________________________________________

Director, Hedy Chang, hnchang@earthlink.net

www.chronicabsence.net
Chronic Absence: missing 10% or more of
school over the course of an academic year for any
reason. Research shows 10% is associated with
declining academic performance. No standard
definition exists.

Truancy: refers only to unexcused absences and

is defined by each state, according to NCLB.

Average Daily Attendance: the percent of

enrolled students who attend school each day.
DEBUNKING
MYTHS
Attending Kindergarten
regularly doesn’t really
matter.
Chronic K absence is associated with lower
academic performance in 1st grade for all
children, especially reading for Latino children.

Source: National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)

Among poor children, chronic absence in
kindergarten predicted lower 5th grade
achievement.

Source: National Center for Children In Poverty

 Reality:
Poor 6th Grade Attendance
Predicts Drop Out

Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium

We don’t need to worry
about large numbers of
students missing school
until middle or high school.
Nationwide, 1 out of 10 K & 1st graders are chronically
absent. (Source: NCCPP)
Chronic early absence can be even higher in some
localities. (Across 9 districts, ranged from 5% to 25% of K-
3 graders). (Source: Present, Engaged & Accounted For)
Chronic Early Absence Across Localities
30.0%

26.7%

25.0%
22.7%

20.0%
17.4%

15.0% 13.79%
12.9%
12.0%

10.0% 8.6%

6.0% 5.4%
5.0%

0.0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Locality
%
 Chronic Absence in Baltimore MD

Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium

• Education of all children can be adversely
affected when teachers divert attention to meet
the needs of chronically absent children.
• Addressing chronic absence can improve ADA
which would increase resources available to all
students.
• Chronic early absence could be a sign to
intervene before problems are more entrenched.
Most educators regularly
monitor when students
are chronically absent.
• Schools typically only track data on average
daily attendance and truancy (unexcused
absence).
• But both can mask chronic absence.
• Especially in the early grades, children are
not likely to be home without the knowledge
of an adult who can call in to say they will be
absent.
• Even if schools ID truant or chronically
absent students, data is rarely used to
examine problematic attendance patterns
(e.g. by classroom, grade, school,
neighborhood or sub-population).
• Educators may overlook sporadic vs.
consecutive absences.
• Absences/attendance are not always built
into longitudinal student data systems. ( Not
required by the America Competes Act or
NCLB.)
Because families are
ultimately responsible for
children getting to school
every day, schools can’t do
anything to address chronic
absence.
 Characteristics of Effective Strategies
• Partner with community agencies to help parents
carry out their responsibility to get children to school.
• Make chronic absence a priority, set a target and
monitor progress over time.
• Examine factors contributing to chronic absence,
especially from parent perspective
• Clearly communicate expectations to parents
• Begin early, ideally in Pre-K
• Combine universal and targeted strategies.
• Offer positive supports before punitive action.

Source: Present, Engaged & Accounted For

1. When chronic absence occurs in the early years,
consider the role that schools, families and
communities each might play in contributing to
and addressing attendance.
2. As children grow older, pay more attention to
issues affecting youth as well (e.g. boredom in
school, family responsibilities, peer pressure.)
3. Key factors contributing to chronic absence can
vary by community.
4. High levels of chronic absence suggest systemic
challenges affecting the school or community.
IMPLICATIONS
FOR ACTION
1. Create attendance data team to regularly review patterns
of chronic absence by grade, classroom and sub-
population.
2. Offer attendance incentives school-wide.
3. Educate parents that attendance matters starting in
Kindergarten & encourage families to help each other get
to school
4. Reach out to chronically absent students & their families
& find out barriers to attendance
5. Partner with community resources (i.e. afterschool,
preschool and health programs) to promote attendance &
address barriers.
6. Include strategies to improve attendance in annual
school improvement plan
1. Track absences electronically.
2. Calculate and publicly report the levels of
chronic absence district-wide, by school, grade
and sub-groups.
3. Ensure underperforming schools with high levels
of chronic absence identify barriers to
attendance and address issue in school
improvement plans.
4. Include chronic absence (along with ADA &
truancy) in data dashboards, school report cards
and other forms of electronic communications.
6. Create incentives for schools and administrators to
improve attendance and reduce chronic absence.
7. Invest in professional development around using
chronic absence as an early warning sign.
8. Invest in outreach counselors to support attendance
work.
9. Encourage community and public agencies to target
relevant resources to schools with high chronic
absence levels.
1. Inclusion of absence data in longitudinal
student data base.
2. State assistance with generating annual
reports on attendance including chronic
absence.
3. Use of federal funds (Race to the Top, School
Improvement Grants) to pay for the addition of
absences to state and local data systems,
professional development on responding to
early warning signs including chronic
absence, formation of school community
collaboratives to improve attendance &
achievement.