Good school attendance has been directly linked to academic achievement, greater participation in school programs, and graduation from high school. Reports investigating poor elementary school attendance habits describe the emergence of later problems in middle and high school years. Schools and Families: Allies for Attendance, a 2-year project, was undertaken to improve attendance among elementary school children. The project was an early identification program designed to prevent the emergence of behavioral problems, academic failure, and possible delinquency among students exhibiting a pattern of poor school attendance. This manual describes the results of the project in a question-and-answer format. Chapter 1 outlines the history and law mandating school attendance. Chapter 2 provides a description of the grant. Chapter 3 is dedicated to project evaluation and data analysis. Chapter 4 lists the most effective practices in working with school personnel, parents, and children on issues of attendance. Chapter 5 provides case examples from the project. Some of the findings reported include the observations that as few as 15 absences per year, excused and unexcused together, may place a child at risk for developing poor attendance habits; that different reasons for poor attendance may be described which in turn relate to the type of intervention needed to remedy them; and that poor attendance and poor achievement are related. (Author/NB)