Attendance Improvement

Attendance Gains Start with Engagement. Turn Insights into Early Action.

Improving attendance takes more than reminders—it takes partnerships.

TalkingPoints helps schools engage families in understanding the “why” behind absences, building trust and addressing barriers before they lead to chronic absenteeism.

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A multi-tiered, research-backed approach to reducing absenteeism

TalkingPoints moves beyond automated calls with a multi-tiered approach focused on prevention first, using timely data-driven insights and two-way communication to quickly identify at-risk students early and intervene before absenteeism becomes chronic.

What sets TalkingPoints Attendance Improvement Plus apart

Communicate with care

Automated absence messages
Notify families using best-practice language and tone to reinforce trust and open a two-way line of communication

Weekly attendance nudges
Reinforce positive attendance habits with families through proactive, encouraging outreach

Text-first, two-way communication
Reach 99% of families in 150+ languages—no app, Wi-Fi, or logins needed

Act early with robust insights

Real-time dashboards
School and district dashboards with tiered groupings and tools to support early, targeted intervention

Attendance trends
Clear data views that surface patterns, uncover root causes, and guide timely, informed action

Streamline workflows

Easy absence reporting
Families report absences by text in their home language, helping schools capture context and reduce calls and emails

Dedicated attendance inbox
Centralize attendance messages in a shared inbox so staff can collaborate efficiently and respond faster

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What Makes TalkingPoints Work

Built-in best practices, districtwide scale, smart use of data, and leading K–12 translation work together to help educators confidently engage every family, in any language, with the right support at the right time.

Embedded
Best Practices

Scaled Famly
Engagement

Data-informed
Guidance

Leading K12
Translation

Proven results

19.2%
Decrease in
chronic absenteeism

SPOTLIGHT

TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

7%

decrease in unexcused absences without a reason

2x

the number of absences moved from unexcused to excused

60%

increase in communication with families

Results from Tulsa Public Schools Attendance Improvement Plus pilot (January – June 2025)

See the impact TalkingPoints is making

CHECK OUT THE RESEARCH

HOW THE TALKINGPOINTS PLATFORM WORKS

Four Steps to Improve Attendance by Engaging Families

From reach to results, this is how TalkingPoints helps educators strengthen family partnerships to improve student outcomes:

REACH

Text-first model

Reach 99% of families

<1% opt-out

COMMUNICATE

Industry- leading  K-12 translation

150+ languages

Human-supported translation

Literacy &  accessibility supports

ENGAGE

Enables two-way communication

Dialogue builds trust, gets to root cause

Embedded coaching & family engagement

IMPROVE

Attendance rates & workflows

Academic outcomes

Student well-being

Beloved by families Preferred by teachers Trusted by schools & districts

I love this [TalkingPoints]. It makes it so easy for me to keep up with my child’s progress by actually having a conversation with the teachers.

Pamela Jerral

Parent, Wake County Public Schools

When I used TalkingPoints, the student successful, the parent felt respected to be included and I made an ally. It was a win, win, win.”

Elizabeth Cashman

Millde School Teacher, Osseo Area Schools

From the district level, I’m seeing things de-escalating. I’m seeing joy. I’m seeing questions answered. It’s been instrumental to sustain that relationship.

Merecedes J. Williams

District Leader, Pittsburgh Public Schools

TalkingPoints Attendance Improvement at a Glance:

Real-time school & district dashboards

Automated daily absence messaging

Smart, targeted attendance messaging

SMS text-first messaging & response

(two-way communication for all messages)

150+ languages supported

Attendance message series

Attendance trends

Class period, tardy tracking & trend analysis

Dedicated attendance inbox

Student information system (SIS) integration

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Related resources

Oakland Unified School District, CA

Oakland Unified School District is one of the most diverse districts in California, with 50% of students speaking a language other than English…

Elk Grove Unified School District, CA

Teachers in California’s fifth-largest district succeeded in engaging previously unreachable families to show up for meetings and conferences during the pandemic…

Independence High School, Charlotte, NC

In just six months, administrators, teachers, and families sent over 120,000 messages. Principal David Legrand nearly tripled response to a food giveaway event…

Our commitment to impact

As a nonprofit, TalkingPoints builds solutions that are grounded in research and designed for real-world results. We’re proud to partner with Attendance Works to incorporate evidence-based strategies that address the root causes of absenteeism—not just the symptoms. These best practices are built into our platform to help schools and districts take meaningful, proactive steps toward improving attendance.

Ready to build a culture where every student shows up and thrives?

See how our classroom and school-level tools support daily connection with families, and how our best-practice district communication tools foster clarity and trust across your entire system.

Family Engagement Foundations