THE PRACTITIONER’S PULSE
February 2026
GSW Education Partners | gsweducationpartners.com
This month we’re focused on the conversations that keep coming up with every program leader we talk to: attendance, staffing, and whether what we’re doing in the classroom actually connects with the students sitting in front of us.
The data in this issue is uncomfortable. But it’s the kind of discomfort that helps you make better decisions. We’ve also included a new free tool that we think will be genuinely useful as you plan for summer. More on that below.
The Attendance Crisis That’s Reshaping K-12 Programs
28%
of students are chronically absent nationally
That’s nearly 1 in 3 kids missing enough school to fall behind in ways that compound fast. And the effects don’t stop with the students who are absent.
When one student misses school repeatedly, it pulls everyone else down too. Teachers spend instructional time reviewing material instead of moving forward. Classroom routines never solidify. Peer relationships suffer. And the research shows absent students make their classmates more likely to skip school too. The cycle feeds itself.
But punitive approaches don’t work. Threatening families with legal action backfires almost every time.
What actually works? Schools with strong family engagement before problems start see chronic absenteeism rates 6 percentage points lower than comparable schools without those systems. Career and technical education pathways that feel relevant to students create real reasons to show up. And programs that address root causes, things like transportation gaps, mental health needs, and food insecurity, outperform compliance checklists every time.
The question isn’t whether students will attend. It’s whether we’re building programs worth attending.
The Teacher Retention Numbers You Need to See
44%
of K-12 teachers report burnout
That makes teaching the most burned-out profession in America. More than healthcare workers. More than first responders. And 55% of teachers say they plan to leave the profession earlier than they originally intended.
We can’t keep asking educators to cope their way out of a systemic problem.
The research points to something different. Schools with systematic engagement practices see dramatically lower turnover. When teachers feel trusted, supported, and given adequate time for planning, they stay. The Gallup data is striking: educators are 62% less likely to leave their school when they feel genuinely engaged in their work.
This isn’t about self-care apps or wellness workshops. It’s about leadership decisions. It’s about streamlining administrative paperwork that steals time from instruction. Setting clear expectations that protect teachers from scope creep. Building cultures of collaboration rather than compliance.
The teachers who leave aren’t the ones who stopped caring. They’re the ones who cared so much they burned themselves out trying to do it all.
The Engagement Paradox Hiding in Plain Sight
92%
of students say engaging lessons make school more enjoyable
Yet 8 in 10 students report feeling bored at least once a week.
The Discovery Education 2025-2026 Insights Report found a disconnect that should concern every program leader. Students want to engage. They crave challenging, relevant work. Nearly 4 in 5 say school feels too easy. But less than half believe their teachers even know when they’re engaged.
We’re measuring compliance and calling it engagement.
True engagement shows up in three dimensions. Behavioral engagement is participation and presence. Emotional engagement is belonging and connection. Cognitive engagement is curiosity, persistence, and depth of thinking. When students feel personally connected to their teachers and classmates, when they feel like valued members of a community, everything else follows. Attendance improves. Achievement rises. Behavior issues drop.
Engagement isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a prerequisite for learning.
FROM GSW
Free Tool - Summer Program Readiness Diagnostic
Your students will lose 2 to 3 months of math skills this summer. Unless you plan for it now.
The research is consistent, students from 3rd to 8th grade lose 25-30% of their math gains and 15-25% of reading progress every summer. For students in under-resourced communities, those losses compound year after year.
But here’s what most program leaders miss: summer programs running fewer than 5 weeks show almost no measurable impact. Attendance below 80% cuts effectiveness in half. And programs without engaging enrichment activities struggle to get families in the door.
We built a free diagnostic tool that tells you exactly where your summer program stands. It takes under 5 minutes and covers four critical areas:
Curriculum and Instructional Design – alignment with evidence-based practices and enrichment balance
Staffing and Professional Development – hiring readiness, training systems, and retention strategies
Family Engagement Infrastructure – recruitment pipelines and attendance strategies
Operational Excellence – scheduling, safety, compliance, and sustainability
You’ll get a personalized readiness score and a prioritized action list. The goal is to help you see your blind spots before they become summer emergencies.
➤ Take the Free Diagnostic Now
That’s what we’ve got this month. None of these problems have easy answers, and we’re not pretending otherwise. But naming them clearly is the first step toward building programs that actually work for the students and staff who show up every day.
Talk soon,
GSW Education Partners