In partnership with the ADE, the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (AR¬ GLR), Attendance Works, and the Education Renewal Zones, a series of professional development opportunities have been developed for district and school administrators, teachers, and other personnel. The objectives of the workshop are to enhance participants' understanding of chronic absence, highlight the correlation between attendance and school-wide goals, understand the philosophy and functionality of the attendance team, examine a multi-tiered approach to addressing chronic absences, and use chronic absence data to determine attendance goals and interventions. This workshop works best when schools send a team of individuals that are likely to be part of their attendance team. This includes a principal or assistant principal, counselor, and an attendance clerk. Some schools may also include a social worker (if the school has one), a school nurse, a coordinated school health coordinator, or other staff who work on attendance. Time at the workshop will be spent analyzing data and developing strategies, so it is important to have as many members of the team as possible so the plan can be developed collectively. District-level staff that play supportive roles around attendance may also benefit from participating.
*Bring at least one laptop for your team, and directions will be sent prior to the workshop on how to download the needed data from ESchool to bring with you.