Count Us In! Attendance Works.

Launching Attendance Awareness Month Across The Nation Webinar
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
1:00 - 2:15pm Eastern Time

Register here by Monday, April 8!

Back to school is a critical time for sending the message that attending school every day counts during the school year. Join us in making this September Attendance Awareness Month in communities throughout the nation. Attend this webinar to find out how YOU can get involved! Chronic absence— missing 10% of the school year or just 2-3 days every month—can translate into 3rd graders unable to master reading, 6th graders failing courses and eventually even 9th graders dropping out of high school. The impact is the greatest on low-income students who lack the resources to make up for the lost time in the classroom. Together we can help students and families recognize how quickly absences add up to too much lost time in the classroom.

This webinar will highlight leaders in three cities – Baltimore, Los Angeles and New York – who have rallied parents, schools, city agencies, nonprofits, businesses and elected officials in their communities to promote and improve student attendance. They will share examples of how they have improved attendance and have given thousands of students a greater opportunity to learn and succeed.

The webinar will also feature specific tactics, as well as a set of online resources, to help you reach out to your community about Attendance Awareness Month, including ideas for special events, contests, proclamations, sample news releases, public service announcements, flyers, videos and more! Can we count on you to help?

Presenters:

Hedy Chang Director, Attendance Works

Debra Duardo Interim Executive Director, Student Health & Human Services, Los Angeles

Unified School District

Kimberly Manns Program Director, Baltimore Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

Peter Goldwasser Chief Program Officer, Office of Policy & Strategic Planning,Office of the Mayor, City of New York

The proud organizing partners of Attendance Awareness Month include:
Civic Enterprises

Attendance Works

America’s Promise Alliance

Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

Points of Light Institute

For more information about Attendance Awareness Month and to sign up to receive emails about this initiative, visit http://www.attendanceworks.org/attendancemonth/.

Counselors Know

Here's a good piece in HuffPo on the the role of school counselors.  I especially love their accolades for DC Prep, which is doing outstanding work for students in this city!  I'd push the author, Chavous, to think more about how counselors are used - with less emphasis on how many counselors we have.  He makes an accurate point that counselor-to-student ratios can be overwhelming (and as high as 1:800 in some places!), but the challenge is often more about defining the role - and goals - of counselors in a school.  Our research with the National Office of School Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA) showed that school counselors endorse a systemic college and career readiness mission for their field -- and their administrators agree.  This means counselors could focus on things that are linked to getting kids to college (like academic and financial planning)  and spend less time on being the "jack-of-all-trades" in schools (doing things they're often overqualifed to do, like lunch monitoring).  Then, even with big ratios, they can spend their time building systems to support all students in becoming  college and career ready.  Counselors are hugely valuable resources in our education system, in almost every school across America.  We need to get serious about using them more strategically - especially in tight fiscal times.  The good news - the research shows counselors are clear about how they can contribute to the college-and-career ready mission.  And organizations like ASCA and NOSCA are providing resources for counselors to be ever-more effective.