Kinvolved Impact Report Highlights Impressive Results in Reducing Chronic Absenteeism and Details Roadmap for Improving Attendance in K-12 Districts

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As school districts prepare for the increased accountability around absenteeism and family engagement detailed in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Kinvolved, the leading social enterprise reducing chronic absence, today released its 2018 Impact Report, which shares a roadmap for improving attendance validated by its successful work with partner districts.

The roadmap was designed as a resource all districts can use to support change management, strengthen school-home relationships, establish accountability, and evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives.

"These learnings come directly from our time on the ground with educators," shares CEO Miriam Altman. "We've learned how schools and districts can increase funding, improve graduation rates, and create more economically viable communities by focusing on student attendance. It's not easy work—it takes shared commitment, intention, heart, and mutual engagement, especially with families, to achieve positive, quantifiable results. We're proud of the way KiNVO and its wraparound services amplify their efforts, and we're excited to share a roadmap for success that's grounded in the reality of school systems and communities."

Additional highlights from the 2017–2018 impact report include:

• 66% of schools using KiNVO, Kinvolved's attendance and communications management app, reduced absenteeism; 52% reduced lateness
• Teachers in KiNVO districts saved an average of 50 minutes/week; administrators saved an average of 75 minutes/week
• Educators and families exchanged 9 million messages through KiNVO

The report also contains abridged case studies from its implementations in Sioux Falls School District (South Dakota), Meriden Public School District (Connecticut), and Providence Public Schools (Rhode Island), all of which reduced chronic absence after adopted KiNVO.

For the past three years, Kinvolved has conducted an annual study to gauge the impact of its solutions on chronic absenteeism, family engagement, and mindset shifts. The study comprises surveys and interviews with KiNVO users, analyses of publicly available attendance data and School Quality Reports, and reviews of internal KiNVO metrics.

Impact metrics from prior years show the effect of Kinvolved software and services on school systems:

• Attendance rates increase: Kinvolved partner high schools saw a 13x increase in average daily attendance.
• Chronic absenteeism drops: Schools using KiNVO—Kinvolved's attendance and communications platform—saw a –3% change in chronic absence rates.

"Kinvolved is the original education technology solution to absenteeism," says Altman. "We're five years deep into our mission to get all students to school every day, and we're committed to that mission because it's the right thing to do. With the new ESSA attendance requirements, it feels like federal policy is catching up with what we and our districts already know. Our work has become more important than ever."

Kinvolved recently raised $1.54M in Seed II investments from notable organizations and angel investors, including the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, the Twilio.org Impact Fund, New York Ventures, Excell Technology Ventures, GingerBread Capital, and u2i. The organization is using the funds to support national growth, product research and development, and client services.

About Kinvolved
Kinvolved is a social enterprise on a mission to increase student achievement by minimizing absenteeism. Our holistic approach combines technology tools and human interventions to change the deeply ingrained behaviors and external factors affecting student attendance and chronic absence, including poverty, racism, and socio-economic exclusion. Learn more at www.kinvolved.com.

Media Contact:
Jillian Lubow — 347-967-6577, [email protected]

SOURCE Kinvolved