“If you’re not there, you can’t benefit from instruction.” “All the school reform in the world won’t help students who aren’t in school.” These are recent, seemingly obvious observations from education advocates. However, as a recent Stateline report alarmingly points out, “states that investigate chronic absenteeism are often surprised at the extent of the problem.”
Chronic absenteeism is defined differently among states, but the most common definition is when a student misses at least 10% of the school year for any reason (i.e., excused or unexcused absences). Just how bad is the problem? A 2012 Johns Hopkins University School of Education study estimated that between 10% and 15% of U.S. students (5 to 7.5 million) are chronically absent. Low-income urban areas see a rate around 33%.
States are beginning to focus on this epidemic because research points to chronic absence as a precursor to low grades and dropping out. Several states are taking steps to address chronic absence, which range from enacting a school funding formula that requires every district to monitor its chronic absence rate (California), using a data system to track which students have missed more than 5% of school days (Hawaii), and allowing the public to view chronic absence rates at every public school on the state’s report card website (Maryland).
Individual school districts are also making efforts on the local level. New York City launched a campaign to get children to school through its Interagency Task Force on Truancy, Chronic Absenteeism, and School Engagement. Principals in Connecticut’s New Britain school district held back-to-school orientation breakfasts and open houses to remind parents that a child falls behind academically when absent, arriving late, or leaving early from school. In Hartford, where around 22,000 students were chronically absent last year, city schools are working with the Hartford Campaign for Grade-Level Reading on a September “Attendance Awareness” initiative. This initiative publicizes the impact of chronic absenteeism, particularly during the developmental early school years.
