Family & Community Context

Attendance Works

July 28, 2025

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

July 28, 2025

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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Advancing Racial Justice & Educational Equity in Schools learning series

July 15, 2025

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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Welcoming & Supporting Newcomer Youth Wellness in Schools

July 15, 2025

This comprehensive learning series designed to build awareness, knowledge, and practical skills for educators, administrators, and support staff working with newcomer students and their families. Through three courses and a dedicated resource section, you’ll gain insights into fostering safe, inclusive, and empowering school environments.

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Sexuality Education Program

July 15, 2025

Lurie Children’s Sexuality Education Program combines the expertise of multidisciplinary staff with a youth-centered and engaging curriculum. Our team supports thoughtful, culturally responsive, and LGBTQIA inclusive conversations as students learn about relationships, social emotional development, and their bodies. All programming is consistent with the National Sexuality Education Standards and Gender Spectrum’s “Principles of Gender Inclusive Puberty and Health Education”. They are an approved community-based Sexual Health Education provider with public and private schools, including Chicago Public Schools.

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Vulnerable Decision Points (VDP) Worksheet

July 15, 2025

A vulnerable decision point is a specific decision that is more vulnerable to the effects of implicit bias. This Vulnerable Decision Points (VDP) Worksheet provides teams with a planning document to plan how to respond equitably during VDPs.

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CARE Assessment Facilitator Guide

July 15, 2025

This is a complementary guide to the Culturally Responsive, Anti-Racist, and Equitable (CARE) assessment, walking teams through the assessment process. The CARE school assessment tool is designed to be completed by a school team, whether an existing or newly formed one. Note: The scoring for this assessment will be through the SHAPE system. Final scores should also be added to the RSSI app.

Facilitation of the CARE school assessment process can be led by school or district personnel. Support is also available through RSSI in collaboration with statewide partners and Social-Emotional Learning Hub coaches. Teams are encouraged to reach out if external facilitation would support their reflection or planning efforts.

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Supporting LGBTQ+ Students learning playlist

July 15, 2025

Research demonstrates that an affirming school climate improves behavioral, academic, and mental health outcomes for all students. We know that students are most likely to reach their full academic potential in positive learning environments that are safe, secure, and welcoming and where they feel a sense of belonging. LGBTQ+ youth are more likely than non-LGBTQ+ youth to experience violence at school and have lower levels of school connectedness. LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. These youth are not inherently prone to suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Instead, they are at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society. LGBTQ+ students deserve to feel safe, valued, and supported in their school communities. Use these courses and resources to help you create supportive and inclusive classrooms and schools. Find lots more in our Resources database by using the search function.

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Center on Halsted Community Services

July 15, 2025

Center on Halsted provides a vast array of programs and services designed to advance Chicago’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and allied community, including mental health support with therapy, trauma services, assistance for violence survivors, LGBTQ+ affirming youth groups, youth development programs, arts programming, family programming, and young adult resources.

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Getting People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities What They Need: a Plain-Language Guide

July 15, 2025

In plain language, this guide provides a helpful glossary of terms, background information and resources to help people with intellectual/developmental disabilities access what they need to lead healthy lives. People with IDD face many challenges to staying healthy, but they can still live good lives in the community with relationships, jobs, and responsibilities. Their disabilities don’t cause these challenges; a lack of support does. The World Health Organization says that helping people with disabilities stay healthy can’t be a “siloed activity” that just one group does. Instead, everyone must work together. School communities play an important part in getting youth with IDD what they need to be healthy and happy. Included in the guide are some government rules, resources, and recommendations to support good health and fair treatment for people with IDD.

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Family & Community Context

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