Hedy Nai-Lin Chang

hchang
Hedy Nai-Lin Chang
Founder and Executive Director,
Attendance Works

Hedy Nai-Lin Chang is the founder and executive director of Attendance Works, a national and state initiative aimed at advancing student success by addressing chronic absence. She co-authored the seminal report "Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades," as well as numerous other articles about student attendance. Deeply committed to promoting two-generation solutions to achieving a more just and equitable society, Chang has spent more than two decades working in the fields of family support, family economic success, education, and child development. She served as a senior program officer at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and as co-director of California Tomorrow. In February 2013, She was named a Champion of Change by the White House for her commitment to furthering African American Education. Chang received her MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School.

updated 2025

Contributing topics
Education finance
Educational governance & policy
Supporting students’ social-emotional, mental & physical health
Understanding, measuring & improving student outcomes
Contributing initiatives
CORE-PACE Research Partnership
COVID-19 Recovery
Commentary by Hedy Nai-Lin Chang
: A Tiered Approach to Ensuring Students Are Present, Engaged, and Supported in the 2020–21 School Year
: Measuring Daily Attendance and Participation During COVID-19: An Invaluable Tool for Reducing Educational Inequity
Hedy Nai-Lin Chang in the Media
: Covid’s Long Shadow in California: Chronic Absences, Student Depression and the Limits of Money
: Attendance is a Bright Spot in the Latest California School Dashboard
: How Are Students Doing? New California School Dashboard is Out
: Disparities in ‘Unexcused’ Absences Deepen Education Inequities
: Students are Chronically Absent Across the Country. COVID Seems to Have Made It Worse.
Publications by Hedy Nai-Lin Chang
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Unpacking California’s Chronic Absence Crisis Through 2023–24
Seven Key Facts
Absenteeism soared in California and nationally in the wake of the pandemic, and addressing this extraordinary increase is crucial to helping students catch up academically. Using data available from the California Department of Education and…
Unpacking California’s Chronic Absence Crisis Through 2022–23: Seven Key Facts
Unpacking California’s Chronic Absence Crisis Through 2022–23
Seven Key Facts
Chronic absenteeism has soared in California and nationally in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and addressing this extraordinary increase is crucial to helping students catch up academically. Using data available from the California Department of…
Disparities in Unexcused Absences Across California Schools
Disparities in Unexcused Absences Across California Schools
This report finds that improving school attendance is crucial, especially with the increase in chronic absence. Data on unexcused absences should be used to create a more preventive, problem-solving, and equitable response to poor attendance.…
Approaches to Reducing Chronic Absenteeism
California has added student attendance to its accountability system to emphasize its importance, but chronic absenteeism's causes are not well-understood. Schools face the expectation to address absenteeism, but myths about attendance persist. The…