The New Jersey Department of Education recognizes the importance of regular attendance as a crucial step toward bolstering student achievement. To support schools and districts in their efforts to prevent and address chronic absenteeism, it developed the Conditions for Learning: Promoting Regular Student Attendance and Addressing Chronic Absenteeism webpage, which contains a collection of resources and guidance on reducing absenteeism and promoting regular attendance.
Announcing the New “Conditions for Learning” Webpage
The Conditions for Learning webpage includes the following collections of resources:
- Addressing Chronic Absenteeism Guidance: See Data-Based Decision Making for Addressing Chronic Absenteeism, which offers a roadmap for developing data driven action plans (PDF/Word) to combat the challenges contributing to absenteeism.
- School Climate and Culture: Access tools to cultivate an environment where every student feels safe, supported and engaged, thus encouraging regular attendance.
- New Jersey Tiered System of Supports: Leverage this framework to efficiently allocate resources and provide targeted interventions for students’ academic, behavioral and social- emotional needs.
- Maximizing Federal Funds: Discover how to effectively use federal funds to establish comprehensive support systems that address the root causes of absenteeism.
Under P.L. 2018, c.23, schools are required to devise a corrective action plan for improving attendance rates if 10% or more of students are identified as chronically absent. This plan must incorporate feedback from parents and caregivers of enrolled students. This serves as a checkpoint to ensure targeted supports are provided to all groups of students affected by chronic absenteeism, and it enhances parent engagement in strategies to improve attendance.
Refer to the full advisory from the NJDOE for additional information.
For additional questions, please contact the Office of Student Support Services via email.