Sign Up for a Free Webinar on Improving Attendance in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
Chronic absenteeism is particularly high in the early grades, compared with elementary and middle school. For a young child to succeed and develop a strong foundation for learning, he or she must attend school regularly. REL Mid-Atlantic has partnered with the New Jersey Department of Education to create a new initiative called Go-Learn-Grow: Improving the School Attendance of New Jersey’s Youngest Learners. The initiative includes a user-friendly toolkit with resources for district and school leaders, early childhood providers, educators, and families. Find out in this webinar, held on November 21, how you can use the materials to improve school attendance in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. The presenters discussed how the toolkit can be used in New Jersey and across the country to:
- Help educators and families understand the importance of attendance in the early grades
- Encourage schools to gather and include data on preschool students when reporting chronic absenteeism rates on school report cards
- Help schools identify reasons for absenteeism in the early grades
- Provide guidance on selecting and implementing research-based strategies to improve attendance in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten
Participants learned about the toolkit that includes fact sheets for district and school leaders as well as user-friendly materials that can be used with parents and families.
Superintendents and assistant superintendents, state and local education agencies, early childhood providers, principals, teachers, school counselors, and many other educators will find this webinar useful in their work.
REL Mid-Atlantic presenters included the following:
- Martha Bleeker, Mathematica, Senior Researcher
- Jaimie Grazi, Mathematica, Survey Analyst
- Felicia Hurwitz, Mathematica, Survey Analyst
- Wendi Webster-O’Dell, New Jersey Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood Education, Coordinator for Parent and Family Engagement
