Overview
The Learner Engagement and Attendance Program is a research-based home visiting program that identifies and partners with families to improve student attendance and family engagement.
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Background
In April 2021, the CSDE and Governor Ned Lamont launched LEAP to address student absenteeism and disengagement from school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. LEAP targeted 15 school districts across Connecticut. Through the program, home visitors connect directly with families and students to establish trusting relationships, help return them to a more regular form of school attendance, and assist with placement in summer, after school, and learning programs.
Interested in implementing a relational home-visiting program in your district or community?
Learn more about the LEAP story and lessons learned in The LEAP Effect, Taking a Systemic Approach to Improving Attendance & Engagement, September 23, 2023. Written in collaboration with Attendance Works, EdAdvance, and CREC.
Key Highlights in the LEAP Report
- For most students examined in this study, attendance rates increased by four percentage points in the month immediately following the first LEAP visit. Attendance rates then continued to rise in subsequent months, reaching an average increase of approximately seven percentage points for students served in the summer of 2021 and nearly 15 percentage points for students served during the 2021-22 school year after 6 months. These effects were most noticeable in the Hartford School District.
- Nine months after the first LEAP visit, students in grades PK – 5 experienced approximately an eight-percentage point increase in attendance. Students in grades 6-12 experienced approximately a sixteen-percentage point increase in attendance rates relative to similar students who were not served over the same time period, suggesting that the impact of LEAP was significantly larger in later grades.
- Results did not differ based on the type of personnel, school or community-based, conducting a LEAP home visit. Nine months after the initial LEAP visit, attendance rates increased by between approximately 15 and 20 percentage points regardless of who conducted the visit.
- LEAP visits that occurred at a student’s home or a student’s school had significantly larger impacts on attendance than LEAP visits that occurred virtually or on the phone.
Video! Watch a documentary promotional video about LEAP and its success! by the Collaborative for Student Success. Over 1 million views!
Read more about LEAP:
- How Connecticut’s Home Visit Program Improved Chronic Absenteeism – Ed Note (ecs.org)
- How Connecticut’s Home Visit Program Improved Chronic Absenteeism - Education Commission of the States, Education Commission of the States
- The Key to Getting Students Back in Classrooms? Establishing Connections. - The New York Times
- This State Set Up a Program to Reduce Chronic Absences. It Worked, EdWeek
LEAP Districts include:
Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES)
Bridgeport
Bristol
Capitol Region Education Council (CREC)
Danbury
East Hartford
Enfield
Hamden
Hartford
Manchester
Meriden
Middletown
Naugatuck
New Haven
New London
Norwalk
Norwich
Norwich Free Academy
Stamford
Stratford
Torrington
Wallingford
Waterbury
West Haven
Windham
Many districts within Connecticut and in other states have participated in LEAP training to enhance their own relational home visits and strengthen parternships with families. Districts interested in LEAP 101 training or the LEAP approach to engaging families and improving student attendance can contact Francisco Baires at the CT Home Visiting Hub at CREC.
For additional resources on attendance and engagement, visit the CSDE Chronic Absence webpage.