Blanket restrictions treat all screen time as equivalent, and the research on how students actually use devices in school tells a more complicated story.
Date & Time: Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at 2 p.m. <br><br> In this first installment of Mission: Attendance, you'll learn how to create a consistent approach to improving attendance. Dr. Marcy Burroughs, the Superintendent at the Sumter County Public School District in Alabama, will join to share how her district has reduced chronic absenteeism through a shared Attendance Manual, a codified approach to family engagement, and uniform reporting across school sites. You'll leave with a blueprint you can start using in your own district tomorrow.
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 2 p.m. <br><br> In this second installment of Mission: Attendance, you'll learn how to uncover meaningful trends in your attendance data, including grade-level spikes, day-of-week dips, and seasonal patterns. We'll also explore how to use early warning signs to address absenteeism before it becomes entrenched. Katina Keener, the Associate Director of Student Services & Title IX Coordinator at Gloucester County Public Schools in Virginia, will join to share how her district analyzes attendance data to target their response to absenteeism.
Date & Time: Tuesday, November 03, 2026 at 2 p.m. <br><br> In this third and final installment of Mission: Attendance, you'll learn how to engage families in a way that helps uncover the real barriers to attendance. We'll explore how to audit official letters and notifications for tone, frame outreach in ways that demonstrate support, and reach every family early, warmly, and in their home language. Chris Henson, the Acting Superintendent of Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD in West Texas, will join to share how his district builds the kind of family trust that encourages families to share what's getting in the way of regular attendance and partner with campuses to fix it.
Schools that approach cybersecurity, instructional innovation and technology governance as interconnected priorities will always be better positioned to adapt to the future.
The Future of Education Technology Conference, which takes place in Orlando in January, covers AI governance, CTE demands, workforce shortages, and other pressures superintendents are managing right now.
Adult SEL lives in the daily interactions that shape school culture, such as how colleagues speak to one another, how they navigate conflict and whether trust exists between staff and leadership.
