School and District Support

After reviewing the Attendance Dashboard, schools and districts can use the tools and resources below as a starting point for turning data insights into meaningful, actionable strategies to improve student attendance.

Each section represents a step schools can take to begin strengthening student attendance outcomes. Click the title of the section to explore the available resources:

• Step 1: Identify the Right Voices
• Step 2: Set a Common Purpose
• Step 3: Develop a Data-Driven Continuum of Supports
• Step 4: Communicate and Collaborate
• Step 5: Monitor Progress

 

Step 1: 
Identify the Right Voices

Who should be involved in the work?

Engage families, students, district and school staff, and the broader community to ensure the perspectives and strengths needed to collaborate effectively are present for the work ahead.

• Framework for Building Partnerships Among Schools, Families, and Communities
• Ohio’s Integrated Multi-Tiered System of Supports (iMTSS) framework
• The Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at The Ohio State University

 

Step 2: 
Set a Common Purpose

what do we want to accomplish?

Set a shared goal, align mindsets about the importance of attendance, clarify roles, and work together to remove barriers.

• Implementation Guide for School Leadership  
  • This implementation guide offers ready-to-use lessons for school leaders to facilitate professional development on attendance. Each 45-minute lesson includes slides, a worksheet, and a video. No specialized knowledge of attendance is required when leading these sessions. 
• Model Local Board Attendance Policy 
  • As of August 1, 2026, state law will require each school and district to establish a local board policy that includes a notification requirement regarding student absences, both excused and unexcused, at locally determined thresholds.
• Ohio's Attendance Guide
  • This guidance emphasizes the importance of focusing on early intervention and prevention strategies to improve student attendance by providing district- and school-level activities and resources. 
• Stay in the Game! Attendance Network 
  • The Stay in the Game! Attendance Network partners with schools and districts to strengthen attendance systems through collaboration, shared learning, proactive communication and engagement strategies, and data informed decision-making. Schools and districts work to develop and implement customized attendance strategies, analyze data to identify root causes, and engage in continuous improvement efforts. Schools and districts can join the Network through two participation pathways, All-Stars and Playmakers, both at no cost. Both pathways create opportunities for schools and districts to stay connected to the Network, strengthen local practices, and elevate the importance of regular attendance.

 

Step 3: 
Develop a Data-Driven
Continuum of Supports

What strategies will help us achieve our purpose?

Use data to identify barriers, design tailored strategies, and organize supports into core, targeted, and intensive tiers to meet student and family needs.

• Nationwide Children’s Hospital: When is Your Child Too Sick to Go to School?
  • Educators can use guidance from Nationwide Children’s Hospital to help families better understand when their children should stay home due to illness and when it is appropriate for them to attend school. 
• Attendance Data Reflection  
  • This data reflection tool can help schools and districts determine which attendance data sources to use. EMIS coordinators can contact their Information Technology Center (ITC) if a school or district needs support to gather certain data points.  
• Attendance Works Qualitative Data Resources  
  • This Attendance Works website offers a series of qualitative data examples and templates, including empathy interviews and student focus groups.  
• Ohio Supreme Court Toolkit: Developing an Effective School Attendance Program 
• Student Shadowing Toolkit 
  • Educators in Ohio can use this toolkit to gain a clearer perspective of a student’s day at school.  
• Attendance Playbook by FutureEd and Attendance Works 

 

Step 4: 
Communicate and Collaborate

What information can we share to drive progress?

Leverage early warning systems or data dashboards as a means of tracking trends in real time, comparing data across grade levels, and gathering input from families and community partners.

• Attendance Activities Plan Calendar 
  • Educators can use this calendar to plan attendance communications and strategies for the school year and help ensure they are meeting the needs of the schoolwide community.  
• Attendance Conversation Guides
  • These grade-specific guides are designed to help school staff engage students and families in supportive conversations about attendance. These discussions can reveal underlying factors affecting attendance and empower schools to respond to chronic absence with a strengths-based approach. Visit the Attendance Works webpage about the root causes of student absence to learn more. 
    • Student Guides
      • Conversation Guide for Students in Grades K-5
      • Conversation Guide for Students in Grades 6-8
      • Conversation Guide for Students in Grades 9-12
    • Family Guides
      • Conversation Guide for Families with Students in Grades K-5
      • Conversation Guide for Families with Students in Grades 6-8
      • Conversation Guide for Families with Students in Grades 9-12

• Sample Attendance Notifications for Families
  • Following their local board policy, schools and districts can use these notification templates to communicate with families about student attendance.
• Sample Habitually Truant Notification for Families
  • Schools and districts can use this sample template to inform students and families that a student has reached a habitual truancy threshold.

 

Step 5: 
Monitor Progress

What is working or not working?

Track the impact of core, targeted, and intensive supports on attendance, adjust strategies based on data, and ensure interventions remain responsive and effective.

• Ohio’s Attendance Dashboard
• Attendance Intervention Tracking Sheet 
  • Schools and districts providing targeted attendance interventions for students can use this tracking sheet to monitor and share student progress, as well as assign Tier 2 and 3 interventions.  

Last Modified: 5/15/2026 8:18:09 AM

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