Tier 1 — Tiered Attendance Intervention Guidance
Universal Prevention
Prevent attendance concerns before they develop by creating strong school connection, clear expectations, consistent communication, early awareness, and universal attendance supports.
When this tier applies
- All students, all sites, all year — this is the baseline condition of the system
- Schoolwide attendance rates or chronic absenteeism are drifting
- A grade level, period, or day-of-week pattern shows up in the data
- A student shows an early warning indicator but no pattern has hardened yet
Key question: Are students experiencing school as a place they want and are able to attend consistently?
What staff do at this tier
Practice guidance, not a referral checklist.
- 1Build intentional student-adult connections so every student is known by name and need.
- 2Communicate attendance expectations consistently, in family languages, without shaming.
- 3Review attendance data on a routine cycle — schoolwide, grade level, and period level.
- 4Notice early warning indicators and decide whether outreach is needed.
- 5Make it easy for families to report absences and to ask for help when a barrier appears.
- 6Recognize attendance improvement, not only perfect attendance.
- Overall attendance rate and chronic absenteeism rate
- Tardiness and period-level attendance
- Grade-level and schoolwide trends
- Day-of-week and seasonal patterns
- Early warning indicators for individual students
- Family feedback about barriers and communication
Decision point
At the review date, choose deliberately and record it.
Continue universal support
No individual pattern; keep strengthening culture, communication, and data review.
Begin early outreach
An indicator appeared. Notice it in writing, observe, and have a supportive conversation.
Move to Tier 2 Site-Level Intervention
The pattern is continuing or the barrier is unclear and a documented intervention cycle is needed.
Move to a more intensive tier when
- • The pattern continues after universal outreach
- • The barrier is unclear or spans several domains
- • Attendance decline is paired with academic or engagement decline
Reduce the level of intervention when
- • This is the base tier — students return here for routine monitoring after a concern resolves
Documentation tools for this tier
Where this sits in the continuum
- 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.