In light of the theory that student absenteeism and lack of motivation are intertwined, educators have begun to investigate the theories of motivation in order to apply them to creative attendance policies in an attempt to reduce the problem of student absenteeism. Motivational theories indicate common elements of the importance of the intrinsic sense of belonging and self-worth to motivation. Individuals need to feel a sense of achievement and are motivated by extrinsic acknowledgements of this achievement. School should be made relevant and interesting because bored workers will not produce high quality work. A good lead-manager will create a situation of cooperative action which will allow the students to satisfy their needs to belong and feel powerful. Schools should be designed to use competition and teamwork to achieve established goals. Just as in a free market system, this will result in a high level of production. A large suburban high school located in a fairly affluent area initiated an incentive-based program to reduce absenteeism, the Back-to-Class program. Students with perfect attendance are permitted to select their next year's teachers which allows them to see a purpose to their action and to benefit from it. A school-wide pizza party incentive was used to provide a sense of teamwork and cooperative action. The Back-to-Class program had phenomenal success raising the attendance rate by four percent. (ABL)