The White House and the U.S. Department of Education co-hosted a roundtable on Tuesday to address chronic absenteeism in schools. The event was led by White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden and Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten. It brought together education leaders, researchers, and representatives from philanthropic, private sector, and non-profit organizations to discuss efforts to support states, districts, and community-based organizations in improving school attendance.
Several new commitments and resources were announced during the roundtable to aid this effort. The U.S. Department of Education released a resource highlighting model state attendance data systems designed to increase student attendance. This resource provides recommendations for state and local leaders as well as philanthropic entities.
The National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS) will support 23 additional Community Collaboration Challenge mini-grant awards in 2025 totaling $163,000 across 21 states. These grants aim to expand or pilot evidence-based student supports such as tutors, mentors, success coaches, wraparound support coordinators, and post-secondary transition coaches nationwide. NPSS is a public-private partnership involving the Department of Education, AmeriCorps, and Johns Hopkins University's Everyone Graduates Center.
Every Day Counts is a collaboration between NPSS and Project Unicorn that has prompted several education technology companies to develop new data features within their platforms at no extra cost. These features are intended to help educators identify struggling students, engage families, and foster supportive learning environments.
The Kresge Foundation published a resource summarizing leading practices on addressing chronic absenteeism through place-based approaches that involve community-based organizations working with government and philanthropic entities.
Researchers from multiple universities including The Ohio State University and University of Texas at Austin released "Before the Bell: Obstacles Preventing Children from Attending School," a resource aimed at recognizing out-of-school barriers contributing to absenteeism. This document encourages cross-agency collaboration among education leaders.
The Kresge Foundation along with the Annie E. Casey Foundation committed to convening future collaborations among roundtable participants to continue supporting local communities and districts in these efforts.
