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News Release

Last modified: Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Media advisory: CEEP's Terry Spradlin will participate in national webinar on school absenteeism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2012

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Efforts to analyze and use school attendance data in Indiana will be part of the discussion during a national webinar Friday, June 22, to discuss chronic absenteeism and policy responses to it. Terry Spradlin, director for education policy and the High School Survey of Student Engagement at the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy at Indiana University will be among the panelists.

"Using Attendance Data to Inform Policy and Practice" is sponsored by Attendance Works, a national and state initiative that promotes awareness of attendance issues and promotes practices to address the problem, and the Data Quality Campaign, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, national advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., that provides education data to all stakeholders. The webinar, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Friday, requires pre-registration but is free of charge.

Spradlin oversees an array of education policy studies for CEEP. He frequently consults with education administrators, lawmakers and others about a range of policy issues. Spradlin has co-authored reports on numerous education policy subjects at CEEP, including an upcoming study on chronic absenteeism in Indiana. He directs HSSSE, a comprehensive national survey of student engagement and school climate issues.

The webinar will focus on ways chronic absenteeism data can be used to inform policy and practice. Participants will discuss steps policymakers at the local, state and federal levels can take to support the improved collection and use of the information. Aside from establishing why chronic absence matters, discussions will focus on efforts in Indiana, Oregon and California to analyze and use attendance data. The panelists will also consider actions local, state and federal officials can take to support better collection and use of attendance data.

Joining Spradlin in the webinar are:

• Moderator Lyndsay Pinkus, director of national and federal policy initiatives at the Data Quality Campaign
• Hedy Chang, director of Attendance Works
• Sunny Deye, program principal for the National Conference of State Legislatures
• Whitney Grubbs, deputy education policy advisor for the Oregon governor's office
• John Tapogna, president of ECONorthwest
• Jean Wing, executive director for research, assessment, and data in the Oakland (Calif.) Unified School District

CEEP, Indiana's leading nonpartisan program evaluation and education policy research center, promotes and supports rigorous evaluation and research primarily for educational, human services and nonprofit organizations. Center projects address state and national education questions. CEEP is part of the IU School of Education.

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