Best Practices for Improving Attendance

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Watch our collection of Attendance & Truancy videos on our YouTube playlist.

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On this page, you'll find best practices to help you in your attendance improvement work! Addressing attendance is most successful when using a multi-tiered approach. This integrated system connects all of the academic and non-academic interventions, supports, and services available in schools and communities to support instruction and eliminate barriers to learning and teaching. Visit the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) webpage for more information.

Data and Teaming

Assess your School's Attendance Systems

  • Use this brief self-assessment with your school team to assess your progress towards an attendance system and use the results to set your goals.
  • Attendance Team Assessment Template: Use this brief self-assessment with your school team to assess your school's overall progress towards addressing attendance comprehensively and use the results to set your goals

Establish or Identify your Team 

Start with your Data 

Tools for Small Tests of Improvement 

Small tests of change are quick, targeted trials that let schools pilot attendance strategies in a single classroom or grade to see what works before scaling up.

Tier 1 All Students: Building a Culture of Attendance

Tier 1 All Students:

This includes school-wide universal practices aimed at promoting a positive attendance culture for all students.

Building a Culture of Attendance

A culture of attendance is when a school universally communicates to families and students about the importance of attendance, why we want students to attend, how they will benefit when they attend, and the support they will receive when they experience barriers to attending.

Through continued strength-based communication and resources the below resources provide minimal lift, collectively they will start to build a foundation towards strong attendance and engagement. 

Taking Attendance

Taking daily attendance is vital for multiple reasons. It supports student safety by informing parents if their child’s where they are expected to be. Accurate attendance data helps schools identify patterns that can lead to attendance improvement. It also allows schools to support students and families who may need additional resources.  

  • Attendance Press Conference—Lincoln Nugent, a teacher at Selah High School, created a humorous video for staff that addressed the challenges and misconceptions surrounding the reliability of Tier 1 Attendance Data. 

Tracking Daily Attendance

Tracking daily attendance fosters accountability, highlights potential challenges, and links consistent attendance to academic success. It helps students build engagement habits and empowers parents to monitor and support their child’s progress. 

Define and Teach Good Attendance 

Defining and teaching attendance expectations raises awareness about its importance, fostering a culture of regular participation and engaging students, families, and schools in supporting success. 

  • In the same way we teach academics we can teach behavior, including attendance. Explicitly teaching students about attendance expectations contributes to greater success in this area.  
  • Does your school or district have a common definition of what good attendance is or have a threshold for Tier 1 attendance? If not, consider starting with this definition. Some schools use catchy slogans like "Strive for Five" or "171 days." Consider involving your staff, teachers, and families in the creation of this definition to create more engagement in this effort. 

Communicating to Families About Attendance

Effective communication with families about attendance fosters engagement and builds partnerships that support regular attendance. Clear and consistent messaging emphasizes the importance of attendance.  

  • The When is Your Child Too Sick for School? handout provides schools and families with information to help determine when to send their child to school or keep them home from school.
  • The Writing for Busy Readers provides six principles to enhance communication methods, making it easier for busy families to stay connected and support their child's education.  
  • The Ad Council Research Institute recently published research on how to communicate effectively with parents about absences and how to encourage them to attend. 
  • Introducing the Attendance Messaging Planning Tool, which helps you select a data-driven, strengths-based, research-informed key message while planning monthly communications, assigning roles, tracking details, and measuring impact. 
  • Parent Conversations for Attendance Conferences is a guide featuring step-by-step prompts for warm, supportive conversations about your child's attendance to foster effective family–school collaboration.
  • Find Handouts for Parents of all ages on the Attendance Works website.  

School Connectedness

When students feel a strong sense of belonging and connection to their school, they are more likely to attend regularly. By enhancing school connectedness, educators can create a positive atmosphere that encourages consistent attendance.  

Positive and Engaging School Climate

Celebrating and Incentivizing Good Attendance

Tier 2: Early Intervention (Small Group Supports)

Tier 2 (students missing 10% to 19% of the school year ~ approx. 15% of students):

Early interventions are provided for students with mild to moderate attendance challenges. 

Nudge Letters

Peer Mentors

  • Peer mentoring involves youth mentoring other youth, often an older student with a younger student, and can have significant positive benefits for both students. Read guidance on implementing peer mentoring programs.

Attendance Advisory

  • Building on the concept that attendance is a behavior, an attendance advisory is a Tier 2 group intervention that increases the skills needed to be present and on time. Find sample curriculum developed by Keithley Middle School in Franklin Pierce School District that teaches skills like sleep hygiene and time management.

For both excused and unexcused absences, early interventions that address the root cause are the most effective approach. Whether a parent conference, a phone call or a home visit, these conversations with families and students are opportunities to get curious and to seek to understand the underlying reasons for absences and devise solutions. For ideas that address specific barriers or root causes, please see the Root Causes page.

Early Interventions through Family & Student Problem Solving

Tier 3: Intensive Intervention (Individual Support)

Tier 3 (missing 20% or more of the school year ~ approx. 5% of students):

Intensive interventions are targeted at students with the most significant attendance difficulties.

Individualized Support

Tier 3 provides intensive, personalized assistance to students who miss school the most. Case management at Tier 3 ensures targeted support for students with the highest absenteeism rates, helping them overcome barriers and improve attendance.  

Check & Connect

Check & Connect is an evidence-based mentoring intervention that builds a strong relationship between the mentor and the student, offers individualized support, partners with families, and engages with the student on attendance, behavior, and grades. Read more about the Check & Connect program. 

Home Visits

Home visits are an excellent strategy to connect with families and students that are not attending school and may not be responding to other communication efforts.

See OSPI Home Visits Toolkit

Community Engagement Board

A Community Engagement Board (CEB) is a collaboration between schools, community partners, juvenile court, and the student and family. A CEB is intended to provide a supportive space where the student and family can openly discuss and identify the reasons behind student absences. It is also a place where the team can identify resources and supports to improve the student’s re-engagement in school and connection within their community.

Find OSPI’s guidance, videos and templates to support your district to implement Community Engagement Boards on the Truancy Supports and Resources webpage. 

Note: The Washington State Legislature changed the name of Community Truancy Boards (CTBs) to Community Engagement Boards (CEBs) effective September 2021

Plan for the Year
Real World Examples
Engaging Community Partners

Community members, organizations, and businesses are critical partners in this work. This work is not on schools alone; there are many willing helping hands. Here are a few ways that community partners can support students in attending school: 

  • prizes for incentive programs
  • advertising on reader boards 
  • posters in business windows 
  • volunteers for tutoring or mentoring 
  • participating on the community engagement board

Visit the Attendance Works website for more ideas on how community partners can be engaged to support attendance. 

ESD Attendance Support 

Several Educational Service Districts have Attendance and/or Reengagement Coordinators to provide regional support. 

Attendance Research
ESSER Attendance & Reengagement Lessons Learned

OSPI supported attendance & reengagement through the ESSER Attendance & Reengagement Project. Find out more by reading the Attendance and Reengagement Project Explainer.

Project Evaluation Case Studies