This month, we’re thrilled to welcome Hedy N. Chang, Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit initiative, Attendance Works. Founded in 2010, Attendance Works is the nation’s go-to resource for attendance policy and practice. 

Spark: What’s your connection to our great city of San Francisco?  Have you or your family attended SFUSD?  If so, which schools?

Hedy N. Chang: My two children were born and raised in San Francisco. Both attended Grattan elementary school.  My oldest went to Hoover Middle School while my youngest attended Roosevelt.  My oldest graduated from Lowell. 

Spark: Who was a teacher/educator at your preK-12 school who made a lasting impact on your life, and why?

HC: My high school Literature teacher, Dee Frank, made a lasting impact on my life. She helped me truly appreciate great writing and inspired me to look at the world from multiple perspectives. This outlook continues to inform the work that I do today with my nonprofit Attendance Works.  

Spark: What's the most important thing a public school education can provide?

HC: Education can provide students with the tools to develop critical thinking. Public schools can also give students opportunities to connect with kids they might not otherwise spend time with. These opportunities enable them to find common ground with people of different backgrounds while also valuing and drawing strength from different experiences and talents. 

Spark: What role do you think public schools play in shaping San Francisco?

HC: Public schools are essential to ensuring every student has the opportunity to develop the academic as well as social emotional skills needed to succeed in the workplace and contribute to society.  At the same time, public schools provide a forum for families, from different backgrounds,  to learn about each other and see themselves as part of a broader community that depends upon the health and well-being of all of its members.  

Spark: What prompted you to start Attendance Works?

HC: My experiences as a parent in SFUSD inspired me to start Attendance Works. When my kids were attending Grattan elementary school, it was extremely diverse both racially and economically.  Through my involvement in school activities, I got to know one of the students, whom I’ll call M.  M. was bright, sweet and loved learning.  His mom, who was struggling to get off of welfare, cared about him deeply and was doing everything she could to create a better life for him.  Since our children were born on the same day, we would celebrate our sons’ birthdays together in the classroom.  While they were in 2nd grade, M’s mom died suddenly.  M ended up in foster care and living with an auntie across town.  His attendance became irregular. I felt so frustrated that we couldn’t figure out how to do more as a school community to ensure M could have the same opportunities to grow and thrive as my own son.

 Around this time  Ralph Smith, then Sr Vice President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation  approached me about determining if missing too much school in the early grades led to students not reading proficiently by the end of third grade and  to find out what worked to change this situation.  I jumped at the opportunity. This research led to the publication, Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades, which found chronically absent students—those who miss 10% or nearly a month of school—do worse academically. This led me to launch Attendance Works (www.attendanceworks.org), which now serves as a go-to resource for policies and practices to reduce chronic absence to districts and communities throughout the nation. 

The California Department of Education recently joined The 50% Challenge, which Attendance Works launched with two partners in 2024. The challenge asks participating states to reduce chronic absence by 50% in five years. Sixteen states and Washington D.C., representing blue, red and purple regions throughout the U.S., have joined the challenge. 

Hedy N. Chang is executive director and founder of Attendance Works, a nonprofit initiative that partners with schools, districts, states, communities and organizations to ensure that chronic absence is recognized as a serious issue that can be addressed through proactive, supportive strategies. Find free downloadable resources, research, consulting services and more at  www.attendanceworks.org