Hedy Chang Named NASBE’s 2024 Policy Leader of the Year

Alexandria, VA—The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is proud to announce Hedy N. Chang, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Attendance Works, as its 2024 Policy Leader of the Year. This prestigious award is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant impact on education policy.

Chang founded Attendance Works to raise awareness and advance policies addressing chronic absence in schools. The initiative grew from research Chang conducted that was commissioned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and published in 2008 in the groundbreaking report, Present, Engaged, and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades. The research revealed the detrimental effects of chronic absence—defined as missing 10 percent of school—on academic performance. Moreover, it reported that one in ten kindergarten and first-grade students nationwide were missing nearly a month of school each year, with even higher rates in urban areas and among some student groups.

Recognizing the need to nationally elevate this critical issue, Chang founded Attendance Works in 2010. She is credited with coining the term “chronic absence” to encompass all types of absences, both excused and unexcused, and to differentiate it from truancy.

Today, Chang’s advocacy is more vital than ever. Before the pandemic, approximately eight million students were chronically absent; this number almost doubled by 2022. Attendance Works collaborates with over two dozen school districts and 32 states, and it partners with 85 national organizations to assess knowledge gaps, build capacity, and implement comprehensive, evidence-based strategies for addressing chronic absence.

With Chang and Attendance Works’ guidance, several states have made progress in reducing student chronic absence post-pandemic, including Connecticut, whose systemic approach helped reduce its chronic absence rate overall to 17.7 percent in the 2023–24 school year compared with 23.7 percent at the end of the 2021–22 school year.  The reductions spanned every high-need population: English learners, students with disabilities, students eligible for free and reduced-price meals, and students experiencing homelessness. Virginia also saw reductions in its chronic absence rate, to 16.1 percent in 2023–24 from a high of 20.1 percent in 2021–22. With support of the governor, the state launched the All In Initiative, with Attendance Works aiding Virginia’s statewide professional development to help school teams adopt a tiered, prevention-oriented approach.

Previously, Chang spent more than three decades working in family support, family economic success, education, and child development. Her roles included senior program officer at the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, focusing on immigration rights and community partnerships, and co-director of California Tomorrow, a nonprofit that champions cultural, linguistic, and racial diversity.

Chang’s efforts have been recognized with multiple accolades, including being named a Champion of Change by the White House in 2013 for her commitment to advancing African American education. In 2023, she received the Martin C. Ushkow Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on School Health. In 2024, Chang participated in the White House Every Day Counts Summit: Addressing Chronic Absenteeism and Increasing Student Engagement.

A skilled presenter, facilitator, researcher, and writer, Chang has written numerous articles about student attendance, including in NASBE’s State Education Standard. She has a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a B.A. from Occidental College.

“I am honored to be named 2024 Policy Leader of the Year, and I am deeply grateful for the partnership with NASBE. State school board members are in a unique position to make reducing chronic absence a priority while ensuring everyone has access to solutions and strategies designed to boost regular attendance and engagement. Our efforts at Attendance Works show that chronic absence drops when state school boards develop policies that clarify rules around taking and reporting attendance, promote prevention and early intervention, and ensure legal action is used only as a last resort,” Chang said.

“Hedy Chang’s visionary leadership to elevate and address the chronic absence crisis has had a profound impact on education policy, helping to ensure that all students have the opportunity to thrive in school. There is hardly a place in the country that isn’t reflecting on student absenteeism, and this is largely a tribute to her hard work and dedication. We are proud to honor Hedy as our 2024 Policy Leader of the Year,” said Paolo DeMaria, NASBE president and CEO.

Chang will be presented with the Policy Leader of the Year award at NASBE’s Annual Conference, October 23–25, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky, where she will also be participating in a session on chronic absence.

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