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Engaging Every Student: How to Address Absenteeism and Build Belonging

Mon., February 10, 2025, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
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Chronic absenteeism remains stubbornly high and getting students back in class has become a major conundrum for many schools.

The problem is undermining educators’ efforts to catch students up academically and could have wide-ranging negative effects on students’ long-term academic outcomes. To make matters worse, educators report that students’ and parents’ attitudes toward good attendance have shifted, with many now seeing it as less important. To get students back in class, experts say, schools must work hard to be places where kids want to spend time, and they must engage parents and guardians to address the problem.

How can educators help students develop a sense of belonging in their schools?

And ...How can schools make families partners in tackling the absenteeism problem?

In this webinar, Education Week will speak with experts in this field about these topics and more.

Speakers
Sharon Bradley
Director of Family and Social Services Plano Independent School District, TX
Sharon Bradley is a national educational consultant/speaker and director for Plano Independent School District where she has helped shape the district’s approach to social and emotional development and truancy prevention for all students. Throughout her 23 years in education, she has served as director, alternative high school principal, assistant principal, dropout prevention program coordinator, general education teacher, and special education teacher. In her current role, she supports programs such as: Character Development, Attendance/Chronic Absenteeism and Restorative Practices. Sharon Bradley has recently been recognized by Education-First and D Magazine for her innovative efforts of leveraging SEL to help decrease chronic absenteeism. Sharon is the author of the reference guide “Chronic Absenteeism: Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Schools, Families and Communities”. She is a graduate of Mississippi State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Special Education; and her master’s degree in Educational Administration from Prairie View A & M University.
Hedy N. Chang
Founder and Executive Director Founder and Executive Director, Attendance Works
Hedy Nai-Lin Chang is the founder and Executive Director of Attendance Works, a national and state level initiative aimed at advancing student success by addressing chronic absence. A skilled presenter, facilitator, researcher and writer, she co-authored the seminal report, Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades, as well as numerous other articles about student attendance. Deeply committed to promoting two-generation solutions to achieving a more just and equitable society, Hedy has spent more than three decades working in the fields of family support, family economic success, education and child development. She served as a senior program officer at the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund and as co-director of California Tomorrow, a nonprofit committed to drawing strength from cultural, linguistic and racial diversity. In February 2013, Hedy was named by the White House as a Champion of Change for her commitment to furthering African American Education.
My name is Jeanie Stark and I am honored and humbled to call myself an educator. I earned my bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a focus in Special Education from West Texas A&M University. I am highly qualified in the areas of Reading, Social Studies and Math at the elementary, middle and high school levels. During my 30 years as an educator, I have taught every grade Pre-K-12 with 25 of those years in the Special Education classroom and the last four years as the Student Success Systems Resource Coordinator (formally EWS) at Manzano High School. Each year from 2015-2018 I was recognized as an Exemplary Teacher by NMPED and in 2020 received the Golden Apple for Excellence in Teaching from the Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico. In 2021 I received my certification as a Data Wise Leader from Harvard University. Most recently in 2022 I received my certification as an Early Warning Systems Coordinator from Johns Hopkins University and Talent Development Secondary with Manzano High School receiving the distinction as a GRAD Partnership Spotlight School for our work in Early Warning Systems.

My teaching philosophy is very simple: students do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care. I feel that this is the philosophy that Student Success Systems embodies and the primary reason I am so excited to be a part of the work around Student Success Systems. Through Student Success Systems the trajectory of a student’s life can be changed by meeting one need at a time, by forming relationships that offer support, and by helping students believe in themselves. Through Student Success Systems, we can help create an environment where ALL STUDENTS are given the tools they need to be successful. Our students are the future and have unlimited value and WE MUST ALWAYS DO BETTER. To the Students of the World, I believe in you!
Moderators
Arianna Prothero
Reporter & Assistant Editor, Education Week

For all webinars broadcast by Education Week after August 1, 2019, Certificates of Completion are available to all registered live attendees who attend 53 minutes or more of this webinar. Educators can download a PDF certificate verifying 1 hour of Professional Development credit. As with all professional development hours delivered, Education Week recommends each educator verify ahead of the webinar broadcast that the content will qualify for professional development in your school, district, county, or state with your supervisor, human resources professional, and/or principal or superintendent’s office.

Education Week maintains sole editorial control over the selection of the guests and content for this virtual event. References to products or services in the course of this webinar do not constitute endorsements by Education Week or Editorial Projects in Education. A transcript will be available for download from the resource list within five business days after the event. Your e-mail address may be used to communicate with you about your registration, related products and services, and offers sent to you directly from sponsors. Use of your personal information is otherwise protected according to our privacy policy.

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