Every Day Counts
Date:
September 18, 2014
Location:
Salt Lake City,
UT
Policy Forum
Developing Utah Solutions to Increase Attendance and Improve Student Outcomes
Sponsored by the Utah State Office of Education and REL West at WestEd, this forum for education decision-makers and policymakers explored ways to decrease student chronic absence from school to improve their outcomes. Learning from research and practice, participants worked together to develop and recommend effective and supportive attendance policies at the state and local levels.
Event Highlights:
- Research on how K-12 attendance is related to academic and graduation outcomes for Utah's students
- Remarks from Utah Interim Superindendent of Public Instruction Joel Coleman
- Remarks from Utah Lt. Governor Spencer J. Cox
- Keynote address by Hedy Chang, Director of Attendance Works
- Lunchtime address by Ralph Smith, Managing Director of The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
- Panelists representing national, state, and local efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism
- Opportunities to shape state and local policy
See videos of these speakers and the panel, as well as transcripts of these sessions below.
Planning partners also included Voices for Utah Children, the United Way of Salt Lake, and the Utah Education Policy Center at the University of Utah.
This event built on Every Day Counts, a September 2013 event, and a statewide awareness campaign to reduce school absences.
A selection of research on student attendance in Utah and the nation that was shared at the event includes:
- Attendance and the Early Grades: A Two-Generation Issue (2014)
- Research Brief: Chronic Absenteeism (2012)
- Chronic Elementary Absenteeism: A Problem Hidden in Plain Sight (2011)
- Making the Case for Tracking Chronic Absence (2012), a research summary on chronic absence prepared by Attendance Works
For more information, please contact Kenwyn Derby, kderby@wested.org.
Details
Date
September 18, 2014
Location
Grand America Hotel
Salt Lake City, Utah
Contact Information
Kenwyn Derby
kderby@wested.org