Through its "Ask an Expert" service, REL Southwest responds to requests from state and local education leaders for quick-turnaround, evidence-based information on topics that address high-leverage needs in the Southwest region. For this Ask an Expert, the New Mexico Public Education department requested strategies to address a persistent attendance challenge among English learner (EL) students that has not responded to broad, statewide attendance strategies. Despite significant state investments and a formal commitment to reduce chronic absenteeism, EL students have experienced the largest and most sustained increases in chronic absence since the pandemic, indicating that general approaches are insufficient. This resource is designed to deepen state leaders’ understanding of the root causes driving EL absenteeism and to support the development of targeted, linguistically and culturally responsive attendance strategies that align with New Mexico’s existing attendance systems.
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