Developing Your School’s Attendance Team and Strategies: Making the Case for School Disciplinarians and Non-Exclusionary Practices

By: Shelneka Adams-Marsalone July 2, 2025

When advocates for school attendance promote less punitive approaches and reforms to attendance policies, they often overlook the complete factors that contribute to chronic absence: (excused absences + unexcused absences + suspensions) x 10%. Suspension is frequently omitted from discussions, yet it is an integral component that must be addressed if schools and education systems are committed to reducing chronic absenteeism. Disciplinary practices play a significant role in student attendance and can perpetuate a cycle that is difficult for students and families to break. In 2024, the national chronic absence rate was 23.5%. A contributing factor to this statistic is disciplinary issues (Mervosh & Paris, 2024). When your discipline rate is the same or greater than your chronic absence rate, it’s time to reevaluate how you discipline.

The primary objective of school discipline is to establish a safe and conducive learning environment for all, including teachers, staff, and students. However, certain disciplinary measures can inadvertently affect students’ social, emotional, academic, and physical well-being. This is a complex and sensitive issue, but understanding its impacts is essential for improving our schools (Wriston, 2023). In some instances, suspension—removing a student from the traditional learning setting—may be necessary due to specific behaviors and school policies. Nonetheless, it is important to consider strategies your school is implementing to reduce recidivism. Who in your school is leading or could lead in this effort?

Disciplinary staff in schools are typically Assistant Principals, Deans, or Behavior Specialists. Their responsibilities should extend beyond simply enforcing consequences. They should be involved in understanding the underlying causes of student behavior, providing support and guidance, collaborating with other staff members and families, and advocating for equitable discipline practices. Therefore, it is important for your school’s disciplinarian to be included as a member of the attendance team. They can provide valuable information such as the number of days a student has missed due to disciplinary actions, insights gained during discipline-related counseling sessions—such as disclosures of bullying or other concerns that may impact attendance—and an assessment of whether discipline interventions and restorative practices are being implemented effectively. Additionally, they can share insights into the student’s motivations for attendance and the support needs expressed by the student.

In some states, there has been an increased emphasis on removing students who exhibit problematic behavior to facilitate teaching, rather than addressing the underlying causes of such behavior to promote effective learning. Barriers to attendance are ultimately barriers to an equitable education. It would be naive to believe that some behaviors don’t warrant removal. But removal should be the consequence, while the placement should be where the student receives access to support. Research indicates that exclusionary discipline practices often lead to negative academic and social outcomes and are generally ineffective in reducing misbehavior (Nese et al., 2021). Placing a student on suspension or expulsion to an alternative site (in some cases home with a laptop), without social and emotional support, as well as academic rigor (not busy work), and a viable re-entry plan, causes more harm than good. Again, the argument isn’t that students should not be suspended or expelled if they are posing a threat to themselves or others. As previously mentioned, school discipline practices are to ensure safety for all. The goal should be to create a culture in which exclusionary discipline practices are not the only option. And if it is the agreed upon option, then there should be support for the student, while at an alternative site, that sets them up for success upon their re-entry.

Non-exclusionary discipline practices have become synonymous with “taking it easy” and “not holding kids accountable,” but why is that? If the goal is academic success and positive student outcomes, why are schools choosing in-school and out-of-school suspension over non-exclusionary discipline practices? The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southwest created an amazing tool – Handout: Alternatives to Exclusionary Discipline – to support schools and systems with identifying alternatives to exclusionary discipline practices, what population the strategies serve, how they work, expected outcomes, and additional resources to support implementation. Accountability can coexist with empathy. As the handout referenced shows, there are a number of alternatives to consider and build into the culture of your schools. This work can and should be led by your school’s disciplinarian. This is also why your school’s disciplinarian can be a key member of your attendance team.

One of the author's personal favorite alternatives to exclusionary discipline practices is Restorative Practices. It serves as the foundation for her work RESET: Restoring Every Student, Every Teacher. It was created to help schools craft effective re-entry plans for students who have been removed from traditional classrooms due to suspension. It’s not just support for the student, but support for the teacher as well. When we address the psychosocial needs of our students, we must address the psychosocial needs of their caregivers – teachers are caregivers 8-10 hours a day. What strategies do you typically employ to support students facing behavioral and disciplinary challenges? How do your school's discipline rates compare to its chronic absenteeism rates?

Mervosh, S. & F. Paris. (2024). Why School Absences Have ʻExplodedʼ Almost Everywhere. ​https://ndaa.org/wp-content/uploads/Why-School-Absences-Have-%E2%80%98Exploded-Almost-Everywhere-The-New-York-Times.pdf 

Nese, R. N. T., Nese, J. F. T., McCroskey, C., Meng, P., Triplett, D., & Bastable, E. (2021). Moving away from disproportionate exclusionary discipline: developing and utilizing a continuum of preventative and instructional supports. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 65(4), 301–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2021.1937019 

Wriston, B. (2023). HOW SCHOOL DISCIPLINE IMPACTS STUDENTS’ SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT (SEAD). https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Impact_SEAD_Brief_V13.pdf

About We Got Goals, LLC

Shelneka Adams-Marsalone is the Founder and Lead Consultant of We Got Goals, LLC (WGG). At We Got Goals, “Creating a Culture of Being Present,” means more than attendance. It means helping schools and organizations create atmospheres in which all stakeholders can show up authentically and be actively engaged. WGG supports education and organization leaders with developing multi-tiered systems of support to address attendance and engagement. Through incorporating initiatives that focus on student engagement, family engagement, and community engagement - The Triad of Engagement, data analysis, and assisting leaders with developing a strategic framework, WGG guides leaders through the mysterious void in which students disappear…chronic absenteeism.