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Attendance Works

As a nonprofit initiative, Attendance Works partners with schools, districts, states, communities and organizations to ensure that chronic absence is recognized as a serious issue that can be addressed through proactive, supportive strategies. Their website offers resources for monitoring, understanding, and addressing chronic absence beginning in the early grades through secondary school. These strategies can be implemented at the school, district, and state level. You can find resources to help develop:

Positive Engagement with families and students
Actionable Data to help you identify students with too many absences
Capacity Building to help build a culture of attendance in your classroom, school or district.
Find toolkits under Capacity Building.

All tools can be downloaded and used without express permission from Attendance Works.

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Children’s Adversity Index – Illinois

The Children’s Adversity Index measures community-level adversity in order to estimate exposure to potential sources of childhood trauma. The index offers a clearer view of the challenges facing communities across Illinois. Although calculated at the district level to meet the statutory requirements, the index is not about school districts themselves. Rather, the data provides insights into the communities each school district serves. The index provides a useful tool for a wide range of state- and regional-level policymakers, nonprofits, state agencies, and other stakeholders to help them make better informed decisions about resource allocation, policies, and programming, and prioritize communities most in need. (IL Public Act 103-0413)

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Illinois Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative

This webpage outlines the Illinois Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative, including the School Screening Readiness Report. This report identifies five key domains of readiness for universal mental health screening derived from the results of a readiness survey. It then articulates three recommended phases for implementation. Finally, it reviews existing mental health resources and services and those in development, along with implementation support, that will be provided by ISBE in areas of governance, oversight, and policy guidance. It concludes with a timeline for implementation of universal mental health screening in all school districts by the end of the 2027-28 school year.

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Communities of Practice: Facilitators’ Guide

A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of peers who share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic, who come together regularly to fulfill both individual and group goals. A CoP provides an environment conducive to learning and exchange, emphasizing interactions in a climate of mutual trust and respect. Within the RSSI framework, a CoP can also serve as a strategy within a school or district’s action plan, helping to deepen implementation and foster collaborative, practice-based growth. This guide provides the history of CoPs in Illinois’ trauma responsive schools work and helps facilitators plan for and facilitate a Community of Practice. This is guide is a collaboration among Center for Childhood Resilience, Partnership 4 Resilience, and Stress & Trauma Treatment Center.

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Teach Illinois

TeachIllinois offers online Professional Learning opportunities for ALL educators – you don’t have to live in Illinois to participate. The offers courses that qualify for official PD Hours toward recertification for a small fee.

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Communities of Practice: Facilitators’ Guide

A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of peers who share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic, who come together regularly to fulfill both individual and group goals. A CoP provides an environment conducive to learning and exchange, emphasizing interactions in a climate of mutual trust and respect. Within the RSSI framework, a CoP can also serve as a strategy within a school or district’s action plan, helping to deepen implementation and foster collaborative, practice-based growth. This guide provides the history of CoPs in Illinois’ trauma responsive schools work and helps facilitators plan for and facilitate a Community of Practice. This is guide is a collaboration among Center for Childhood Resilience, Partnership 4 Resilience, and Stress & Trauma Treatment Center.

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School Mental Health Readiness learning playlist

Schools play a central and critical role in helping students build their capacity to cope with stress and life problems. research shows that the majority of students experiencing mental health challenges receive the help they need from staff in their school. This School Mental Health Readiness learning playlist equips school and district leaders, behavioral health professionals, and service providers with practical strategies to address student mental health needs. Topics include trauma-informed mental health screening, behavioral health teams, universal screening, and the Illinois School-Based Medicaid program. These courses provide actionable tools to create supportive school environments, secure funding, and promote student well-being and academic success. Intended audiences for these courses are school mental health team members and school administrators.

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Advancing Racial Justice & Educational Equity in Schools learning series

The Advancing Racial Justice & Educational Equity in Schools learning series consists of several individual courses that provide a comprehensive exploration of strategies, insights, and real-world practices for fostering equity and inclusion in K-12 education. Featuring a panel discussion and spotlight interviews with visionary educational leaders, this series offers practical tools, inspiring stories, and actionable steps to promote systemic change. Each session highlights the challenges and successes in advancing racial justice and educational equity, empowering educators to create transformative learning environments. 

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