The Challenge of Chronic Absenteeism

Increasing rates of chronic absenteeism continue to be a major challenge for schools. If students aren’t in school, they can’t learn. In a roundtable discussion, three school leaders discuss what they’ve done to lessen the impact of chronic absenteeism. These leaders include Bebi Davis, a vice principal of Kawananakoa Middle School in Honolulu, HI, and the 2023 Hawaii Assistant Principal of the Year; Timothy Ray, an assistant principal of Charles Page High School in Sand Springs, OK, and the 2023 Oklahoma Assistant Principal of the Year; and Sharon U. Slater, an assistant principal of Ridgeland High School in Ridgeland, MS.

Guide Helps in the Aftermath of School Shootings

Gathering in Washington, D.C., a year after the release of “The Guide to Recovery,” a group of current and former school leaders who have experienced gun violence in their schools met with high-level federal officials to share their wisdom about how to improve school safety. The guide from NASSP’s Principal Recovery Network (PRN) distills the group’s collective wisdom about the most useful advice following a school shooting, much of which may be completely unfamiliar to anyone who hasn’t dealt with a similar crisis. “Our voice is very important, and people see that,” says Greg Johnson, the principal of West Liberty-Salem High School in West Liberty, OH, and co-​facilitator of the PRN. “This guide has taken our influence to another level and brought more attention to our group and what we’re doing.”

A Better Way to Track Volunteer Hours

The current method of counting student volunteer hours in schools is broken, and Scott Ganske has some ideas for how to improve it. Ganske, the vice president of partnerships at Youth Service America, outlines a four-part method of tracking a 50-hour service project from beginning to end. Under each of the following sections, he includes more details about how a project focused on mental health would be broken down:

  • Investigation, 20 hours
  • Planning, 13 hours
  • Action, 12 hours
  • Demonstration, 5 hours

Creating Just Communities

In honor of LGBT History Month—and at a time when the equal rights of LGBTQ+ individuals have become fodder for political debate—Georgia school leader Alastair Pullen shares the idea that community is the most powerful force we have to impact the lives of the children we serve. “I want to remind educators that the creation of community shows us that another world is possible, that there is a way to treat one another with genuine kindness, love, and respect—something we all know the world needs now more than ever,” says Pullen, who is transgender and a member of NASSP’s LGBTQ+ School Leaders Network. This month, he says, “we recognize the many transgender individuals (those we know and those we don’t) who contribute to the fabric of our society. I stand in solidarity with those who struggle to find their place in society, and in my work as an educator, I pursue equity at every turn.”