Attendance by Design: Leveraging Social-Emotional Competence for School Success

Presenters

• Lisa Micou, Riverside InsightsFollow

First Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

Ph.D.

Year First Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

2003

First Presenter's Field of Study

School Psychology

Institution Where First Presenter Received Highest Degree

Northern Illinois University

First Presenter's Institution

Riverside Insights

First Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

Prior to becoming the Senior Assessment Strategist at Riverside Insights, Dr. Lisa Micou championed students’ social-emotional needs as the Intervention & Training Specialist for Social Emotional Learning in a large division in VA, as a nationally certified school psychologist at both the elementary and high school levels in suburban Chicago and VA, and as an SEL4VA Leadership Team Member. She received her master’s and doctorate in psychology at Northern Illinois University and earned her post-master’s certificate in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from the University of Richmond where she now serves as an adjunct professor.

Location

Ballroom F

Document Type

Individual Presentation

Primary Strand

Youth Resiliency

Relevance to Primary Strand

This session promotes youth resiliency by highlighting research-based practices that both promote resilience and mitigate risk, based on strengthening students’ social and emotional competence (SEC). Fostering student resilience through intentional social emotional skill building is a variable that is well within our control when challenged by absenteeism. Participants will explore strategies to embed SEC skill-building within daily instruction, empowering students to regulate emotions, build healthy relationships, and make responsible decisions that improve attendance and engagement while in school and improve overall life success after graduation.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Climate and Culture

Brief Program Description

Nearly three-quarters of states include chronic absenteeism in ESSA accountability, highlighting the need to address root causes within schools’ control and influence. This interactive session explores research showing social and emotional competence (SEC) as both a predictor and protective factor for absenteeism while highlighting best practices districts use to build agency, resilience, and engagement to improve attendance and student success.

Summary

Chronic absenteeism has become a central focus in education policy, with nearly three-quarters of US states (Attendance Works & IES) incorporating it as an indicator in their ESSA accountability systems. This underscores the need to address absenteeism’s root causes to promote equitable outcomes. Absenteeism stems from a complex web of challenges, including health and transportation barriers, school climate or anxiety, and disengagement due to lack of connection to learning (Attendance Works, 2025; Cineas, 2024; Toness, 2023; U.S. Department of Education, 2025).

While many causes are outside school control, school leaders can influence conditions that foster attendance. Drawing on national resources (U.S. Department of Education, IES, Attendance Works), this session distinguishes between what is within our control and influence, helping schools identify high-leverage strategies and avoid frustration.

Research highlights social and emotional competence (SEC) as both a predictive and protective factor for absenteeism (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2020). SEC includes the knowledge, skills, and dispositions enabling students to manage emotions, build relationships, and make decisions. Our own research in Virginia confirms: in middle schools, a one-minute SEC screener showed students with SEC needs were 3.3 times more likely to be chronically absent; substantial SEC growth correlated with lower absenteeism. High school data revealed intrapersonal and decision-making skills reduced risk.

This interactive presentation will showcase how districts build student agency by embedding SEC into everyday practice through three key stages: (1) helping students understand their own SEC strengths and growth areas, (2) providing opportunities to practice skills via high-leverage instructional strategies, and (3) generalizing SEC through curriculum relevance and college/career readiness.

Evidence

Chronic absenteeism, missing 10% or more of school days, continues to challenge equitable academic outcomes (Attendance Works, 2025). Research consistently links social-emotional competence (SEC) to improved attendance and engagement, as SEC fosters students’ self-management, motivation, and connection to school (Attendance Works, 2023; Balfanz & Byrnes, 2020). A large national study involving more than 38,000 students found that significant growth in SEC as measured by the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) corresponded to a full year of academic progress, while SEC declines doubled the likelihood of low attendance (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2020).

Recent district-level evidence in a large suburban district in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. further confirms this link. In this study of 8,271 middle school students, those who demonstrated substantial SEC growth (≥5 T-score points on the DESSA-Mini) were 41% less likely to be chronically absent than matched peers with no growth (Johnson, Taylor, & Robitaille, 2025). Even among students with low initial SEC, growth was associated with nearly 20-point reductions in absenteeism. These findings affirm that SEC development enhances students’ ability to manage emotions, cope with stress, and sustain school engagement.

Collectively, the literature positions SEC as a malleable, measurable, and protective factor. Embedding SEC skill-building within instruction can improve attendance by promoting self-regulation, belonging, and motivation, core “conditions for learning” identified by Attendance Works (2024).

References

Attendance Works. (2023). Using chronic absence data to improve conditions for learning. https://www.attendanceworks.org

Attendance Works. (2024). The impact of school mental health services on reducing chronic absenteeism. https://www.attendanceworks.org

Attendance Works. (2025). Chronic absence: The problem and why it matters. https://www.attendanceworks.org

Balfanz, R., & Byrnes, V. (2020). Connecting social-emotional learning to chronic absenteeism: Predictive and protective factors. Johns Hopkins University.

Johnson, E., Taylor, E., & Robitaille, J. (2025). Growth on the DESSA is a protective factor against chronic absenteeism (White paper). Riverside Insights. https://info.riversideinsights.com/hubfs/DESSA‑Resources/DESSA‑Chronic‑Absenteeism‑White‑Paper‑2025.pdf

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to understand the key causes of chronic absenteeism and distinguish between factors within educators’ control and influence.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to examine research on social and emotional competence (SEC) as a predictor of absenteeism and a driver of student agency and resilience.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to reflect on best practices that build SEC knowledge, skills, and application to reduce absenteeism and boost long-term engagement.

Start Date

6-1-2026 10:15 AM

End Date

6-1-2026 11:30 AM

Recommended Citation

Micou, Lisa, "Attendance by Design: Leveraging Social-Emotional Competence for School Success" (2026). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 2.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2026/2026/2

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.