November 11, 2022

Present in San Antonio: Highlights from the Second Power of Present Summit

Last week in San Antonio, district leaders from across the country gathered together at the Power of Present: A National Summit on Student Attendance & Engagement, hosted by EveryDay Labs in collaboration with Attendance Works. The event featured preeminent thought leaders in the education and attendance space who delivered inspiring and interactive keynotes with time built in to connect and reflect with other attendees. 

The Summit was centered around helping educators create a clear and intentional Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to improve attendance, and in turn, student outcomes.  Attendees workshoped their own MTSS, celebrated their winning strategies, uncovered gaps, and built an updated plan to bring back home.  These roundtables and workshops were led by the national experts at Attendance Works, Hedy Chang & Cecelia Leong, as well as members of the EveryDay Labs Professional Learning team, Cindy Welling & Emily Orngard. After two days of authentic collaboration and learning new strategies from across the field, attendees left feeling energized and excited to continue their important work within their district. 

Around 100 educators also tuned in to the keynotes via livestream. In case you missed it or want to share the recordings with a colleague, you will find each keynote below.

Serious Joy from School to Home and Back Again: Empowering Families for Student Achievement and Wellbeing

Presented by Pam Allyn, founder and CEO, Dewey

  

In this keynote, Pam Allyn:

  • Shares meaningful ways to engage families and communities for students to thrive in school and in life.
  • Empowers district leaders in developing joyful, lifelong learners within the classroom, the school, and the community.
  • Provides a strength-based framework focused on belonging, connectedness, and knowledge to transform family engagement into family empowerment districtwide.

Rising To The Challenge: Working Together To Promote Engagement and Attendance

Presented by Hedy N. Chang, Executive Director and President, Attendance Works

In this keynote, Hedy shares:

  • How to take a systemic, data-driven approach
  • The value of a cross-cutting, multi-tiered approach
  • The critical importance of shifting to positive problem solving and away from punitive action.

Policy to Practice: Sustaining Attendance and Engagement Post Relief Funding

Presented by Phyllis W. Jordan, Associate Director of FutureEd; Dr. Derek Little, Deputy Chief of Teaching and Learning, Dallas ISD 

In this keynote, Phyllis and Derek share:

  • The current state of federal funding related to sustaining attendance and engagement 
  • Results of the ongoing analysis on the impact of these funds in Dallas ISD
  • Key considerations for planning related to the sustainability of these initiatives

RESET: Restoring Every Student Every Teacher 

Presented by Shelneka A. Adams, Child Welfare and Attendance Liaison, Louisiana Department of Education 

In this keynote, Shelneka shares: 

  • The RESET framework, including restorative practices for addressing behavioral challenges and improving school culture
  • Lessons learned after implementing the RESET framework 

  

Putting it In Practice: Embedding Attendance Across MTSS

Presented by Chelsea Montgomery, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, Atlanta Public Schools

In this keynote, Chelsea shares

  • How she leveraged MTSS across Fulton County Schools to improve student outcomes 
  • Key tools and resources to support this work 

Getting students on track starts with attendance. We can help.