CEO Gentle-Genitty Speaks on The Hunt Institute Webinar “Beyond Attendance” Today

Dr. Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, founder and CEO of Attendance USA, speaks today, September 30, on The Hunt Institute webinar “Beyond Attendance: Addressing Chronic Absenteeism and Student Persistence.”

The Hunt Institute works with policy leaders to strengthen education from early learning through college and career. This webinar looks past the daily attendance count to the question that matters most: do students stay, persist, and complete?

Dr. Gentle-Genitty frames the discussion around two measures that rarely appear side by side: student participation and labor force participation. The U.S. counts labor force participation for everyone age 16 and older. Schools count attendance. Yet these are two views of the same human behavior, showing up. Her Inside Higher Ed column proposes an absenteeism-adjusted participation rate that connects the two, so leaders can see how absence in school carries forward into persistence in college and participation in work.

The conversation also draws on the core ideas of Attendance Science™. Attendance is the tally; absenteeism is the reasons. Classify absence by its cause, measure the bond a student feels with school, and address family stability first.

“Persistence starts with presence. When we understand why students step away from school, we understand why young adults step away from college and work.”

Dr. Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, founder and CEO, Attendance USA

Follow Attendance USA for highlights from the webinar and visit attendanceusa.org to learn more about Attendance Science™ and our national certification.

Media contact: Shelneka Adams-Marsalone, Executive Director, Attendance USA Press Office · info@attendanceusa.org