Initiative Description: Head Start program policy is for teachers to enter absences each morning. The Head Start Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) contacted families of chronically and excessively absent students by telephone, clinic visit at school, or home visit to examine children.

Study Results: At the elementary school program level and in each elementary school, the improvement in attendance was significant at p ≤ .05. At each grade level, there was attendance improvement at the .05 level. In Elementary School 1 at the kindergarten and first-grade levels, there was no statistically significant improvement, but at each school in each grade, there was an improvement at p < .05

Reference: Kerr, J., Price, M., Kotch, J., Willis, S., Fisher, M., & Silva, S. (2012). Does Contact by a Family Nurse Practitioner Decrease Early School Absence?. Journal Of School Nursing, 28(1), 38-46. doi:10.1177/1059840511422818

Level of Evidence:   Good