Chronic Absence

NCHE Resources

In School Every Day: Addressing Chronic Absenteeism Among Students Experiencing Homelessness

This NCHE brief provides an overview of the issue of chronic absenteeism, explains the effects of chronic absenteeism on school and student performance, and suggests strategies to address the issue of chronic absenteeism among students experiencing homelessness.
Go to In School Every Day: Addressing Chronic Absenteeism Among Students Experiencing Homelessness.

Resources

Attendance Works

Attendance Works is a national and state initiative that promotes awareness of the important role that school attendance plays in achieving academic success. Attendance Work’s goal is to ensure that every district in the country not only tracks chronic absence data, but also partners with families and community agencies to intervene when attendance is a problem for children or particular schools.
Visit the Attendance Works website.

Chronic Absence in the United States, 2015-16 School Year Interactive Map

This webpage from The Hamilton Project allows website users to explore chronic absence data for the 2015-16 school year data across multiple levels. Hover, zoom in and out, and click around to investigate differences in chronic absence across states, between districts, and between schools in a district. Select student characteristics to see rates of chronic absence among particular student subpopulations. Clicking school characteristics allows the user to see rates of chronic absence by grade span and location.

Visit the Chronic Absence in the United States, 2015-16 School Year Interactive Map webpage.

Chronic Absence Survey and Data Tools (University of South Florida)

This webpage from the University of South Florida’s Problem Solving and Response to Intervention Project provides validated tools for understanding the root causes of chronic absence, and analyzing chronic absence data to identify inequities among student populations.
Visit the USF Chronic Absence Survey and Data Tools webpage.

The Importance of Being in School: A Report on Absenteeism in the Nation’s Public Schools

This report from the Everyone Graduates Center analyzes data on chronic absenteeism at the state level to begin the process of mapping its extent and characteristics. The report also highlights promising practices among cities, school districts, and nonprofit organizations to combat chronic absenteeism. The authors offer policy recommendations on tracking and reporting chronic absence data and evidence-based interventions..
Download The Importance of Being in School: A Report on Absenteeism in the Nation’s Public Schools.

Portraits of Change: Aligning School and Community Resources to Reduce Chronic Absence

This September 2017 report from Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center provides a national and state analysis of how many schools face high levels of chronic absence, and discusses the implications for state and local action. The report includes examples of attendance initiatives from communities across the U.S. that show how chronic absence can be turned around, even when it reaches high levels in a school or district, or among a particular student population. It also shares how partners such as businesses, nonprofits, and local governments can team up with educators and add support and resources.
Visit Portraits of Change: Aligning School and Community Resources to Reduce Chronic Absence report webpage.