The PASSAGE (Positive and Safe Schools Advancing Greater Equity) initiative in Chicago brought together representatives from Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the parent organizing group COFI (Community Organizing and Family Issues), and the youth education organizing group VOYCE (Voices of Youth in Chicago Education), facilitated by the Annenberg…

For decades, both state and national officials have complained that U.S. school children are not learning as much as they should, and these critics typically presuppose that the problem is school based. They are, in a sense, fixating on one element of a complex system, while ignoring the fact that the problem might be caused by external factors.…

Every student absence jeopardizes the ability of students to succeed at school and schools to achieve their mission. Students who are not at school cannot receive instruction. Schools funded on the basis of average daily attendance have less resources to do the job. Some youngsters who are truant from school engage in behaviors that are illegal.…