

Woodlake Unified • We Are One
Attendance Intervention Navigator

Escalation is not the measure of a successful attendance system.Resolving barriers at the earliest appropriate level is.
Districtwide attendance practice guide
Tiered Attendance Intervention Guidance
One common process for responding to attendance concerns across every WUSD site — with decision-support tools for the moment a staff member is actually standing in front of the problem.
For administrators
Attendance Action Center
See the Pattern • Find the Barrier • Take Action • Monitor • Re-Engage
A leadership and problem-solving workspace that sits above the tiers: blind-spot checks, pattern decoding, return-tomorrow planning, meeting prep, period and day-of-week analyzers, site plans, and a full strategy generator — all anonymous.
The tiered continuum
Select a tier for practice guidance, decision points, staff roles, and documentation tools.
- Tier 1Universal PreventionConnection, clear expectations, consistent communication, and schoolwide data awareness.
- Tier 2Early Identification & Site-Level InterventionBarrier identification, matched intervention, and short-cycle monitoring at the site.
- Tier 3Multidisciplinary School-Site Support (SST / MTSS)Coordinate and intensify support for barriers that targeted intervention did not resolve.
- Tier 3+SART Formalized Attendance InterventionFormalize expectations, supports, and accountability with the family in writing.
- Tier 4SARB Intensive CoordinationDistrict and community coordination, intervention, and accountability together.
- Follow-UpRe-Engagement & Follow-UpStabilize at 30 days, evaluate at 60, determine the path at 90.
Three questions every intervention answers
- 1. What is the barrier?
- 2. What did we do about it?
- 3. Did it work?
The common process
Used at Tier 2 and carried forward through every later tier.
- NOTICE
- OBSERVE
- ASK
- IDENTIFY
- MATCH
- INTERVENE
- MONITOR
- DECIDE
Each step is documented as it happens, so the intervention story travels with the student instead of being recreated at every meeting.
Guiding philosophy
Applies at every tier, at every site.
- Attendance concerns should be addressed at the lowest appropriate level of intervention.
- Students do not automatically move through every tier.
- Successful intervention should prevent unnecessary escalation.
- The multidisciplinary site team should not be where the barrier is first discovered.
- Use the site-level team structure that fits the barrier and local practice — SST, MTSS, or an equivalent team. Not every student must pass through every team before receiving the next level of support.
- A contact is not automatically an intervention.
- A required attendance notice may occur alongside intervention, but it does not replace intervention.
- Every intervention should identify the barrier it is intended to address.
- Every intervention needs an owner and a review date.
- If an intervention was not implemented, do not automatically conclude that it failed.
- Unknown is a valid barrier status. Do not guess.
- Student and family voice should inform attendance intervention whenever appropriate.
- Support and accountability can exist together.
- The goal is re-engagement, not simply referral completion.
Quick reference
Jump to any section of the navigator.
Decision support
Tools for the moment, not just the manual
What am I seeing? What should I do? Who should do it? When do we review it? What happens next?
SART Strategy Assistant
Describe the situation, get 1-3 matched supports, a 48-hour plan, and a review point. Anonymous by design.
Start Here Navigator
Pick the situation you are facing and get routed to the right tier — including the urgent-concern pathway.
Barrier → Strategy Finder
Tier-appropriate strategies, questions to ask, who helps, and what to monitor.
Strategy Builder
Tier + barrier + what we tried → recommended next strategies and a review point.
Intervention Fidelity Check
Before saying it didn't work: was it actually implemented?
Prevention Calendar & Patterns
Predict the hard weeks, not the students. Plus pattern interpretation and transitions.
Re-Entry, Strengths & Step-Down
First five days back, what's already working, and how support steps down.
Family Resource Map
Barrier → resource, with refer → connect → confirm warm handoffs.
Practice Quality & When Not to Refer
Self-audit, equity check, coaching questions, and reasons to hold.
Conversation Toolkit
Nonjudgmental prompts by barrier, and phrases to avoid.
Who Does What?
Roles, responsibilities, and the handoffs between them.
What Counts as an Intervention?
Contact vs. notification vs. intervention vs. monitoring.
District Learning Center
Nine five-minute modules with knowledge checks.
Success Strategy Bank
Record anonymously what worked and watch barrier trends emerge.
One-page orientation
How to use this app
The same six steps every WUSD site follows, and where in the Navigator each step lives. Download the two-page infographic for staff meetings, onboarding, or the front of a binder.
- 1
Notice early
Aeries tells you WHAT is happening. The Navigator helps you work out WHY and WHAT NEXT.
Start Here Navigator · Action Center
- 2
Ask, then identify the barrier
Use nonjudgmental prompts with student and family. “Unknown” is a valid barrier status.
Conversation Toolkit → Barrier Finder
- 3
Match the intervention
Choose tier-appropriate supports matched to the barrier — not to the absence count.
Strategy Builder · SART Assistant
- 4
Assign owner and dosage
Name who does it, how often, and for how long. An unowned strategy is not an intervention.
Who Does What? · What Counts?
- 5
Review the response
Check fidelity before judging results, then decide: stay, modify, step down, or intensify.
Fidelity Check · Step-Down
- 6
Escalate only when necessary
Move to SST / MTSS team, SART, or SARB with the documented story — never as a first response.
Tier 3 · SART · Tier 4 SARB
