Before the Bell: Obstacles Preventing Children from Attending School

This collaborative issue brief synthesizes the research on barriers to regular school attendance and identifies how schools, communities, and other government agencies can work together to improve the conditions for student attendance across students’ ecosystems. The following scholars contributed to this brief: Arya Ansari (Ohio State University); Joshua Childs (University of Texas at Austin); Kevin Gee (University of California Davis); Michael Gottfried (University of Pennsylvania); Ethan Hutt (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill); and Sarah Winchell Lenhoff (Wayne State University).

Research and Resources to Support Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Every School Day Counts Detroit is a community-led collective impact effort to improve the conditions that impact student attendance and engagement in Detroit. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have worked with partners across the city to identify student needs, provide social supports, and ensure that students had the technology and other resources they needed to engage school during school closures. We gathered these research findings and resources to support school leaders as they prepare to meet students’ needs during the school year, whether students will be in face-to-face instruction or in distance learning.