2025 BCASP Spring Virtual Workshop
Building a Culture of Attendance and Preventing Chronic Absenteeism
Jessica Sprick
Jessica Sprick has an M.S. in Special Education. She is an education consultant and Director of Development for Safe & Civil Schools and an author for Ancora Publishing, ASCD and Jossey-Bass Wiley. Jessica is a former special education teacher for students with intensive behavioral needs and Dean of Students at the middle school level. She is an author/co-author of numerous educational resources including The School Leader’s Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges and CHAMPS: A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management (3rd ed.), among others.
Chronic absenteeism is one of the most concerning and under-addressed issues in school today and can lead to a host of negative outcomes. This session provides participants with effective, practical strategies that can boost all students’ attendance from Pre-K up to grade 12. Learn how to monitor attendance data and prioritize resources. Begin creating an action plan for creating a culture of regular attendance with strategies that teach, inspire, and support students and families in meeting the goal of regular attendance. This session also prepares participants to understand common causes of absenteeism, and participants will leave with a range of implementation examples of schools that have effectively implemented these approaches.
OBJECTIVES
- Understand and prepare activities to share the importance of regular attendance for all students
- Begin developing an action plan that addresses:
- Teaching students and families about the importance of attendance
- Schoolwide and classwide motivational systems to encourage students to attend school
- When and how data is monitored and analyzed to make decisions
- Tailored strategies to address common causes of absenteeism
Recommended Participants: School psychologists, school and district administrators, any members of universal leadership/PBIS/MTSS teams such as lead teachers, counsellors, interventionists. When possible, it is beneficial to have a team of 3–8 staff members from a school attend so that the efforts are designed and implemented through a collaborative approach. If you're interested in attending as a group, please contact conference@bcasp.ca for available group rates.
Click HERE to download the event's one-pager.
