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Attendance Reset: Moving from Chronic Absenteeism Data to District Action
Thursday, August 6, 2026 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT
Presented by Dr. Baron R. Davis, Former Superintendent, Current Senior Advisor, Digital Promise
Sponsored by Digital Promise Collaborative Innovation Studio
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Chronic absenteeism remains one of the most persistent challenges facing school systems today—and for many districts, the problem is not a lack of effort. Teams are already tracking data, running interventions, making calls, and visiting homes. Yet attendance patterns remain stubbornly elevated, uneven across schools, and difficult to shift.
The problem is often that a clear, shared understanding of what is actually driving absenteeism in the local context hasn’t yet been developed. Chronic absenteeism improves when districts move from asking, “How do we get students to show up?” to asking, “What is happening in the lives, experiences, schools, and systems surrounding students that is making attendance difficult, inconsistent, or disconnected from success?”
This edWebinar reframes the challenge and explores why chronic absenteeism should be treated as a system challenge, not only an attendance issue. During this session, district and school leaders discover why many well-intentioned attendance efforts stall, what a stronger diagnostic process looks like, and how to build the cross-functional ownership needed to make real progress before the school year begins.
Viewers leave with:
- A framework for moving from attendance data to root cause diagnosis
- Language for building a sharper, more actionable problem statement that drives stronger strategies
- Practical next steps for aligning the right people and entering the school year with a focused action framework
This edWebinar is of interest to K-12 educators, superintendents, cabinet leaders, principals, student services and attendance teams, and anyone responsible for improving student outcomes at the district or school level.
About the Presenter
Dr. Baron R. Davis is a Senior Advisor at Digital Promise, where he champions cutting-edge solutions to address challenges like student absenteeism and rural economic mobility through collaborative innovation practices. Dr. Davis—formerly Superintendent of Richland School District Two—is a transformative educational leader, celebrated humanitarian, and innovative strategist with nearly three decades of experience driving meaningful change in K-12 education and beyond.
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Join The Digital Promise Future of Learning community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
The Collaborative Innovation Studio is a professional service from Digital Promise supporting schools, districts, and communities in developing bold, sustainable education solutions alongside students and families. Through workshops and personalized programs, the Collab Studio creates opportunities to learn and experience our game-changing co-research and co-design process. Learn more about the benefits of choosing Collaborative Innovation.
