Skip to main content

Student Engagement and Attendance Technical Assistance Center (SEAC)

The Student Engagement and Attendance Center (SEAC) supports State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) in their efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism and increase student engagement.

The SEAC seeks to identify and disseminate evidence-based promising practices and research, and to establish peer learning communities, guided by subject matter experts, that allow for stakeholders to learn effective strategies from one another. The SEAC also develops tools, products, and resources on chronic absence interventions and improving student engagement in learning. Finally, the Center offers supports to SEAs and LEAs in developing their learning response to the national COVID-19 pandemic, identifying strategies to reengage with students and families to facilitate learning recovery.

The SEAC is operated by the Manhattan Strategy Group and Westat. This technical assistance initiative is authorized under section 4103(a) of Title IV, Part A, Subpart 3, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended.

This work continues the efforts of the previous SEAC contract, in operation from 2019 to 2024, and the National Student Attendance, Engagement, and Success Center, in operation from 2016 to 2018.

Types of Technical Assistance

The SEAC’s technical assistance activities include hosting opportunities for peer learning, including virtual learning series that convene states around a particular problem of practice, peer-to-peer virtual events in which States learn from one another, and national webinars featuring subject matter experts and partner organizations to share the latest research and promising practices with practitioners.

Additionally, the SEAC identifies, creates, and disseminates related tools and resources, including publications, promising-practice briefs, and other tools, that address chronic absenteeism and support student engagement.

The SEAC also provides one-on-one, just-in-time services for additional supports around student attendance and engagement to SEAs and LEAs, upon request.

Find more information and explore the resources available from the SEAC using the tiles below on this page.

Contact Information

For more information about the SEAC, please contact via email at: SEACenter@manhattanstrategy.com

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE)
Page Last Reviewed:
November 12, 2024