier 1 Supports

• Normalize showing up every day: Use universal, positive messaging to all families through nudges and campaigns.
• Monitor real-time data: Use the EveryDay Labs dashboard to track patterns, such as dips on certain days of the week, and respond quickly with incentives or engagement.
• Communicate policies clearly: Share a simple, one-page resource with families that explains absence policies, how to excuse absences, and why attendance matters.

2. Act Early at Tier 2

• Identify “early absence” students: Use filters to find students missing days in the first month of school—these students are at high risk of becoming chronically absent.
• Combine risk factors: Focus attention on students who had chronic absences last year and are already missing days this year.
• Organize intervention groups: Use the grouping tool in the platform to assign targeted supports like small-group outreach or check-ins.

3. Intensify Supports for Tier 3

• Prioritize students missing 20%+ of school: These students need immediate, high-touch interventions.
• Use evidence-based strategies: Home visits, attendance conferences, improvement plans, and check-in/check-out systems can make the biggest impact.
• Divide responsibility: Assign Tier 3 students to staff members so that support is consistent and manageable.

4. Launch and Empower Attendance Teams

• Build capacity beyond one person: Every school should have a functioning attendance team.
• Set clear goals: Use the attendance team self-assessment to identify strengths, gaps, and both short- and long-term goals.
• Use the resource center: Access guides, meeting agendas, and templates to launch or improve your team.

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