69传媒

Student Well-Being

1 in 7 69传媒 Found to Be 鈥楥hronically Absent,鈥 Report Finds

By Evie Blad 鈥 September 04, 2018 5 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

As schools prepare to face increased accountability for bringing down rates of chronic student absenteeism, a new report reveals the scale of the task.

Nationwide, about 1 in 7 students was chronically absent, missing at least 15 school days during the 2015-16 year, according to an analysis of the most recent federal data that was released last week by the reseach-and-advocacy groups Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Of those nearly 8 million students, 52 percent were concentrated in schools where chronic absenteeism rates topped 20 percent.

And the problem varies geographically. In eight states and the District of Columbia, more than 20 percent of students were chronically absent, a state-by-state breakdown found. The problem was worst in Maryland, where 29.1 percent of students missed 15 or more days of school.

鈥淲hen you have high and extreme levels of chronic absence, it鈥檚 an alert that additional support is needed to make sure students have the resources they need to be in class and to thrive,鈥 said Hedy Chang, the executive director of Attendance Works.

Role of ESSA

Levels of chronic absenteeism will soon be more accessible to the public and, consequently, a big concern for many schools.

That鈥檚 because the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal education law that replaced No Child Left Behind, requires schools to list chronic absenteeism rates on their state report cards, which must be posted by December 2018.

That law also sought to broaden definitions of school success by requiring states to include at least one additional indicator, beyond traditional academic factors, in their accountability systems.

After seeking public input and debating a range of possible indicators, 36 states and the District of Columbia included rates of chronic absenteeism in their plans.

Every state set its own definition of chronic absenteeism. Some chose a fixed cap on the number of days a student could miss. Others adopted the definition favored by groups like Attendance Works, which suggests students shouldn鈥檛 miss more than 10 percent of class days.

Setting a percentage, rather than a fixed number, allows schools to track students鈥 missed school time throughout the school year, giving a moving indicator that can alert them early if there is a problem, attendance advocates argue.

The elevation of absenteeism in policy follows years of drumbeating for the cause by advocates at the state and national levels.

When states were tasked with updating their accountability plans, groups that had pushed for an increased focus on attendance at the local level were naturally positioned to speak up in those conversations, Chang has said.

鈥淲e believe this is a bit of a watershed moment,鈥 Chang said, adding that people have 鈥渓ong misunderstood whether or not this was even an issue.鈥

Whole-School Solutions

Absenteeism rates include school days missed for any reason鈥攅xcused or unexcused鈥攊ncluding illness and disciplinary issues like suspensions.

That means reducing absenteeism will require a whole-school approach that may include an examination of discipline policies, encouraging academic engagement to keep students motivated to show up, and coordinating resources to tackle non-academic factors that keep students out of school, like illness or a lack of transportation.

Districts that have tackled the problem have launched large advertising campaigns that encourage families to focus on attendance; they鈥檝e worked with local celebrities and athletes to record student wake-up calls; and they鈥檝e paired students with mentors who helped them with both academic and social issues.

69传媒 have also provided wraparound services, hosted free flu shot clinics on site, and coordinated with local providers to provide mental and physical health care to low-income students.

As states considered absenteeism, some groups, like local teachers鈥 unions, argued that it was a tall task to ask schools to tackle so many non-academic factors. Others suggested absenteeism rates would merely serve as a proxy for poverty, which is outside of a school鈥檚 control.

Some have also expressed concerns that districts may skew their data related to attendance or suspensions to meet goals and reduce their absenteeism rates.

In Washington, D.C., for example, an investigation by the state superintendent of education鈥檚 office found an 鈥渋ncreasing incidence of students graduating despite missing a large proportion of instructional days at school鈥 in violation of district policy.

That report followed investigations by local media, like a Washington Post story that found schools underreporting suspensions to drive down discipline rates.

鈥楽uccess Stories鈥

The Attendance Works and Everyone Graduates Center analysis found that, nationwide, schools with high concentrations of poverty were also more likely to have high rates of chronic absenteeism.

Among schools where more than 75 percent of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, 17 percent had rates of chronic absenteeism that topped 30 percent, the report shows. And an additional 17 percent had rates between 20 percent and 29.9 percent. By comparison, just 4 percent of schools where fewer than 24 percent of students were low-income had chronic absenteeism rates above 30 percent.

Native American, Hispanic, African-American, and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students are also disproportionately represented among chronically absent students.

Absentee rates were extremely high at schools focused on special education. At about half of those schools, more than 30 percent of students missed at least 15 school days. Twenty-seven percent of vocational schools had that level of chronic absenteeism, along with 47 percent of alternative schools.

69传媒 shouldn鈥檛 see high rates of poverty or out-of-school challenges as destiny, said Robert Balfanz, the director of the Everyone Graduates Center.

鈥淓ven if you look at the highest poverty level, you will see in most states, a number of schools that have really low rates of chronic absenteeism,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a signal that there are some bright spots and success stories.鈥

States can explore those success stories to determine what works and what can be replicated in other schools, Balfanz said.

Along with the report, the organizations promoted a data tool created by the Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution that allows users to search data by geographic area and demographic group.

States shouldn鈥檛 seek to penalize schools that fall short on attendance, Chang said. Rather, they should use the data to identify where they can target support and resources to fix the problem.

鈥淭he history of attendance in this country has been looking at attendance as a matter of compliance 鈥hich is, in fact, the opposite of what we know works,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hat we know works is taking a positive, problem-solving approach.鈥

Related Video

A version of this article appeared in the September 05, 2018 edition of Education Week as 8 Million 69传媒 Are 鈥楥hronically Absent,鈥 States Say

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Student Well-Being School Leaders Confront Racist Texts, Harmful Rhetoric After Divisive Election
Educators say inflammatory rhetoric from the campaign trail has made its way into schools.
7 min read
A woman looks at a hand held device on a train in New Jersey.
Black students鈥攁s young as middle schoolers鈥攈ave received racists texts invoking slavery in the wake of the presidential election. Educators say they're starting to see inflammatory campaign rhetoric make its way into classrooms.
Jenny Kane/AP
Student Well-Being Download Traumatic Brain Injuries Are More Common Than You Think. Here's What to Know
Here's how educators can make sure injured students don't fall behind as they recover.
1 min read
Illustration of a female student sitting at her desk and holding hands against her temples while swirls of pencils, papers, question marks, stars, and exclamation marks swirl around her head.
iStock/Getty
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Whitepaper
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism Nationwide
Together the Escondido Union School District and the National Inventors Hall of Fame庐 have successfully engaged students and decreased ab...
Content provided by 
Student Well-Being How Teachers Can Help LGBTQ+ 69传媒 With Post-Election Anxiety
LGBTQ+ crisis prevention hotlines have seen a spike in calls from youth and their families.
6 min read
Photo of distraught teen girl.
Preeti M / Getty