6 Tips for Getting More Teams on Board for Better Attendance

As a leader in attendance improvement, you understand the pivotal role attendance plays in student success. However, for your initiatives to be effective, it’s crucial that your entire school community understands and buys into their importance, beginning with your own team members. Read on for 6 tips to effectively galvanize and engage all school team members in improving attendance, ensuring they’re equipped and ready to implement your district’s vision for better attendance and student outcomes.

1. Crystalize Your Vision

Before spreading the good news of better attendance, take a moment to ensure that the vision and guiding principles for your improvement plan are clearly defined. This vision should articulate:

• Why Attendance Matters: With so many competing priorities, many may question why attendance should rise to the top. Highlighting the link between attendance and student achievement, social-emotional development, and overall school climate will be critical to get the buy-in you need.
• Illuminated Goals: Highlight specific objectives that the district aims to achieve, including desired attendance rates, chronic absenteeism rates, trends, and other related metrics that educators can ground themselves with as they measure how much they’re track to success. 
• Bonus Action Step: Create a one-page document summarizing your attendance philosophy and goals. Distribute this to staff ahead of training sessions to provide context.

2. Engage in Collaborative Training

As you roll out training and communications around your attendance improvement plans, be sure you’re building in space for open collaboration among staff members to enhance understanding and engagement. Strategies may include:

• Workshops and Breakout Sessions: Leveraging these interactive formats to discuss specific components of the attendance plan and allowing staff to brainstorm solutions to common challenges builds understanding and draws on the collective wisdom of the larger team.
• Peer Learning: Encourage teachers and staff to share their own strategies and success stories regarding attendance. This will continue to nurture a sense of community and shared purpose. 

3. Utilize Real Data

Incorporating data into your work sessions and communications can help illustrate the impact of attendance on student outcomes. This may include:

• Case Studies: Use shining examples from within the district or from similar districts that successfully improved attendance.
• Data Dashboards: Provide access to attendance data, allowing staff to visualize trends and identify areas needing improvement at the district, school, and student level. EveryDay Pro is a great tool to help you get started and sustain this work year after year. 

4. Offer Ongoing Support

Training shouldn’t be a one-off event. Continuous support and resources are key to reinforcing your vision for better attendance. You might want to consider:

• Regular Check-Ins: Schedule periodic follow-up sessions to discuss progress, share challenges, and refine strategies.
• Resource Hub: Create an online repository of training materials, best practices, and attendance resources for easy access. EveryDay Pro has these types of resources pre-loaded into the platform. 

5. Foster a Positive Attendance Culture

Encourage staff to actively contribute to a culture that values attendance. These initiatives could include:

• Attendance Celebrations: While tempting, perfect attendance awards can have the opposite impact of what was intended. Instead, recognize classrooms and individuals with high attendance improvements, or set individualized, attainable goals for everyone to work towards. Public acknowledgment and celebration will motivate both staff and students. You can find more ways districts are incentivizing attendance here. 
• Professional Development: Integrate attendance-related training into your ongoing professional development offerings, ensuring that it remains a focus throughout the year.

6. Solicit Feedback and Adapt

To continuously improve your initiatives and strategies, don’t forget to provide a forum for feedback. Some techniques may include:  

• Surveys and Questionnaires: Ask for insights on what worked well and what can be improved, and use relevant feedback to inform future strategies. 
• Focus Groups: Gather a small group of staff members to discuss their experiences with the overall district initiatives and any barriers they encounter.

By investing time and resources to get all teams on board with your district's attendance philosophy and improvement plan, you lay the groundwork for a more engaged learning environment. Clear communication, collaboration, and ongoing support are vital components that will empower school teams to take ownership of attendance initiatives. With all team members invested in attendance, you’ll be well on your way to fostering a school culture where students thrive—both in school and beyond.

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