SART Strategy Wheel
What is getting in the way of attendance?
Opening a SART or team conversation by naming the barrier before choosing a response. Includes Unknown / need more information as a valid option.
Choose what fits your team
Printable Template Library
Every site and team works a little differently. Pick the visuals that fit how your team plans, meets, and problem-solves — use one, use several, or build a packet. Fill any template in online and export it to PDF or Word, or download the print version for 11×17 or letter (landscape) and fill it in by hand.
How to use this library
No required sequence.
- 1. Start with what your team is stuck on — a pattern you can't explain, a plan that isn't working, or a meeting that needs structure.
- 2. Choose Fill in online to type into an editable version and export it to PDF or Word, or download the print version and fill it in together.
- 3. Follow the linked navigator page for the strategies, questions, and review points behind the visual.
Keep printed copies anonymous when possible. If a completed template names a student, treat it as a confidential student record and store it accordingly.
Prefer to type instead of print? The Documentation Toolkit has fillable forms with PDF and Word export.
Understand the pattern
Attendance Pattern Decoder
Patterns tell us where to investigate — not what to assume.
Reading Monday/Friday, first-period, one-class, post-break, sibling, and sudden-change patterns with questions to ask for each.
Family Schedule Map
Map the day to find where the barrier actually happens.
Walking evening → morning → transportation → arrival → after school → reset with a family and marking friction points.
Plan the intervention
Intervention Planner
Plan with purpose. Support with care. Improve attendance.
A single-page plan: identify, strategies, who, by when, and how we will know it worked — plus follow-up and success indicators.
Intervention Timeline
Today / 48 hours → 5–10 instructional days → review → decide.
Setting the short cycle up front so the review point and the continue / modify / intensify / step-down decision are planned, not improvised.
Plan A / Plan B / Plan C
Keep a barrier today from becoming an absence tomorrow.
Transportation and morning-routine barriers: the normal plan, the backup, and the emergency plan that still prevents a full-day absence.
Attendance Trajectory
Small shifts lead to big results.
Progress monitoring at 10 / 30 / 60 / 90-day checkpoints: track attendance rate and chronic absenteeism against baseline, capture what worked and what changed, and plan when support can step down.
Barrier Busters Action Guide
Remove barriers. Build connection. Inspire attendance.
A one-page staff reference: common barriers, the five-step process, and a strategy bank matched to each barrier type.
What Counts as an Intervention?
Intentional support that removes barriers and improves attendance.
Teaching the difference between notification and intervention, with examples that count and examples that may not.
Team & meeting tools
Step-Up / Step-Down Continuum
Right support at the right time. Adjust as needs change.
Matching the level of support to the student's need across Tier 1–4, with explicit step-up and step-down criteria for each tier so decisions are based on data, student voice, and family voice.
Before We Escalate
Pattern • Voice • Barrier • Match • Owner • Implement • Monitor • Need
The pre-SARB and pre-escalation review: did we do meaningful work, and what specifically requires a more intensive level of support?
Meeting or Action?
Not every situation needs a meeting. Every situation needs a next step.
Deciding quickly whether to convene a team or act today, with a six-step path for each choice.
Tomorrow Test
Will what we do today make attendance better tomorrow?
Closing any meeting: six questions, one action, an owner, and a check-in before tomorrow.
SART Reciprocal Support Plan
A strong plan includes what everyone will do — not only the student.
SART agreements that pair student and family commitments with school and district commitments, plus a tomorrow-morning plan.
Today's Plan. Tomorrow's Attendance.
Identify • Analyze • Plan • Implement • Monitor & Adjust
A team planning board for a site-level attendance concern, including a communication plan and team commitments.
SART Readiness Checklist
Are we prepared to problem-solve and coordinate supports?
Reviewing before you schedule a SART: student voice, family voice, accurate data, interventions attempted, barrier understanding, supports in place, meeting purpose, and follow-up plan — with ready / almost ready / not ready guidance.
Connection & re-engagement
One Adult + One Connection + One Purpose
Three things every student needs to belong, engage, and show up.
Checking whether a student has a trusted adult, a place they belong, and a reason to show up. Connection is not a reward.
Academic Restart Board
Right-size the work. Remove overload. Build momentum.
Re-entry after extended absence: sorting work into essential now, recover next, and review/deprioritize when appropriate.
Site & system level
System Barrier Heat Map
Spot the barriers. Prioritize the impact. Take focused action.
Site teams rating barrier impact across academics, social/emotional, health, family, and systems — then choosing 2–3 priorities.
Student Problem or System Problem?
Look deeper. Solve smarter. Change systems.
Deciding whether a barrier is a system issue or a student issue: six pattern questions, then focused actions for each answer, with side-by-side examples for transportation, first period, assignment completion, and chronic absenteeism.
More templates are on the way — this library is built to grow, so additional visuals can be added to these same groups as they are finished.