CFLeads Chronic Absence Network
In partnership with Attendance Works, CFLeads is concluding an innovative issue network with community teams in California to promote reading proficiency and better school performance in the early grades by reducing chronic absence and creating a local culture of regular school attendance.
The Chronic Absence Network is:
- An initiative to improve school attendance and advance needed local or state policy reforms by analyzing local data and identifying and building on what is already working;
- A chance to build community teams of community foundations, schools, and parents to work together on an important education issue; and
- A peer-focused, cross-sector learning opportunity designed to strengthen the community leadership capacity of community foundations.
The participating community foundations in California are:
- Fresno Regional Foundation
- Marin Community Foundation
- The San Francisco Foundation
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Progress to date includes:
- Each team conducting a data analysis that they have used to guide and drive their work.
- One school district had nearly 50,000 more instructional days in the 2011-2012 school year resulting in increased revenue due to higher average daily attendance.
- One team has developed a district-wide attendance improvement plan and is connecting this work to other initiatives.
- One community foundation is encouraging other schools districts in their service area to conduct a chronic absence data analysis.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is the lead funder of this effort as part of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Interested in learning more about upcoming issue networks?
Contact Caroline Merenda, CFLeads Program Director, at cmerenda@cfleads.org
or 800-292-6149 ext. 610.