Once a month at Impact Puget Sound Elementary, I break it on purpose.

We call it Hallway Holler. About once a month, teachers nominate scholars who have embodied our school’s Core Values and Commitments in meaningful ways. Those students get to sprint down the hallway 鈥� full speed, arms pumping, sneakers squeaking 鈥� while their classmates line the walls, arms outstretched to form a tunnel, cheering as loud as they possibly can. Teachers run right alongside their kids. The noise is glorious. The joy is real.

I know how that sounds. But I’d argue it’s one of the most direct things I do to address one of American education’s most stubborn problems: getting kids to show up.

Hallway Holler started at our Tukwila campus, in a single ground-floor hallway, almost as a small experiment. The idea was simple: Take something we care deeply about 鈥� our core values 鈥� and make the recognition of it feel like the biggest deal in the building. It worked so well, so fast, that we expanded it to all four of our schools and moved it to monthly. Now it’s a founding pillar of who we are as a charter school network.

What I didn’t fully anticipate was what it would mean to the kids. One first grader told me: “My favorite part is that we get to run. When I am chosen to run, and people are cheering for me, it makes me feel proud of myself.” A fourth grader put it even more plainly: “I always want to be at school to see if I am running again. I want to work even harder.”

When we surveyed families about what they wanted as we expanded to middle school, Hallway Holler came up unprompted. Not from parents. From kids. Students told their families about it. That feedback loop 鈥� from a child’s excitement to a family’s sense of belonging 鈥� is not something I could have manufactured with a policy memo.

I want to be honest about what Hallway Holler is not. It is not a reward for perfect behavior or a prize for the most popular kids in class. Teachers nominate scholars who have embodied our values in meaningful ways: spreading kindness in the classroom, in common spaces, at recess and beyond. Recognition rotates, so that every child gets seen across the year for something real. 

 I think about one of our fourth graders who, just a year ago, struggled to find his footing. Third grade had been difficult: academically, socially and in how he experienced school. This year, he set a goal: to show up each day as his best self. He knew Hallway Holler wasn鈥檛 about perfection, but about growth. 

Over time, through small consistent choices like choosing kindness in the classroom, supporting peers at recess, and taking responsibility when things went wrong, he grew! He even stepped up as a buddy to a younger class. When his name was finally called for Hallway Holler, it wasn鈥檛 for being the loudest or the most polished. It was for that steady, daily effort.

Since then, he has grown more than 15 points in both reading and math, a reflection of what can happen when a student feels seen, valued and motivated to keep showing up.

The kids who aren’t running this month are forming the tunnel, dancing and cheering and sending love as their peers sprint past. They are part of it too. And they know their moment is coming.

That deliberateness matters. This isn’t about performance or perfection. It’s about the ongoing, daily work of noticing kids 鈥� and then making that noticing feel like the biggest deal in the building.

The joy work and the academic work are not in competition. They are the same work,and the field doesn’t talk about that enough.

Chronic absenteeism is one of the most stubborn problems in American public education, and the conversation around it tends to focus almost entirely on removing obstacles 鈥� calling families, connecting them to resources, offering transportation. All of that matters and we do all of that. But that framing treats attendance as a problem to be solved rather than a behavior to be motivated. What gets talked about far less is the other side of the equation: making school a place kids are genuinely, viscerally excited to return to. 

And when kids are in school, they’re learning. At Impact Puget Sound Elementary, 65.3% of our students meet grade-level standards in ELA and 65.8% in math 鈥� outpacing our local district, Tukwila School District, by 13.9 percentage points in ELA and 25.8 points in math. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. 

A child cannot learn on a day they are not here 鈥� and a child who wants to be here shows up. At Impact Puget Sound, we have over 90% average daily attendance which places us on pace with and slightly above the national average for all students. Nationally, schools where 75% or more of students qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch average attendance rates of 80% to 85%. At Impact Puget Sound, where 79% of our students qualify, we’re at 90.8% 鈥� a gap our team and families have earned.

But it requires knowing your community well enough to find the specific version of joy that lands for your specific kids. For us, it turned out to be something as elemental as permission to run in the hallways while your whole school cheers your name.

Some of my students don’t fully understand the data behind attendance yet. They don’t know what chronic absenteeism costs them in the long run. But they know the feeling of rounding a corner at full speed. They know their teacher is running beside them. They know that this 鈥� this specific, loud, joyful moment 鈥� only happens because they showed up and lived our values.

That’s enough. For now, that’s everything.

Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10% or more of the school year, has reached historic levels in the past few years. While the policy world often treats this as a statistical trend to be managed by administrators, the reality is that schools cannot solve this crisis behind closed doors.

To turn the tide, there must be a radical shift in how schools, districts and states share information. At the state level, that means disaggregated chronic absenteeism data that helps educators peek behind the curtain of statewide averages. But there also needs to be school-level transparency that empowers the most important stakeholders in a child鈥檚 life: their parents and caregivers.

For too long, attendance data has been treated as a compliance metric, a number reported to the state to secure funding. But for a parent, knowing that their school has a 30% chronic absenteeism rate isn’t just a “stat.” It is an urgent signal.

Many parents are surprised to learn that missing just two days a month adds up to chronic absenteeism. They may see their own child鈥檚 absences as isolated incidents, unaware that their school is struggling with a systemic culture of disengagement. When schools provide clear, accessible, and frequent data on current rates and how those rates have shifted over time, it strips away the normalcy of the empty classroom.

Transparency builds awareness about the consequences. tells us that by third grade, chronically absent students are less likely to read on grade level. By middle school, it is a primary predictor of high school dropout rates. When parents see the data, they aren’t just looking at numbers; they are looking at the foundational health of their school community鈥檚 future.

Transparency isn’t just about showing a single percentage; it鈥檚 about providing the context necessary for decision-making. Parents deserve to know how their school compares to others with similar demographics or within the same district.

If School A has a chronic absenteeism rate of 40% while School B, just three miles away with similar resources, sits at 15%, that data tells a story. It suggests that School B may have found a successful recipe for student engagement, transportation solutions or mental health support that School A could learn from.

When parents have access to comparative data, they can move from being passive observers to active advocates. They can ask the right questions: What is School B doing differently? How can parents support teachers to implement those strategies here? This isn’t about shaming schools; it鈥檚 about using data to identify bright spots and scale what works.

has long helped families compare and choose schools based on factors that matter most to them. Understanding attendance patterns alongside traditional performance measures offers families a more detailed view of the overall school experience. That’s why GreatSchools recently introduced on school profiles in nearly 20 states (with more to come) 鈥� focusing the display on simple language (鈥�81% of students are present nearly every day鈥�) that would resonate with families.

Indeed, how we frame attendance data to families matters. Among the most significant barriers to solving chronic absenteeism is the “us versus them” mentality that often develops between families and front offices. When a school hides its struggles with attendance, it misses the opportunity to ask for help.

True transparency creates a bridge for partnership and builds trust. When a school leader stands before parents and says, “Our data shows that 25% of our students are missing critical instruction, and our biggest spike is on Friday mornings,” it invites a community-wide solution.

• Parents can coordinate carpools or “bike/walking school buses.”
• Students can voice the specific barriers 鈥� whether it鈥檚 bullying, a lack of belonging, or family obligations 鈥� that keep them from going to school.
• Schools can realign resources to provide the specific support families actually need, rather than what administrators think they need.

We have seen firsthand through our work in education innovation and leading schools that when you give parents high-quality, actionable data, they don’t just consume it 鈥� they act on it. They become partners in the “why” behind the absences. Is it a lack of reliable transit? Is it a chronic health issue? Is there a disconnect between engagement with the curriculum and its real-world application? 

This last one hits home, as from Edmentum in 2024 shows that personalization and engagement might be among our best solutions yet. In their research, a district featured in the study already had a strong Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework in place. Flexible, personalized digital curriculum was one component within that broader system of supports, not a standalone intervention. The district was actively examining attendance data and deliberately selecting tools to re-engage students.

The TL;DR: Schools and parents cannot solve these problems if they aren’t looking at the same map.

The “post-pandemic” era brings a new reality where the bond between home and school has been both strained and redefined. To strengthen that bond, educators must treat parents as the sophisticated decision-makers they are.

We call on district leaders and policymakers to make school-level chronic absenteeism data a centerpiece of their public reporting. This data should be:

• Real-time: Not a post-mortem delivered six months after the school year ends.
• Hyper-local: Broken down by school site.
• Accessible: Translated into multiple languages and presented in a way that is easy to digest and can spark a conversation.

The empty desk is a symptom of a larger disconnection. By pulling back the curtain on attendance data, schools do more than just count heads; they build a culture of accountability, care and partnership. It鈥檚 time to stop treating attendance as a private administrative burden and start treating it as a shared public priority. Our students cannot learn if they aren’t there, and they won’t be there unless we all 鈥� parents, educators, and community members 鈥� are looking at the truth together.

Statewide averages, while useful for tracking overall trends, often mask these disparities. Students who experienced the largest pandemic-era increases 鈥� Black and Hispanic children and those from low-income families 鈥� are generally the furthest from their pre-pandemic attendance levels. In many states, the gaps between these students and their peers have widened rather than narrowed.

Because chronic absenteeism 鈥� defined as missing 10% or more of the school year 鈥� is closely linked to academic achievement, engagement and long-term outcomes, these disparities carry significant equity implications. Without recovery, gaps in learning and opportunity are likely to persist.

This analysis examines trends in chronic absenteeism in 26 states and the District of Columbia, using data from the 2018-19 through the 2024-25 school years, broken down by income, English learner status and race. Together, the 27 jurisdictions educate just under half of the nation鈥檚 students.

Income

Low-income students had higher absenteeism rates in every state before COVID and experienced greater attendance disruptions than students overall during the height of the pandemic. Between 2018-19 and 2021-22, the average state saw chronic absenteeism among low-income students increase by more than 17 percentage points, versus 13 points statewide. In all but one state, Nevada, increases among low-income students exceeded the state average.

In some states, the divergence was especially pronounced. In Nebraska, 26% of low-income students were chronically absent in 2018-19; by 2021-22, that number had jumped to 43%. Over the same period, the state鈥檚 overall absenteeism rate rose by about 9 points 鈥� roughly half as much.

Since the peak, chronic absenteeism rates have declined for all students, with 21 of 27 states seeing larger reductions among low-income students. Those have varied widely, with decreases ranging from just 1 percentage point in Oklahoma to nearly 20 points in Rhode Island.

Despite these somewhat larger decreases, low-income students remain further from pre-pandemic attendance levels in almost every state. On average, chronic absenteeism in this population in 2024-25 remains more than 9 percentage points above 2018-19 levels, compared with about 7.5 points statewide. In Tennessee, absenteeism among low-income students remains roughly 10 points higher than before COVID, while the state overall is about 5 points above its baseline. In Rhode Island, West Virginia, Nevada and Ohio, low-income student attendance is closer to pre-pandemic levels than the state average.

As a result of these trends, attendance gaps between low-income students and their wealthier peers have widened in 23 of the 27 states analyzed. The average difference increased from about 7 to 9 percentage points in 2024-25. In Oregon, the gap widened from roughly 5 points to more than 13.

Where data are available for wealthier students as well, the divide is often stark. In Ohio, roughly 33% of low-income students were chronically absent in 2024-25, compared with 11% of more affluent kids. Similar gaps persist in Rhode Island (30% versus 12%) and Washington state (35% versus 19%).

English Learners

English learners followed a similar, and in some ways more striking, pattern. Between 2018-19 and 2021-22, the average state saw their chronic absenteeism rise by 16.5 percentage points 鈥� 3 more than the statewide average increase. In Iowa, English learner absenteeism rose by more than 21 points, from nearly 15% to more than 36%, compared with a nearly 14-point statewide jump. 

Post-peak declines among these students have been roughly comparable to statewide averages, around 6 percentage points. But because they experienced sharper increases initially, they remain further from their pre-pandemic baseline. On average across the states analyzed, English learner absenteeism rates in 2024-25 are about 11 points higher than in 2018-19, compared with 7.5 statewide. Except in Rhode Island and South Dakota, English learners are further from recovery than their peers overall 鈥� and in Rhode Island they have not only recovered, but now post lower absenteeism rates than before the pandemic.

In several states, English learner absenteeism remains especially elevated: in Alaska, Hawaii, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah, more than 15 points above pre-pandemic levels. In Utah, it is 17 points higher than in 2018-19, compared with a 9.5-point gap statewide. 

Perhaps most notable is how these students鈥� relative position has shifted. Before the pandemic, English learners were not consistently absent more than their peers, as were low-income students. In 14 of the 27 states, English learner absenteeism was below the statewide average or within 1 percentage point of it in 2018-19. By 2024-25, that was true for only six states, and in every state, the gap has widened. In Missouri, for example, chronic absenteeism among English learners rose from 12% in 2018-19, about 1 percentage point below the statewide rate, to 27% in 2024-25, more than 5 percentage points above the state average  of 21.5%.

Race and Ethnicity

Pandemic-era increases also varied sharply by race. White students experienced smaller hikes than the average in nearly every state, rising by about 10 percentage points between 2018-19 and 2021-22, compared with 13 points statewide.

Black and Hispanic students saw substantially larger increases. Across states, absenteeism among Black students rose by about 16 points on average, and among Hispanics by about 16.5 points. In every state analyzed, except Washington, D.C., the increase among Hispanic students exceeded the statewide average, and in 14 of the 27 states, Hispanic students saw the largest spikes of the three racial groups.

Recovery since 2021-22 has been somewhat stronger for Black and Hispanic students than for white kids. Across states, Black and Hispanic students have each seen average declines in chronic absenteeism of roughly 7 percentage points, compared with about 5 points for white students. But because absenteeism rose more sharply for Black and Hispanic students during the pandemic, these improvements have not fully offset the larger initial increases.

White students’ attendance remains closest to pre-pandemic levels, averaging about 5.5 points above baseline. Black students remain nearly 9 points above pre-pandemic levels, Hispanic students, nearly 10 points. In 17 of the 27 states analyzed, Hispanic students are the furthest from their 2018-19 attendance rates. Rhode Island again stands out as an exception; there, they now post lower absenteeism rates than before the pandemic. 

At the same time, Black students continue to show some of the highest absenteeism rates, leading in 14 states in 2024-25. In some cases, gaps are extreme: in the District of Columbia, absenteeism among white students is about 9%, compared with nearly 49% among Black peers; in Nebraska, the figures are roughly 15% and 43%, respectively.

Attendance has improved nationally since the pandemic, but underserved student groups remain further from their pre-pandemic attendance levels than others, and the gaps are wider than they once were. Rhode Island has bucked this trend, offering a promising example of what can achieve. Through a commitment to collecting and disseminating detailed, daily school-level data, and bringing together mayors, hospitals, business leaders and other community partners under the leadership of the governor鈥檚 office, the state has helped several student groups not only recover, but surpass their pre-pandemic attendance levels.

The persistent disparities in many states and Rhode Island鈥檚 progress in addressing them underscore the importance of timely, disaggregated attendance data. Without it, policymakers and educators risk overlooking which students are missing school and why, making it harder to direct supports where they are most needed.

FutureEd Policy Analyst Tara Moon and Research Associate Giana Loretta contributed to this analysis.

The majority of students in West Virginia who left public schools in the last three years were chronically absent, prompting concerns among educational officials and lawmakers that students are exiting the schools to avoid truancy penalties.

A bill in the House of Delegates sought to address the issue by pausing homeschool requests from parents of chronically-absent or truancy children. It was to make sure families weren鈥檛 avoiding legal ramifications for truancy.

But, as of Tuesday, the measure is dead for this legislative session.

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鈥淚 (saw) it as a way to help students to make sure that they鈥檙e receiving the proper education,鈥� said Del. Christopher Toney, R-Raleigh, who sponsored the legislation.

In the last three school years, 71.6% of students withdrawing to homeschool were chronically absent when they left to homeschool, according to data from the West Virginia Department of Education.

These were students who had 18 or more absences from school when they exited for homeschooling.

State Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt said the education department and Legislature should work together to protect children.

鈥淲e have great homeschool parents. It鈥檚 just in West Virginia 鈥� this data shows us that we have more students that are or more families that are pulling them out for the wrong reasons,鈥� she said.

Toney鈥檚 measure, , would have established a 90-day time limit during which a family involved in an active truancy or pre-petition process couldn鈥檛 withdraw a student for homeschooling.

鈥淭here should be specific safeguards in the code to protect student well-being during truancy proceedings,鈥� the measure said.

County schools superintendents brought the bill idea to House members, Toney said.

鈥淭his is the (students) that just repeatedly come back every six months or so,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese are just the ones that keep bouncing back and forth.鈥�

The bill also cited concerns that families would use homeschooling over the summer as a way to bypass the required reading proficiency requirements in the . The landmark West Virginia education measure in third grade if they haven鈥檛 hit certain benchmarks in reading beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

Homeschool parents, advocates opposed measure

While the House鈥檚 Public Education subcommittee vetted the bill last week, homeschool lobbyists and advocates railed against the bill.

Thomas J. Schmidt, who represented the Home School Legal Defense Association, argued the state didn鈥檛 need 鈥渁 blanket 90-day barrier that punishes struggling students and ignores the fundamental rights of parents to direct the child鈥檚 education.鈥�

鈥淗ouse Bill 5053 claims that parents use homeschooling as an easy out or a shield to avoid accountability,鈥� Schmidt said. 鈥淗owever, the reality is that many of these parents only turn to homeschooling when the parent in the school is unable to protect the child from bullying, or when a child鈥檚 illness becomes chronic.鈥�

Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, one of the House鈥檚 most fervent homeschooling supporters, told committee members that the bill was an attack on homeschoolers.

鈥淭his bill assumes that the public school can do a better job at protecting their children than the actual parent can,鈥� Hess Crouse said.

A county can deny a homeschooling request through a judge鈥檚 order if they feel it is detrimental to the student, she added.

The House鈥檚 Public Education Subcommittee didn鈥檛 advance the measure to the full House floor for a vote.

Toney said there were some issues with the bill that needed to be addressed, but he鈥檇 run out of time since Tuesday was the last meeting of the subcommittee this session.

鈥淲e鈥檒l look at it next year and see what language we need to put in there, and how we need to make it more tailored,鈥� he said.

Del. Anitra Hamilton, who serves on the Public Education subcommittee, said she thought it was a good piece of legislation.

鈥淲e really have to weigh student safety and student concern, versus inconvenience,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 going to be one of those things where everybody鈥檚 not going to be happy, but we have to weigh what鈥檚 more important.鈥�

She cited where West Virginia children who were being homeschooled died due to abuse and/or neglect.

As a member of the minority caucus, Hamilton can鈥檛 put a bill on an agenda for consideration.

鈥淲hen a child has been harmed, then we all should do whatever we can, from a legislation standpoint, to uncover the problem and see what we can do legislative wise to prevent it from happening again,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate that when we deal with these things, it becomes inundated with all of these other situational circumstances that really don鈥檛 outweigh a child dying.鈥�

As West Virginia educators , Blatt said that the education department has encouraged school employees to focus on chronically-absent children who may be experiencing issues at home preventing them from attending school.

鈥淲e鈥檝e tried to kind of change the mindset in the school systems that focus on the kids that we know may have other issues, as opposed to spending your time just doing data collection on a doctor鈥檚 note,鈥� she said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.

鈥淥ut with the flu for a week.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 moving to Texas.鈥� 

鈥淲hen we said we would show up at her house, she started coming.鈥�

 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where to go with him. When all his teachers are here, he鈥檚 OK, but he takes advantage of subs.鈥�

Assistant Principal Evan Byron runs the meeting; grade-level counselors go through every student in danger of being chronically absent, missing 10% of the school year. On this day, Jan. 13, near the halfway mark of the school year, the team ran through 25 seventh-grade students in about 10 minutes. 

While the pace is rapid, it can be detailed, as they observed one student鈥檚 absenteeism problem stemmed from the days she had French class. Since the class isn鈥檛 required, they hope to resolve this issue by moving her to another subject. 

Their data is up-to-the-minute: They know whether all the students notified yesterday are in the building today; they know how parents are likely to react to repeated warnings; and they can even take an educated guess that the upcoming travel basketball season might improve one student鈥檚 attendance. 

The school follows a strict regimen about absences: an email home if a student misses two days in a row, a letter home once a student misses six days, another letter at 12 days, and an email home each day a student is absent if they have missed more than 10 days. School officials can also schedule home visits, where they can show parents a student鈥檚 academic and attendance records while extolling the wide variety of classes and extra curriculars that may entice a student into attending. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 effective,鈥� Byron said. 鈥淎 lot of students magically show up鈥� after these correspondences. For any student who reaches the level of chronically absent 鈥�18 absences out of 180 school days 鈥� the school sends a referral to the state Department of Children and Families. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 an absolute last resort,鈥� said principal Damon Lewis. 

Chronic absenteeism has spiked in schools nationwide since 2020鈥檚 pandemic. Before then, the number of students who missed at least 10% of school was about three of every 20 students, or 15%, said Nat Malkus, deputy director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute think tank. Data from 39 states and Washington, D.C., showed that number nearly doubled to 28.6% at its height, he said, although it has dropped back slightly under 23% in the last year. Malkus tracks school attendance nationwide at the website.

鈥淭he permission structure of when it鈥檚 OK to miss school loosened up鈥� after schools were closed for the COVID-19 virus, Malkus said. If the new normal of students chronically absent is above 20%, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 not good.鈥� 

At Ponus, a middle school in a small city north of New York City, Lewis and his team were not immune to this trend. The 637-student school鈥檚 chronically absent rate spiked to 31% after the pandemic; Lewis and his administrators were able to slice that number to under 10% in just one year. 

A lot of what Ponus officials do is the hard work of paying close attention to students and their patterns. Lewis mentions attendance in every weekly email he sends to all parents; homeroom teachers keep close tabs on their students; and the biweekly attendance meetings aim to make sure no student slips between the cracks. 

During the January meeting, seventh grade counselor Kaitlin Douglas points out a student who nearly did just that. 鈥淪he wasn鈥檛 missing consecutive days, so she was flying under our radar,鈥� Douglas said, noting that the student popped up on her list because of the total days missed. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 an all-hands-on-deck initiative,鈥� Principal Lewis said. 鈥淲e drew a line in the sand and said, 鈥榃e鈥檙e not doing this anymore.鈥� 鈥�

While all this effort is put into attendance, Lewis and his team have revamped the school to make children want to attend. 鈥淲e try to entice the student back to school鈥� through high-interest courses such as robotics, 3D printing, music technology, he said. The school has also beefed up its afterschool clubs; it currently offers 17 options ranging from weightlifting and rock band to crochet and jewelry making. 

Norwalk has become a choice district, meaning any student inside the city鈥檚 23 square miles can attend any of the city鈥檚 five middle schools. (The Concord Magnet school is a K-8 school on the same campus as Ponus Ridge.) For the first time, the school has a waiting list this year, Lewis said proudly. 

Francesco and Brayden Christopher 鈥� who enjoy pointing out that they are in grades 6-7, hand motion included 鈥� attend the school from across town because their parents like the teachers and the people. 鈥淢y dad texts with [principal Lewis] every day,鈥� Brayden said.聽

Eighth grader Olivia Hempstead agreed that her family was impressed with the frequent communication when her older brother attended the school. She said she has a 鈥渢rue relationship鈥� with principal Lewis and that he cares about students without trying to be their friend. 鈥淚鈥檝e never heard him yell,鈥� she added. 

Lewis, who has been principal at Ponus Ridge for 11 years, works to include the entire community in the school. He features Walk-Through Wednesdays where anyone can visit the school once a month, a Hispanic parent group and an in-school food pantry for families. When ICE raids began in the city, he brought immigration attorneys to the school for a night-time event so parents could learn their rights. 鈥淚 want to meet people where they are, and they are hungry for resources,鈥� he said. 

Three of every four Ponus Ridge students are eligible for free or reduced lunch and 90% are students of color. 

Lewis was named the Middle Level National Principal of the Year by the this year. Lewis 鈥渄emonstrates how visionary leadership can transform school communities,鈥� said association CEO Ronn Nozoe. 

The attendance increase has had other benefits for Ponus Ridge students. Even though the school鈥檚 overall accountability index from the state is a mediocre 61.9 on a scale to 100, Lewis said his students’ Preliminary SAT scores have outpaced the district, the state and the nation. The school also outperforms its district and the state for ninth grade students on track to graduation. This measure looks at former Ponus Ridge students after their first year of high school; 91.5% are on track to graduate within four years, slightly ahead of the city鈥檚 89.3%. 

But the area Ponus Ridge really stands out in is attendance. Of the city鈥檚 21 schools, Ponus has by far the lowest rate of students chronically absent, with 9.1% in 2024-25 compared to Norwalk鈥檚 overall 17.2% rate. AEI鈥檚 Malkus points out that the increase in student absences has consequences even for students who aren鈥檛 chronically absentAchievement on standardized tests is pretty linear, he said, meaning the more days students miss, the worse they tend to achieve. 鈥淭he long-term challenge is to change people鈥檚 behavior,鈥� he added. 

Lewis and other administrators understand how difficult that can be. Sometimes parents complain about all the school鈥檚 correspondence, but the school remains committed to following its plan. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not afraid to put our heads in the lion鈥檚 mouth,鈥� Lewis said about dealing with criticism. 

鈥淲hen people say to me, 鈥楽top sending emails,鈥� I say, 鈥楽end your son to school and I will,鈥� 鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淚 try to tell them, this is bigger than Ponus. This is a life lesson.鈥�

But not all parents resist the emails, the principal added. In one recent case, a father had to leave home for work before his child left for school. When he saw an email mid-morning that his son wasn鈥檛 at school, the father called the school and said he was leaving work to go home. 鈥淗e鈥檒l be there within the hour,鈥� he told Lewis. 

Their absences were excused, but still contributed to a chronic absenteeism problem that the district, like those across the country, has been trying to solve since the end of the pandemic. Some DeKalb students had as many as 25 visits to the doctor in a school year. Students are considered chronically absent when they have at least 18 absences, about 10% of the year.

鈥淭hey never would show up in our truancy dashboard because they might be great at turning in doctor’s notes,鈥� said Nicole Carroll, principal at Henagar Junior High School, east of Huntsville. 

Doctors are now more mindful of trying to schedule appointments around school hours, said Jason Mayfield, the district鈥檚 instructional supervisor. And it’s one of the reasons Alabama is closer than any other state to reducing chronic absenteeism back to pre-pandemic levels. 

鈥淲e really need to take a moon leap on attendance,鈥� state Superintendent last summer.聽鈥淲e need to see dramatic improvements, especially in our high poverty communities, so that we can get back to where we were before the pandemic and then work to get even better than that.鈥�

Statewide, 12% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, six percentage points below the peak of 18% in 2022 and just a point higher than it was in 2018-19.

Other states still have a long way to go. 

New Mexico, where some districts to track absenteeism and alert parents when their kids are not in school, made for two straight years. But last year, the rate jumped again from 30% to 33%.聽Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia also still have rates above 30%, according to a maintained by the conservative American Enterprise Institute.聽

Progress is 鈥渁ll over the map,鈥� said Nat Malkus, AEI鈥檚 deputy director of education policy studies. It鈥檚 unlikely for states to see large declines in chronic absenteeism like some did after schools fully reopened, but the 鈥渄anger sign鈥� is that the pace of recovery is slowing, he said. States and districts are tackling the problem in different ways, but Malkus is among those who think the federal government should provide some leadership to keep schools moving in the right direction. 

鈥淭hey have a powerful megaphone and the nation鈥檚 data,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey should be using both to push this fixable and pervasive issue to the top of the agenda, signaling to states, schools and families that getting kids back to class regularly is a non-negotiable priority for America鈥檚 schools.鈥�

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has voiced support for state efforts to improve reading performance 鈥� a top bipartisan goal considering historic drops in national test scores. But she hasn鈥檛 given the same attention to the persistent chronic absenteeism crisis. 

With 40 states and the District of Columbia reporting 2025 data so far, the rate stands at 23%, down a percentage point from the year before, but still well above the pre-pandemic level of 15%. A last summer showed that roughly half of urban districts are still battling rates . 

Both have committed to cutting chronic absenteeism in half over a five-year period. States vary in how they count attendance, but rates declined in 12 states participating in the challenge in 2025. In the other five and D.C., chronic absenteeism either increased or remained flat. 

A need for better data

There are emerging signs that chronic absenteeism is on the department鈥檚 radar. Its has held eight focus groups on the issue of chronic absenteeism since mid-December. The goal is to 鈥渋dentify and explore innovative strategies to address chronic absenteeism,鈥� said Savannah Newhouse, the department鈥檚 press secretary. 

The conversations focused on 鈥渞oot causes鈥� and effective strategies, said Hedy Chang, CEO of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that has brought national awareness to how high daily attendance rates can hide the fact that some students might be accumulating dozens of absences. A member of her team participated in one of the groups.

Malkus isn鈥檛 the only expert who would like to see the Trump administration step up. 

鈥淎t the end of the day, no instructional strategy or reform effort will work if students aren鈥檛 there to benefit from it,鈥� said Bella DiMarco, a senior policy analyst at , a think tank at Georgetown University. 

The federal government, she said, could improve the transparency and quality of data. While most states have posted their 2024-25 numbers, official federal reports are often a year or more behind. 鈥淪tates and districts need timely, actionable attendance data so they can intervene early, not reports that arrive too late to inform decisions.鈥�

The department could in turn encourage states to publish timely absenteeism data, like and already do, said Danyela Egorov, a fellow at the conservative . The secretary could also highlight strategies from districts that have been successful in bringing chronic absenteeism down, Egorov said.

The DeKalb schools in Alabama shifted from a punitive approach focused on truancy to one that encompasses excused absences as well. Leaders moved 鈥渆arly warning鈥� meetings with parents from the courthouse to schools to make them less threatening. 

Their 鈥淔lip the Dip鈥� campaign makes liberal use of attendance incentives for students and teachers, like gift cards and a Nintendo Switch. And every nine weeks, schools recognize kids for missing four days or fewer instead of celebrating only perfect attendance.

鈥淭hat way, they don’t just give up,鈥� said Carroll, Henagar Junior High鈥檚 principal. 

Since 2022, the district鈥檚 rate has dropped from over 19% to 10%.

鈥楪et them there first鈥�

Some say actions by the Trump administration are actually hurting educators鈥� efforts to lower chronic absenteeism, a data point that the to rate school performance.

In terminating government contracts, the department ended work on about聽effective ways to reduce chronic absenteeism.聽聽

鈥淭he team working on that had already sifted through over 2,000 studies on ways to address chronic absence and narrowed that to about 150 to 200,鈥� said Kevin Gee, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, who was among those on the project. 鈥淗ad it not been cancelled, the guide would have been made available for districts to use this month.鈥�

Immigration raids are leading parents to keep children home. In California鈥檚 Central Valley, enforcement action coincided with in daily absences, especially among young students, according to an analysis by Stanford University researcher Thomas Dee.  

Others point to McMahon鈥檚 decision in December to cut off 18 grantees that were still expecting at least two years of federal funding, comprising roughly $60 million, for . The model targets high-poverty areas and uses schools as hubs for a variety of services, from mentoring and mental health support to food banks and housing assistance. Recent research shows the approach has been linked to declines in chronic absenteeism in and . 

The Education Department is in negotiations with who sued over the loss of funds. But others wonder how they鈥檒l keep the work going. 

The Prichard Committee, a Kentucky nonprofit, was still expecting roughly $18 million to serve 40 districts when the department canceled the remainder of its grant. Schools that are part of the initiative have seen decreases in chronic absenteeism of at least 2%, higher than the rate of decline statewide. At Danville High School, southwest of Lexington, the rate fell from 45% in 2023-24 to 32% the next year. 

At Reidland Elementary in McCracken County, the funds paid for family literacy events and backpacks to incoming kindergartners stocked with early reading and math materials.

The grant also supported a teacher who works one-on-one with kindergartners who are behind in reading and math. But now, the principal will have to find another way to pay for the position. Lisa McKinney, communications director at Prichard, said it鈥檚 hard for students to overcome gaps if they鈥檙e missing too much school.

鈥淲e want everyone to read and write on grade level,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut you鈥檝e got to get them there first.鈥�

As a practicing dentist in Montclair, California, I regularly see children whose ability to learn is undermined by untreated dental disease. They arrive in pain, exhausted from poor sleep, unable to concentrate and often embarrassed to smile or speak. These children are not outliers. They represent a widespread and preventable problem that directly affects academic success.

The connection between oral health and school performance is well-documented. A found that children with one or more untreated decayed teeth were significantly more likely to have poor academic performance and higher absenteeism rates than children without dental issues. consistently show that dental problems are linked to lower grades, difficulty completing homework and reduced psychosocial well-being.

This relationship is easy to understand. Dental pain interferes with sleep, nutrition, focus and emotional regulation. A child who spends the night awake with a toothache will struggle to pay attention the next day, if they even reach school. According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, children with poor oral health were nearly as their healthy counterparts.

Moreover, a child who feels embarrassed by visible dental issues may avoid participating in class or reading aloud. All the data lead us to the same conclusion: Frequent absences for emergency dental visits cause students to fall behind academically and socially, creating a cycle that becomes harder to break over time.

Unfortunately, poor oral health disproportionately affects children from low-income families and communities with limited access to dental providers. While California鈥檚 Medi-Cal dental coverage exists, and provider shortages mean many families struggle to find timely care. In 2022, fewer than half of received a preventive dental visit. I regularly hear the same story from these distressed parents. They called several offices before finding one that accepts Medi-Cal patients or has open appointments within weeks or even months.

As a result, minor dental issues often turn into painful infections that disrupt school attendance and learning. This is particularly concerning given that dental caries is the among children in the United States. When combined with socioeconomic disadvantage, limited access to care, and poor oral health becomes a serious public health issue. Across California, Hispanic children are as white children to experience untreated cavities.

If decision makers are serious about improving educational outcomes, oral health must be treated as part of the educational system, not as an optional or separate medical concern. School-based dental programs can play a critical role by providing preventive services, early screenings, fluoride treatments, and sealants directly where children already are.

A great example of good practice is the program in California. It is a demonstration project testing the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. Dental hygienists and assistants go to community sites such as schools, Head Start programs, day care centers and nursing homes to conduct exams and collect diagnostic information. Then the dentist uses the collected data to advise the local provider on the needed preventive and routine restorative care.

When necessary, patients are referred to dental offices for more complex needs. These lower-cost providers meet many of their patients鈥� oral health needs. Such programs, if funded by MediCal, would drastically reduce absenteeism and catch problems before they become emergencies.

Access also depends on policy. Policymakers must increase reimbursement rates to enable more dental providers to accept low-income patients, thereby expanding care for families who currently face long wait times or no options at all. Integrating dental screenings into existing school health services, alongside vision and hearing checks, would help ensure that oral health issues are identified early. At the same time, comprehensive oral health education that involves parents, teachers, and caregivers can reinforce prevention at home and in the classroom.

We would never expect a child with untreated vision problems to succeed without glasses or a child with hearing loss to learn without support. Expecting children to perform academically while experiencing a toothache and infection is no different.

Education begins with a child who is healthy, comfortable, and able to focus. If we truly care about learning, we must start treating children鈥檚 oral health as what it really is: a foundation for academic success, not an afterthought.

And bedrock attitudes about attendance seem to be changing. A recent noted that one in four students now doesn鈥檛 think being chronically absent from school 鈥渋s a problem.鈥� The study found that about 40% of school districts consider reducing chronic absenteeism among their top three most pressing challenges. One in 12 ranks it as their biggest challenge. 

As school districts push to lower absenteeism rates, the software company , which helps schools keep track of students and communicate with parents, examined four years of its own attendance intervention data across hundreds of school districts. It analyzed 3.3 million text messages across 15 states, representing 88,000 students and 22,000 educators. 

In a , it finds that improving attendance often comes down to a handful of basic tasks. Here鈥檚 a breakdown of the key takeaways:

1: Early intervention works

Contacting families before students become chronically absent is crucial. Once a student crosses the 10% threshold, fixing their attendance becomes much harder, so intervening when students register just three to five absences is most effective. Contacting parents early with a letter improved attendance dramatically, reducing absence rates by 28%.

Researchers found that 51% of students whose families receive just one letter don’t need a second one. The 鈥渟ave rate鈥� for these students suggests that many families simply don’t realize how quickly absences accumulate. 

2: Timing and communication methods matter

Parents are highly responsive to text messages, researchers found, with 73% of texts garnering a response from parents in just 11 minutes. They鈥檒l engage with schools when communication is 鈥渁ccessible, timely and specific.鈥�

鈥淭he method does matter,鈥� said Joy Smithson, a SchoolStatus data scientist. 鈥淲e get a lot higher rates of response with text messages.鈥� Placing a phone call, on the other hand, is 鈥渇or those more critical conversations,鈥� she said.

Kara Stern, the company鈥檚 director of education, agreed. 鈥淣ot every parent is in a position where they can pick up a phone call during the day. For many people, it might jeopardize your work situation, and so to assume that that’s the best way to reach a parent is not necessarily to be in tune with the actual realities of the parents in your community.鈥�

The best times to text families, the data suggests, are either around 8 a.m., when parents and students are preparing for school, or 2-4 p.m., typically during pickup times. These align with natural breaks in parents’ daily routines, when they’re most likely to check their phones.

The best time of year to engage families is August or September. Parents who hear from schools early maintain higher response rates throughout the year 鈥� 77% vs. 71% 鈥� and respond, on average, one minute faster. By January, 33% of these parents are still engaging with schools, compared to just 16% of parents who first heard from schools later in the fall term. 

That suggests that early conversations 鈥渄o extra work,鈥� researchers maintain, establishing trust, opening communication channels and signaling to families that working together matters.

鈥淚t’s important to reach out at the beginning of the year, so that you’re not waiting for a crisis,鈥� said Smithson, 鈥渂ecause it’s too late to build a relationship at that point.鈥�

3. Plain language outperforms edu-jargon

Researchers found that being specific about how much school a student has missed outperforms vague messages such as, 鈥淲e’ve noticed some absences.” 

Direct offers of help, such as 鈥淩eply if you need support with transportation or health concerns,” also outperform lengthy explanations of attendance policy.

And when students are older, direct messages can be very effective.

鈥淲hat this data shows us is that connection is really driving so much of a student’s experience,鈥� said Stern. 鈥淲hen a school is able to reach out to the kid and say, 鈥楬ey, Greg, we missed you today, what’s going on? What do you need to help you come to school?鈥� that’s a really different experience than having a form letter appear at your house saying, 鈥楪reg has missed school six days.鈥欌�� 

She added, 鈥淲hat I hope districts will take away from this report is that communication is intervention,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s not extra work. It’s the work that makes everything else stick.鈥�

4: Three key moments merit extra attention

Students at three moments in their school careers are more likely to be chronically absent: in pre-K, sixth grade and high school. Stern called them 鈥渉igh alert moments.鈥�

Surprisingly, pre-K students have the highest chronic absenteeism rates of any group, mostly due to the high frequency of illness and families underestimating the impact of missing school. 

Sixth grade is 鈥渢he tipping point,鈥� said Stern, with chronic absenteeism spiking by 3.3 percentage points from fifth to sixth grade, the sharpest increase across all grades.

Smithson said middle-schoolers typically have more autonomy. They鈥檙e often getting their first mobile phones. And current sixth-graders, she said, were in kindergarten when COVID hit in 2020. 鈥淪o just imagine knowing that patterns get established in kindergarten,鈥� she said. For those kindergartners in 2020, school 鈥渞eally got disrupted,鈥� with their baseline experience of school being 鈥渃ategorically different鈥� from what it should have been.

And for many students, the transition from elementary school to middle school represents a shift from a safe, contained environment, where both students and parents are highly engaged, to a less personal one, with less consistency and connectivity, said Stern. Students 鈥渄on’t know that there is someone who’s really paying attention, who cares that they’re there, who knows what’s happening with them, and so maybe it doesn’t really matter if they’re there or not.鈥�

And middle school can also be the place where many students first experience bullying, which also worsens attendance.

In high school, chronic absence rates more than double, and students have lower response rates to traditional methods like letters, suggesting that schools should contact students directly 鈥� actually, they found that direct student messaging could work for students as young as 11. 

A text message to a high school freshman can start a conversation that wouldn’t happen otherwise. Pairing these messages with notes to parents can improve response rates in these critical years, researchers found.

鈥淭he chronic absenteeism numbers in high school suggest that kids are really voting with their feet,鈥� said Stern. 鈥淎nd so one way to get them back would be to invite them in to be part of the solution, to say, 鈥榃hat is it that is not meeting your needs? How can we include your voice in the process of making high school what you want it to be?鈥欌��

In many ways, the new findings echo what researchers like Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 and have long suggested. Chang, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit , said Wednesday鈥檚 report 鈥渞eflects what we know from common sense and research. Improving attendance is possible when we use data to take early action as well as determine where we should invest in building relationships so we can partner with students and families to encourage showing up, monitor absences, and address barriers to getting to school.鈥�

But Chang said that while timely, data-informed engagement of families is essential, 鈥渋t is not always sufficient and should be combined with other strategies for identifying and addressing barriers to getting to school.鈥� Those barriers could exist in the community or in schools and should be addressed in 鈥渁 comprehensive, systemic approach.鈥�

She suggested that of interventions is sometimes necessary, including 鈥渋ntensive interventions鈥� for students who miss more than 20% of school days. It could include housing supports, a student attendance review board, a community-based, non-criminal truancy court, individualized learning and success plans and even, as a last resort, legal intervention.

Stern and Smithson said the findings boil down, in a larger sense, to the importance of what they call 鈥渁ctive noticing鈥� about attendance. 

鈥淚 really think that it would be a big plus for faculties to actively notice every week and go through their rosters,鈥� said Stern. 鈥溾�榃ho do we not know? Who can’t speak about this child? Who doesn’t know anything about this student’s life after school? We have someone that we need to actually pay attention to learning more about 鈥� who’s suddenly not coming to school, who’s turned it around and suddenly being there?鈥� 鈥澛�

Smithson said the biggest takeaway for educators is that 鈥淭iming is everything. Do not wait. Act with urgency. It’s about building those relationships, and it’s just so important 鈥� and it’s so important to start right away.鈥�

At 7:45 am on a recent Friday, Fern Elementary鈥檚 cafeteria exploded with shouts and cheers as school counselor Talon Henderson called students to the front of the room. The students, selected at random, received small prizes as rewards for showing up to school on time 鈥� a small but important reason to celebrate, Henderson said. 

鈥淩emember to come to school every day,鈥� Henderson told students enthusiastically as he dismissed them for the first class of the day. 

The five-minute game, which Fern Elementary holds once or twice a week, is one of many strategies Hawai驶i schools have pursued to improve attendance in recent years. Other solutions range from raffling PlayStations and televisions to students with perfect attendance to offering health screenings on campus and holding home visits with families to figure out why kids are missing class.

Some schools, like Fern Elementary, have made significant progress as a result. Last year, 77% of students at the Kalihi campus attended class regularly, up from just 45% in the 2021-22 school year.

But not all schools have seen the same success. Statewide, nearly a quarter of kids were chronically absent last year and 10 schools reported that half or more of their students weren鈥檛 attending class regularly. Those figures are an improvement from the height of the pandemic, when more than a third of kids were chronically absent, but are still far from ideal. 

Students who are chronically absent 鈥� defined as missing 10% or more of instructional days 鈥� tend to have lower graduation rates and worse math and reading scores than their peers, according to a  from the department, adding to the urgency of addressing the problem.

There鈥檚 no single reason for the high absenteeism rates, though principals and teachers say stricter health policies during the pandemic could have more parents keeping kids home when they have minor illnesses. Schools have also seen an increase in students struggling with mental health. One thing is clear: schools are about to have less support in their efforts to address the problem. 

Last fall, millions of dollars of Covid-relief funding for attendance initiatives expired, and recent legislative efforts to direct state funding to successful school programs have failed to pass. While principals have largely been tasked with developing school-specific strategies to deal with the problem, some parents and advocates say they would like the education department to streamline its communication and outreach to families moving forward.

Others say they would like more comprehensive support for parents, who may not be able to prioritize school attendance when they鈥檙e juggling multiple jobs and responsibilities. 

鈥淚 think a lot of times we like to blame the families,鈥� said Kathleen O鈥橠ell, coordinator of the Hawai驶i 驶Ohana Support Network, 鈥渂ut you don鈥檛 know what families are going through.鈥�  

Where Did The Kids Go? 

As schools returned to in-person learning after months of online classes during the pandemic, some kids didn鈥檛 seem to understand the value of attendance, said Lahainaluna High School teacher Jarrett Chapin. In some cases, he said, students would show up to get counted at the start of class and attempt to leave before he started his lesson. 

鈥淚t was jarring, for sure,鈥� Chapin said, adding that the school has seen more success with attendance since it adopted a new communication app allowing teachers to directly message families. Last year, 36% of Lahainaluna students were chronically absent, down from around 45% in 2021.  

DOE defines chronic absenteeism as missing 18 days of school for any reason, including excused absences like illness or a death in the family. 

Schools can refer students and parents to Family Court when a child is considered truant and has more than 18 unexcused absences, according to . But schools try to avoid punitive approaches to attendance whenever possible, Honouliuli Middle School Principal Todd Fujimori said. 

At Honouliuli Middle, counselors and teachers work with students to improve their attendance, he said, and the school partners with the judiciary to meet with parents before they鈥檙e referred to Family Court. In some cases, an attendance officer from the judiciary meets with families to develop plans and strategies to improve kids鈥� absenteeism rates.

鈥淚t鈥檚 to try to be proactive,鈥� Fujimori said, adding that the school has only referred families to truancy court once or twice over the past six years. 

Families also became accustomed to keeping their kids home when they had mild illnesses during the pandemic, which began in March 2020, since schools were quick to send students with Covid-like symptoms home, said Hannah Loyola, principal at Kohala Elementary on the Big Island. Some families are still hesitant to send their kids to class when they aren鈥檛 feeling well, even though the school has eased its health policies in recent years. 

鈥淎fter the restrictions lightened up a little bit, I don鈥檛 think parents fully understood,鈥� Loyola said. 

It鈥檚 also been harder for parents to motivate kids to attend school since the pandemic, O鈥橠ell said. Some students developed more social anxiety during online learning, while others had fewer opportunities to develop basic learning skills that could help them adjust to in-person classes.  

When schools first reopened after the pandemic, some principals reported an  and aggressive behavior as students struggled with their mental health and a lack of social skills needed to resolve disagreements.

Families are also struggling to feel a strong sense of belonging on campus after many schools were closed to the public for more than a year during the pandemic, O鈥橠ell said. In some cases, schools don鈥檛 call parents unless their kids are in trouble, she said, making it harder for families to develop trusting relationships with teachers and feel comfortable sharing the challenges keeping their children from attending class.

鈥淎 lot of families don鈥檛 feel very welcomed on the campus,鈥� O鈥橠ell said. 鈥淪o how are we proactively creating relationships with our families and getting to know their needs?鈥� 

Strategies Abound 

In the 2024-25 academic year, nearly 75% of Kohala Elementary鈥檚 students attended class regularly 鈥� a 12% jump from the previous year and a 24% increase from when the school first returned to in-person learning in 2021. 

Last year, Kohala Elementary offered free pizza coupons or field trips to reward students with good attendance, said Vice Principal Allison Tinnin, and administrators scheduled calls and home visits to families if children began missing school early on. 

Kohala Elementary is also part of the state鈥檚 network of , which offer comprehensive support to families in the form of food pantries, after-school tutoring and more. By addressing families鈥� basic needs, these schools can help improve student attendance, said Paula Adams, executive director of Hawai驶i Afterschool Alliance. 

Several community schools reported some of the greatest improvements in attendance rates in the state last year.

鈥淭he results are very, very clear,鈥� Adams said. 

But right now, many principals need to find their own sources of funding to cover the costs of becoming a community school, including hiring a coordinator to manage partnerships with local organizations and developing close connections with families. Running a community school costs around $120,000 a year, Adams said. 

While the initiative has seen success on Big Island and O驶ahu, it has yet to reach schools on Maui and Kaua驶i, partly because not all principals are familiar with community schools, Adams said. introduced in the last legislative session would have set aside nearly $4 million to fund community schools and hire a statewide program manager over the next two years, but the measure failed to pass. 

In other cases, DOE has developed partnerships with outside agencies to address barriers to attendance. The Hawai驶i Keiki initiative, run in partnership with the University of Hawai驶i M膩noa School of Nursing, places nurses in schools across the state to treat students鈥� illnesses and promote healthy habits for kids and families, aiming to reduce the amount of class time kids miss because of sickness. 

The program, which began in 2014, reduced absenteeism in high schools by up to 4% in its early years of implementation, . The study did not analyze the impact of the initiative on attendance after 2019. 

Funding is a significant barrier to expanding and scaling those initiatives moving forward. The DOE sought $160,000 earlier this year to hire an educational specialist who could support attendance initiatives statewide, but lawmakers didn鈥檛 fund the request. Another  in 2024 to fund 75 health technician positions in schools under the Hawai驶i Keiki Initiative also failed. 

Federal funding for Covid recovery in schools , including millions that had supported attendance initiatives.

Some schools now need to dip into their own budgets for attendance programs. At Fern Elementary, the school has been able to replace federal dollars with its own money to purchase rewards for students with good attendance, Vice Principal Mark Atta said, but maintaining attendance initiatives could be more challenging for schools with tighter budgets. 

Deborah Bond-Upson, president of the advocacy group Parents for Public Schools Hawai驶i and interim director of the Hui for Excellence in Education Coalition, said families are looking for ways to strengthen their connection with schools and get more involved in their children鈥檚 learning. Multiple communication platforms and apps make it harder for families to find information about their kids鈥� schools, she said, and providing a more streamlined source of data on student learning and outcomes could boost parent engagement.   

鈥淭he kids who see parents not really understanding what鈥檚 happening in school, not really feeling connected, that makes them feel disconnected,鈥� Bond-Upson said. 鈥淚f the parents are more connected, then it鈥檚 easier for the kids to feel comfortable in the school, open to it and move forward positively.鈥� 

The Detroit school district has limited yellow bus service, and none for most high school students. Like , the 17-year-old鈥檚 family car. Riding city buses to Davis Aerospace Technical High School is Holiday鈥檚 only option, but 鈥� with delays and missed buses 鈥� it .

Last year, Holiday received a gift from his school that made the trek easier: a bicycle.

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Principal Michelle Davis gave every student at the school a bike as part of a holistic approach to reducing chronic absenteeism. The bikes were funded through community donations.

Many of the nearly 100 students at Davis Aerospace last year said the bicycles helped them safely get to school by reducing the amount of time they had to walk to school or wait for buses. Others said the bikes gave them a new sense of independence, allowing them to travel around the city with their friends, get to after-school activities or jobs, and get exercise.

While Davis believes the bicycles improved attendance during good weather in the fall and spring, she said it鈥檚 only one measure the school is taking to get kids to class.

鈥淕iving the students bikes is just one problem that we鈥檝e solved for,鈥� Davis told Chalkbeat. 鈥淲hat we do intentionally is solve for all of the problems that the kids have, because that has to be our major responsibility.鈥�

The principal wanted her students to feel the same sense of independence she did as a teen when her mother bought her a pink Huffy.

So, Davis wrote 鈥渂ikes鈥� at the top of a white board next to her desk that lists her 鈥渂ig ideas.鈥� And soon the vision came to fruition.

Other high schools in the district may also soon give bikes to their students. Last school year, the district surveyed high school students who were chronically absent about why they missed too much school. Some of the students said having a bike would help improve their attendance.

After the district鈥檚 school board , some members said they wanted the superintendent to follow up on whether a stock of 鈥渄ozens鈥� of bicycles in a storage warehouse could be used for that purpose.

Can bikes reduce chronic absenteeism in Detroit?

Chronic absenteeism, defined for Michigan students as missing 10% of the school year, has long been a problem in DPSCD. Issues such as high rates of poverty, , , and keep many children from missing crucial instructional time.

Students at Davis Aerospace say the bikes have helped address some of those barriers.

Holiday, for example, said his bike allows him to get to bus stops more quickly.

The first bus Holiday usually rides is regularly late by 20 minutes to an hour, he said.

If that bus doesn鈥檛 come in time, the teen has to decide whether he鈥檒l go to another stop to try and catch a bus on a different route.

鈥淚 might miss those if I walk too slow, or I might be tired from trying to run to make it there,鈥� he said.

Now, if the bus that runs on Plymouth Road doesn鈥檛 arrive, the teen can ride his bike to another stop. Or if Holiday isn鈥檛 able to catch a transfer due to delays, he can ride his bike the rest of the way to school.

鈥淲ith the bike, I can still make up the distance or go to a different street to get on a different bus and still make it there on time,鈥� he said.

His bike also makes him feel safer.

While violent crime rates have in recent years, many young people . Their sense of safety is shaped by many factors, including .

鈥淎 bike in itself is protection,鈥� said Holiday. 鈥淵ou can use that to get away from the situation. You can use that as a barrier between you and something coming at you in the heat of the moment. You can even throw it.鈥�

The bikes also help students left without a ride because their parents have to get younger kids to school earlier in the morning.

Myron Dean, a senior at Davis Aerospace, said while his parents take his five younger siblings to their schools, he has to get to school on his own.

With a bike, Dean can get to school in about seven minutes.

Dean is also using the bike to get to driver鈥檚 education classes so he can eventually drive himself and his siblings anywhere they need to go.

Junior Tryve Roberts said when no one in his family was able to give him a ride, he used to have to walk to school. It took about an hour, which would make him tardy.

Now, since he can get to school on the bike in about 16 minutes, he鈥檚 showing up on time more often.

and in other parts of the country suggest bicycles alone may reduce chronic absenteeism. Those who support the idea say using bikes to get to school gives more students access to transportation they otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have, can improve their health and well-being, and adds motivation for kids to improve attendance.

However, the successful examples proponents cite are in parts of the country with warmer climates, such as Florida, Tennessee, and Arizona.

At Davis Aerospace, the students are taught bike safety and instructed to not ride to school in poor weather conditions or during the winter.

There are nearly 165 miles of bike lanes in the city, , but not every neighborhood in the city has access to continuous dedicated bike paths.

Creating a culture of good attendance

DPSCD has made strides in in recent years. Several schools in the district have in reducing absenteeism.

At Davis Aerospace, the chronic absenteeism rate dropped by more than 14 percentage points last school year compared to 2023-24. Since 2018-19, the chronic absenteeism rate at the school fell by nearly 23 percentage points.

Even with that progress, more than 42% of Davis Aerospace students missed too many days of school last year. And the problem is more persistent in the district鈥檚 neighborhood schools.

For example, Denby High School, which is also on the east side of the city, had a chronic absenteeism rate of nearly 80% last year.

Some of Davis Aerospace鈥檚 progress may be due in part to the bikes, but the school had already been making steady progress in reducing absenteeism before that program.

鈥淲hat we know is that there鈥檚 not just one thing that鈥檚 going to decrease absenteeism,鈥� said Davis. 鈥淓very kid that has a barrier for attendance, we talk to those students. We see what the barriers are, and we solve for the student and their challenge to getting to school.鈥�

At the school, which requires an application for students to attend, reducing absenteeism is ingrained in the culture.

A poster hanging on a brick wall by the school entrance tracks the daily attendance rate of each grade. Students who miss two days or fewer in the class with the highest attendance each month get rewards like cookies, nachos, or a movie day.

A room on the first floor of the school looks like a clothing boutique, except the clothes 鈥渇or sale鈥� are all marked 鈥�100% free.鈥� Kids can grab the things they need to show up to school, like winter coats, gloves, and new shoes.

In another space, kids can get the hygiene products they need to show up ready to learn. There鈥檚 also a washer and dryer in the school where students can clean their clothes.

Davis said there are discussions around creating a parent carpool for kids who live near each other.

鈥楢 form of freedom鈥�

The gift of the bikes was not simply a pragmatic attempt to reduce absenteeism, said Davis. It was an act of love.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e a teenager, bikes are your first form of transportation, right?鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚t gives you a form of freedom. You explore the world with your bike.鈥�

Junior Roderic Pippen said his bike helped him find a new hobby.

鈥淚 like to adventure on the bike 鈥� find new places to be at,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y bike trips are more fun than just sitting in the car, scrolling on the internet.鈥�

Holiday will use his bike this year to attend biweekly events by the , a mentorship and college readiness nonprofit.

Before they got bikes, seniors Savannah Robinson and Ciana Carter felt stuck at home during summer breaks because their parents were busy with work.

Last summer, the girls had the freedom to ride to meet up and go to places like the beauty supply store and restaurants.

鈥淎nytime she had a bad day over summer, I鈥檇 be like, come on, girl, let鈥檚 go ride our bikes and get fresh air,鈥� said Robinson. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 really helpful for both of us.鈥�

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at .

In our roles as deputy mayor for education and state superintendent, we see something remarkable taking shape 鈥� a citywide education system leading the nation in how to reimagine what鈥檚 possible for every child.

This year鈥檚 statewide assessment results tell a clear story of momentum. On the , students made the largest gains in English Language Arts and math proficiency since the pandemic. Forty percent of schools raised proficiency by at least 5 points in one of these subjects, and more than 60% showed measurable progress in both. Across the city, 137 of 223 tested schools boosted English scores, while 141 schools improved in math.

ELA proficiency has now surpassed pre-COVID levels, increasing from 37.5% in 2019 to 37.6% in 2025. Math proficiency reached a record high since COVID, rising from 19.4% in 2022 to 26.4% this year. This is evidence that students are not only recovering, but moving forward at a faster pace than before the pandemic.

National data confirms this progress. The Harvard Center for Education Policy and Research鈥檚 ranked D.C. first in the nation for learning recovery in both math and reading for grades 3 to 8 between 2022 and 2024. In that two-year period, D.C. students gained back the equivalent of half a grade level in math and a quarter of a grade level in reading. Just a few years ago, D.C. ranked 32nd in math recovery since 2019; today, it leads the country.

Federal relief dollars helped make this possible. D.C. received more than $600 million in K-12 pandemic recovery funds, about $6,800 per student 鈥� nearly double the national average of $3,700. shows that targeting these dollars toward , summer learning and other evidence-based strategies contributed directly to the rebound.

Together, these results demonstrate what families and educators across the city already feel in classrooms: Students are making meaningful, historic gains in learning.

Several factors are driving this progress. Since 2015, local per-student funding has increased from $16,032 to $28,040 鈥� a 75% rise 鈥� with more money provided for serving students with the greatest needs.

D.C.鈥檚 early education stands above national enrollment levels, with 95% of 4-year-olds and 82% of 3-year-olds citywide enrolled in pre-K. At the high school level, more students are than in 2010-11, with nearly a 20- point increase since 2010-11, growing from 58.6% to 76.1%. These students now graduate with college credits, industry certifications and real-world experience in high-demand fields through , and our growing network of citywide preparing them for .

The initiative enables the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education to connect data from pre-K-12 with postsecondary outcomes to better identify which programs propel students forward in college and careers, helping D.C. make future investments accordingly.

Teachers are a cornerstone of this progress. Thanks to big investments in recent years, D.C. Public School educators now earn an average salary of $109,000, among the highest in the nation, with comparable pay in charter schools. Investments in professional development, coaching, structured literacy training, high-quality instructional materials in literacy and math and high-impact tutoring have also helped to strengthen classroom instruction, so students feel challenged, supported and inspired. At the same time, D.C. is tackling barriers outside the classroom, securing school-based mental health supports, providing safe passage to schools and expanding the District鈥檚 programming. As a result, chronic absenteeism overall has declined 18.3% between 2021-22 and 2023-24, while profound chronic absenteeism 鈥� a student missing 30% or more of school days 鈥� is down 34.2% over the same time period. 

The vast majority of families receive one of their top choices of district and charter schools through a universal enrollment lottery, helping drive D.C.鈥檚 . This system, combined with investments in quality and variety, has helped drive the city鈥檚 sustained since the 2008-09 school year and added more than 5,000 students . This is at a time when many large districts across the country experienced declines.

D.C.鈥檚 education success isn鈥檛 just about test scores. It鈥檚 about the child who now walks into class with confidence because tutoring makes reading click. It鈥檚 about the high schooler graduating with a resume that includes a paid internship and college credits already earned. It鈥檚 about showing the nation that D.C. students 鈥� no matter their background or income 鈥� can succeed at the highest levels.

D.C.’s experience shows how large urban education systems can rebound and thrive when funding is deep and sustained, resources meet student needs, teachers are well supported and compensated, and learning starts early.

While challenges remain, the data show encouraging momentum that is worth studying nationally. D.C.鈥檚 educational vision invariably focuses on ensuring every child is prepared for higher education and a family-sustaining career, while making certain that the city continues to be the nation鈥檚 talent capital.

D.C.鈥檚 public education leaders can keep proving to the nation what happens when a city dreams big for every student, invests strategically and stays the course: Students and schools will surpass expectations.

Paul Kihn is deputy mayor for education in the District of Columbia. Dr. Antoinette Mitchell is state superintendent of education for the District of Columbia.

Though chronic absenteeism has declined from its post-COVID peak, too many students are still missing too much school. Research shows that absent students and are more likely to and face long-term social and than those who attend regularly. Worse, the highest rates of absence are concentrated among low-income children and others for whom attendance is especially important. 

As part of our into American families鈥� perspectives on a range of post-COVID education issues, we conducted in-depth with 40 parents across 17 geographically and demographically diverse states last spring about their children鈥檚 post-pandemic school attendance. The conversations yielded valuable insights for both educators and education policymakers. 

Nearly every parent pointed to illness as the main reason their child missed school. Since the pandemic, both cultural norms and school rules have shifted toward greater caution. Many districts now require children to be fever-free for 24 to 72 hours before returning to class. While parents say they appreciate the focus on health, many also worry the new, blanket rules keep students home unnecessarily. 鈥淸Girls] sometimes throw up because their menstrual cramps are so bad,鈥� said one mother, explaining her daughter鈥檚 increased absences. 鈥淒o they really need to be out for 72 hours?鈥�

Parents urged schools to distinguish between truly contagious illnesses and mild symptoms that don鈥檛 warrant days at home. There鈥檚 a need, it seems, for school administrators to work with public health experts to refine guidelines so they balance safety with the importance of in-person learning.

Parents were also clear that children are disengaged. Words like 鈥渂oring,鈥� 鈥渋rrelevant,鈥� and 鈥渄rudgery鈥� came up repeatedly in our interviews. Many felt that schools put too much emphasis on standardized testing at the expense of real-world skills.

Families want schools to invest in hands-on learning, more relevant curricula and environments where students feel excited to show up. Attendance, in their view, improves when schools are places where kids genuinely want to be.

But behind many cases of chronic absence were unique family crises: a parent鈥檚 death, loss of housing or a child鈥檚 chronic illness. Parents told us that generic reminders or attendance incentives don鈥檛 address these realities and sometimes feel like nagging or shaming.

As one parent urged: 鈥淔ocus on the individual 鈥� what is happening with this kid? Administrators can build trust by approaching families with empathy, asking questions to understand the causes of each child鈥檚 attendance patterns and connecting them with targeted supports rather than relying solely on broad policies.

Finally, and particularly troubling, we found that the nationwide transition to online learning during the pandemic fundamentally changed the culture of school-going. Because of the widespread use of online platforms, many students can quickly make up missed work when they are absent. This well-intentioned support leaves parents (and the children themselves) believing students are not missing anything when not in school. 

Parents described the ease with which students log in to portals to view videos, see the work they missed, obtain notes or complete worksheets. Or they cited helpful teachers providing homework packets for students to complete, particularly when the absence was planned in advance. While parents value this support for catching up after a missed day, the ease of accessing missed material, combined with and that encourage unlimited late assignments and retakes, can further the perception that being at school in person is not important for staying on track, dampening student motivation and engagement.

As one parent explained: 鈥淧ost-COVID, it鈥檚 so much easier to make up your work 鈥� it makes it less of a big deal to miss a school day.鈥� Another said: 鈥淎fter COVID, it doesn鈥檛 even matter if a child is in the classroom, because they put the agenda online and you can watch the lesson.鈥� This perception directly conflicts with decades of research 鈥� and the experience of students during the pandemic 鈥� showing that missing class in person harms both academic and social development. Administrators should consider messaging that acknowledges families鈥� challenges while making explicit what students stand to lose 鈥� especially academic achievement and relationship-building 鈥� when they aren鈥檛 physically present.

Parents鈥� perspectives are a reminder that chronic absenteeism isn鈥檛 just a numbers problem, it鈥檚 a lived experience shaped by health concerns, cultural shifts, school climate and family circumstances. Parents are not indifferent; they want to partner with schools. Educators can help by refining illness policies, investing in engaging instruction and tackling the troubling post-pandemic misconception that absences don鈥檛 matter.

As an in longstanding partnership with public schools and the of a nonprofit organization focused specifically on attendance, we鈥檙e hearing questions from educators, district leaders, families and policymakers about whether the old standards for attendance are still reasonable. Do students still need to go to school every day? Is it fair to ask educators to work on improving attendance when so many barriers exist outside of school? 

Given what we know from research and from schools across the country, backing away from a strong focus on chronic absence places children鈥檚 well-being in jeopardy, because attendance matters as much now as ever.

Early evidence from a UChicago Consortium on School Research study that is underway shows that the relationships among attendance and grades, test scores and test gains remain as strong as before COVID-19. This suggests that, despite all the extra supports that have been put into schools since the pandemic, chronic absence is a key factor in poor performance on exams across the country. This is for every age and demographic group.

These findings affirm decades of research showing that school attendance matters for students鈥� academic success, holistic development and well-being. Children in pre-K-2 who were chronically absent for several years by grade 3. Attendance also is important in the elementary and middle grades for students鈥� eventual , ability to pass their classes and graduate. And it’s not just the absent students who are affected; the content and pace of the classroom and even how adults and resources across the school are deployed can be detrimental to those who do show up.

Beyond academics, school is a key space for young people鈥檚 development 鈥� building social connections and skills with peers and adults, exploring their interests through classes and extracurriculars, and accessing resources, whether directly in school or through referrals from teachers. Students who are absent frequently miss out. 

Attendance rises when schools focus on fostering students鈥� development. Those with strong 鈥� where young people feel safe and supported and teachers collaborate with one another and with families 鈥� have higher attendance rates than other schools. No wonder boosting students鈥� is seen as a to chronic absence. When students and see their school as a place of community, stability, safety and support, they are more likely to come consistently, even when there are challenges. Teachers and school staff get a clearer sense of what families need, and how to help. They are more likely to seek assistance when they need it and work with to find solutions that work for them. In turn, school leaders and staff get a clearer sense of what families need, and how to help.

Addressing chronic absence can feel like an overwhelming, or even an impossible, problem because it is affected by many aspects of a young person鈥檚 life. Yet, we鈥檝e seen schools make substantial progress when they focus on key data and supports. Chicago moved ninth grade attendance rates from 80% to 91% from 2008 to 2018 after showed absenteeism in the first year of high school was the driving factor behind low graduation rates. The district provided schools with real-time data on ninth graders鈥� attendance and grades, and principals and teachers were held accountable for a metric they could actually move, while being helped with by organizations like the Network for College Success. 

Nathaniel Green Middle School in Providence reduced its chronic absence rate from in three years after Principal Jackson Reilly organized students into cohorts taught by teams of teachers so they could build in time for relationships among students, teachers, and students and their teachers. This created a sense of community that brought back joy into the classroom. They then used data on who was missing 10% or more of school to identify which students needed extra outreach and support.

At Compass Berclair Charter School in Memphis, absenteeism dropped from 28% to 2% between 2021-22 and 2023-24. Principal Camie Cowan used morning meetings with all students and monthly family check-ins to strengthen relationships. Like Nathaniel Green, it also used chronic absence data to identify and offer assistance to students still struggling with attendance barriers.   

Kansas City Kansas Public Schools have reduced chronic absence districtwide from over 50%  in 2021-22 to less than 35%, and leaders anticipate further reductions in the coming school year. The district has moved away from taking a punitive approach to absences; a key component of its success has been a focus on relationship building. Every school has a team that reviews data as well as develops and implements a year-long plan of action that emphasizes universal strategies (morning meetings or restorative circles) along with targeted supports (positive phone calls and mentoring).

These examples demonstrate that schools can have a big impact on students鈥� attendance rates. The key is building relationships with young people and their families 鈥� asking students and families what motivates them to show up even when it isn鈥檛 easy. Are the barriers an unsafe path to school or a lack of access to health care? Is the student struggling academically or being bullied? Schools can use these answers to partner with students and families to find solutions. 

What educators in schools do matters 鈥� a lot. Progress is not just possible for improving attendance rates in schools; it鈥檚 critical. Children鈥檚 current and future well-being depend on it.  

States that joined a national pledge led by three high-profile education advocacy and research groups to cut chronic absenteeism in half over five years fared better. The 16 states and Washington, D.C. posted results 鈥渟ubstantially above the average rate鈥� of decline, though exact numbers are not yet available, said Nat Malkus, deputy director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, one of the trio.

The national chronic absenteeism average dropped from 28.5% in 2022 to 25.4% in 2023, and fell an additional two points to 23.5% in 2024. Virginia, which is among the 16 participating states, cut its chronic absenteeism by 4.4 percentage points, year over year, to 15.7%, as of spring 2024.

Speaking of the states collectively, Malkus told 社区黑料, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 good but it鈥檚 not as good as we need it to be. I think it points to the need for sustained pressure and a sustained campaign to bring absence rates down and to bring more students back to consistent attendance.鈥�

Last July, AEI and EdTrust, right-and left-leaning think tanks, respectively, and the national nonprofit Attendance Works joined forces to launch The 50% Challenge. This week, the organizations hosted in Washington, D.C., to report on their progress, re-up the call to action and hear insights from state, district and community partners on how they are improving student attendance and engagement.

With California and Georgia recently joining, the 16 states and D.C. who signed on to the pledge account for more than a third of all students nationally. While Malkus doesn鈥檛 necessarily attribute their better results to the pledge itself, he noted that their participation shows a willingness to commit to the cause and be publicly accountable for their results. 

鈥淚 will hold their feet to the fire on this goal,鈥� he added during his opening remarks in D.C.

While felt most acutely by students of color and those in poorer districts, the spike in chronic absenteeism 鈥� students missing more than 10% of school days a year 鈥� regardless of size, racial breakdown or income. Chronic absenteeism from 13.4% in 2017 to 28.5% in 2022 before beginning to drop in 2023.

Only about one-third of students nationally are in districts that are on pace to cut 2022 absenteeism in half by 2027, according to an , and rates improved more slowly in 2024 than they did in 2023, 鈥渞aising the very real possibility that absenteeism rates might never return to pre-pandemic levels.

Research has shown that students with high rates of absenteeism are more likely to fall behind academically and are at a greater risk of dropping out of school. About 8% of all learning loss from the pandemic is attributed just to chronic absenteeism, according to soon-to-be-released AEI research.

The continued disproportionate impacts of chronic absenteeism were confirmed by recent , which found that in roughly half of urban school districts, more than 30% of students were chronically absent 鈥� a far higher share of students than in rural or suburban school districts.

RAND also found that the most commonly reported reason for missing school was sickness and one-quarter of kids did not think that being chronically absent was a problem.

SchoolStatus, a private company that works with districts to reduce chronic absenteeism, also released  for some 1.3 million K-12 students across 172 districts in nine states. Districts using proactive interventions, the company reports, drove down chronic absenteeism rates from 21.9% in 2023鈥�24 to 20.9% in 2024鈥�25.

At this week鈥檚 event, numerous experts across two panels emphasized the importance of a tiered approach to confronting the issue, which has resisted various remedies. Schools must build enough trust and buy-in with kids and their families that they are willing to share why they are absent in the first place. Once those root causes are identified, it is up to school, district and state leaders to work to remove the barriers.

And while data monitoring must play a significant role, it should be done in a way that is inclusive of families.

鈥淲e need to analyze data with families, not at them,鈥� said Augustus Mays, EdTrust鈥檚 vice president of partnerships and engagement.

It鈥檚 imperative to understand the individual child beyond the number they represent and to design attendance plans and strategies with families so they feel supported rather than chastised.

鈥淚t’s around choosing belonging over punitive punishment,鈥� Mays added.

One major and common mistake schools make is “accountability without relationships,鈥� said Sonja Brookins Santelises, the superintendent of Baltimore City Public Schools.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 鈥榩ull people up鈥� if you don鈥檛 have enough knowledge of what they鈥檙e really going through,鈥� she said.

Panelists were transparent that all this would require immense funding, staff and community partnerships.

Virginia achieved its noteworthy drop in chronic absenteeism after launching a $418 million education initiative in the fall of 2023, in part after seeing their attendance data sink, with about 1 in 5 students chronically missing school. At least 10% of those funds are earmarked to prioritize attendance solutions in particular, according to panelist Emily Anne Gullickson, the superintendent of public instruction for the Virginia Department of Education.聽

These strategies are far-reaching, she noted: Because parents had been told throughout the pandemic to keep their kids home at the slightest sign of illness, schools partnered with pediatricians and school nurses to help counter the no-longer-necessary 鈥渟tay home鈥� narrative.

Gullickson said she also broke down bureaucratic silos, connecting transportation directors and attendance directors, after realizing the role that transit played in chronic absenteeism. The state now has second chance buses as well as walking and led by parents or teachers along a fixed route, who pick up students along the way.

And they are 鈥渙n a mission to move away from seat time and really deliver more flexibility on where, when and how kids are learning,鈥� she said. 

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 one strategy. It鈥檚 a set of strategies,鈥� said Attendance Works founder and executive director Hedy Chang, who moderated the panel.

In Connecticut, state leaders have launched the , a research-based model that sends trained support staff to families鈥� homes to build relationships and better understand why their kids are missing school. 

A recent study confirmed that six months after the program鈥檚 first home visits, attendance rates improved by approximately 10 percentage points for K-8 students, and nearly 16 percentage points for high schoolers, said Charlene Russell-Tucker, the commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Education.

Schools must also work to motivate kids to want to show up in the first place, panelists said, making it a meaningful place that students believe will support and help them in the long run. The only way to do this is to start with student and family feedback, said Brookins, the Baltimore schools chief.

During the pandemic many parents saw up-close for the first time what their kids鈥� classrooms and teacher interactions looked like, 鈥渁nd I don鈥檛 think a lot of folks liked what they saw for a variety of different reasons,鈥� Brookins said.

鈥淚 think it opened up boxes of questions that we 鈥� as the education establishment 鈥� were unprepared to answer,鈥� she added. But chronic absenteeism cannot be successfully fought without engaging in those uncomfortable conversations.

Disclosure: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides financial support to EdTrust and 社区黑料.

This gap is a of decision-making. People plan to save for retirement or stick to diets, but often fall short of their goals. In parenting, the stakes are higher: Not reading a bedtime story or skipping a day of preschool may seem momentarily insignificant, but small gaps in learning time , making it increasingly . 

Why do well-intentioned parents sometimes struggle to follow through with engaging their children, and how can behavioral science help parents close the intention-action gap?

The field of offers insights into what creates intention-action gaps and identifies practical ways to bridge the gap. Many of these approaches rely on the concept of 鈥溾�� 鈥� subtle changes in how choices or information are presented that make the desired action easier or more likely to occur. In parenting, nudges often come in the form of reminders, feedback, or other simple tools sent through digital technology. These nudges acknowledge that busy parents aren鈥檛 failing to engage their children in learning activities that are key to the child鈥檚 future because they lack love, knowledge, or good intentions; rather, daily life is full of friction and temptations.

has shown that 鈥減resent bias,鈥� a manifestation of the intention-action gap, is central to parenting choices. Parents, like everyone, often prioritize immediate rewards over future benefits. Raising a child requires long-term effort; while considerable research shows that reading books to a toddler boosts their language skills in the future, the benefits of today鈥檚 actions can be long delayed. Meanwhile, daily distractions and fatigue demand immediate attention.

This bias can cause parents to focus on the 鈥渘ow鈥� rather than the 鈥渓ater,鈥� even when they value activities like reading. In our study, we tackled present bias by sending parents text-message prompts and goal-setting reminders to read to their children from a digital library that we provided to parents. These reminders were intended to 鈥渂ring the future to the present.鈥� Parents who received these reminders read to their child over twice as much over six weeks compared to parents who received the digital library with no reminders.

Notably, the parents who gained the most were those who exhibited present-biased preferences in assessments given before the experiment began. In other words, the parents most prone to procrastinate on reading were the ones who saw the greatest improvements when we helped them overcome present bias. Parents without present bias already read regularly, so the extra reminders had little impact for them.

Tools to Help Parents Follow Through

Another successful example of narrowing the intention-action gap from our research lab is the 鈥溾�� study, a randomized controlled trial we conducted to increase attendance in Chicago鈥檚 publicly funded preschool programs. Our intervention sent personalized text messages to parents over 18 weeks, indicating the number of days their child had been absent and highlighting the learning opportunities they missed while not in school. The messages reminded parents of their commitment to adopt good attendance habits and their goals to help their child develop kindergarten readiness skills.

For children whose parents received these messages, preschool attendance increased by about 2.5 school days, and chronic absenteeism 鈥� a measure of missing 10% or more of the school days in a school year 鈥� decreased by 20% compared to the children of parents who did not receive the messages. The helped align parents鈥� actions with their long-term goals. This type of light-touch program is inexpensive and easy to scale, making it a for education policymakers aiming to reduce early absenteeism.

Technology offers a promising solution to close the intention-action gap. Our recent study provided families with a tablet preloaded with a digital library of over 200 high-quality children鈥檚 books. The tablet had no apps or internet access beyond the library to reduce distractions. The goal was to remove the obstacle of finding new books and to make shared reading as easy and engaging as possible. 

The impact on children鈥檚 language skills was notable. Over an 11-month trial, low-income children whose families received access to the digital library showed approximately 0.3 standard deviations more progress in language skills (equivalent to three months of language learning on the test we gave to children) than those who did not, moving from roughly the 41st to the 50th percentile nationally. Notably, the treatment impact was significantly larger 鈥� 0.50 standard deviation, equivalent to approximately five months of language learning on the test we gave to children 鈥� for parents who exhibited present-biased preferences in assessments administered before the experiment began (as in the PACT study). Sometimes the best way to narrow the intention-action gap is to reduce barriers to the intended action. 

From Research Insights to Early Childhood Policy

These go beyond academics: They offer a for early childhood policy. Traditional parenting programs often assume that if parents are informed about the benefits of their decisions or provided with free resources, they will naturally act accordingly. However, information and resources alone don鈥檛 always lead to behavior change, especially when cognitive biases interfere. 

Relatively low-cost, behaviorally informed interventions can directly address the intention-action gap. For example, text-message programs can be through school districts, pediatric clinics, or social service agencies to encourage behaviors like daily reading, conversations, or preschool attendance. , such as the library tablet in the CAPER study, could be integrated into public early education programs or library initiatives to ensure families have access to books and find them easy and enjoyable to use. 

Such approaches can promote equity by focusing on parents who face more cognitive biases or for whom these biases cause the most harm. Behavioral tools can help before children reach kindergarten, which research shows is the most effective and cost-efficient time to empower parents as active partners in their children鈥檚 development.

This is not a challenge schools can solve with lectures or punishments. My own early efforts to talk a student into better attendance were often met with slow eye rolls, exasperated sighs 鈥� and no change. In hindsight, I wasted time talking at students about not showing up. What I鈥檝e learned 鈥� and now teach other school leaders 鈥� is that the only way forward is to build schools that students want to be in, families feel proud to choose and that instill confidence in their teachers.

When I was a principal, my team at Harlem West Middle School, part of the Success Academy network, stopped treating absenteeism as a compliance problem. We saw it for what it was: a culture issue. While some students were facing housing instability, coping with mental health challenges or caring for relatives, many simply didn鈥檛 feel a strong sense of belonging at school that would make attendance worthwhile.

The same was true for families. Between work, transportation and income constraints, parents faced hurdles. Their child鈥檚 absenteeism wasn鈥檛 due to a lack of care 鈥� it was the result of life鈥檚 complexities.

It became the job of my faculty and staff to recognize what was making it hard for students to show up or fully engage, and then offer practical ways to help them make the most out of their school day.

One of the most powerful 鈥� and surprisingly simple 鈥� shifts we made was giving students more ownership of their school. They helped shape how we started our mornings by making daily announcements: researching and delivering news stories, providing schoolwide updates or interviewing classmates, often showcasing their own talents. They also offered ideas for celebrating peers and created engaging student-run organizations, such as chess, theater and book clubs, along with student-organized competitions and leadership opportunities within the school community.

Instead of talking at students when they showed up to school, we made it a point to speak with them, and more importantly, to listen. We asked what school needed to look and feel like for them in order to show up. When students returned after an absence, we didn鈥檛 lead with scolding or suspicion. We said, 鈥淲e missed you yesterday,鈥� sending a message: You belong and you matter. These reconnections were not formal interrogations or overengineered workshops. They happened in the in-between spaces 鈥� while walking to class, sitting side-by-side in the cafeteria or helping set up for an event. The best conversations started with soft questions like: 鈥淲hat鈥檝e you been up to?鈥� or 鈥淲hat鈥檚 good?鈥� or 鈥淲hat did you think of [add a local event]?鈥� I often asked students for help as a way to invite connection: 鈥淐an you give me a hand with these?鈥� Walking shoulder to shoulder, we created quiet moments to talk 鈥� or just be together. Sometimes the silence was just as valuable as the words. 

We worked just as hard to re-engage families. For younger students, we used drop-off and pick-up times as natural opportunities to connect 鈥� moments that didn鈥檛 require extra trips or schedule changes. For older students, we prioritized showing up at sporting events and performances 鈥� not just to be seen, but to listen and learn. We asked families what was exciting their kids, what made them anxious and what they needed from us to rebuild trust. 

We documented those conversations and brought them back to our regular meetings with our teaching and leadership staff. There, we looked for patterns and designed responses that were consistent across classrooms. These included deliberate attendance recognition 鈥� shoutouts to students by name during morning meetings, personalized notes or celebrations of progress 鈥� and flexible academic support time, where students could catch up, study quietly or get targeted help during the school day. These weren鈥檛 new programs; they were daily choices made by our staff, built on strong connections with students, that gave them the time and chance to be truly engaged and focused.

Today, as managing director of , I employ those lessons to help educators use attendance as a lever to design better schools. That includes leadership coaching, academic redesign and strategic planning that prioritizes enrollment, engagement and better outcomes.

Across the country, I鈥檝e seen low-cost, high-impact strategies that work: greeting every student each morning, elevating student voices through clubs and leadership roles and creating moments for peers to celebrate one another. These culture shifts work because they put the people in the building first.

Chronic absenteeism won鈥檛 be solved with incentives or threats. But it can be addressed by building schools that students are drawn to. It starts with school leaders. I encourage every administrator, district leader and principal to build a school they鈥檇 be proud to send their own child to. When students feel a school is worth showing up for, they will.

He wasn鈥檛 unsafe. He wasn鈥檛 unloved. He was just missing too many days of school: seven, to be exact, the unexcused limit. And that was enough to trigger an investigation. Just like that, he became one of more than investigated by child welfare services each year 鈥� over 8,000 every single day. Overare for 鈥渘eglect,鈥�  a vague, inconsistently defined category that often just reflects poverty. 

Education personnel 鈥� teachers, counselors, and school staff 鈥� make the second-highest number of reports to child welfare services every year, I鈥檝e found in my work researching the child welfare system. While the intentions are often good, the system often punishes families struggling with poverty, addiction, or trauma 鈥� not abuse. And once inside, these children are placed into systems that deepen, rather than heal, the original pain.

This is not protection. It is harm, simply by another name.

Children placed in foster care are to experience sexual abuse than those who remain at home, and 10 times more likely when placed in group homes. The trauma doesn鈥檛 end there. involved in child welfare today were themselves in foster care. California reports a rate within one year of reunification, driven largely by untreated mental health or substance use, not new abuse. 

And most chilling of all, in the U.S. have spent time in foster care. Many are trafficked while missing from foster care. In 2024 alone, over from state custody 鈥� and a significant number were later identified as victims of sex trafficking.

Without mental wellness at the center, the child welfare system doesn鈥檛 just fail. It recreates and sometimes exacerbates the very harm it claims to prevent.

Across the country, models centered on healing are showing what鈥檚 possible when we meet families with care instead of immediately extracting their children. As a World Bank scholar and the founder and CEO of , an organization that has supported efforts across the world to end the cycle of trauma, I have seen the impact of community-rooted, trauma-informed programs that prioritize wellness over surveillance. 

Drawing on my training, I conducted an 18-month of the PACE program, an educational neglect prevention program in Olmsted County, Minnesota. I found that re-entry rates dropped significantly, both in the short and long term. The program primarily served children of color, who made up 60% of neglect reports despite comprising only 35% of the student population. PACE created safe spaces, trust, and skill-building 鈥� addressing risk factors early and reducing long-term involvement in child welfare.

Similar results exist nationwide. program uses specially trained peer navigators and reduces re-entry into foster care, showing that youth-led healing is effective. In New York鈥檚 Initiative, judges partner with mental health professionals to stabilize families through therapeutic interventions, resulting in faster reunification and better long-term outcomes. 

What unites these models is their focus on healing, not punishment. A truly healing-centered system has three defining characteristics:

First, systems awareness, not just individual blame. These approaches look beyond isolated 鈥渃ases鈥� to ask: What happened to this family, and what systemic forces shaped their situation? They take into account poverty, racism, community disinvestment, and intergenerational trauma. That means working with community organizations, investing in housing and mental health care, and rewriting policies that punish poverty instead of addressing its root causes.

Second, psychological and emotional safety, not just physical safety. Traditional child welfare systems focus almost exclusively on physical harm. But healing requires us to ask: 鈥�Will this child be harmed more by staying, or by being removed?鈥� A healing-centered system weighs both forms of harm. As legal scholar Shanta Trivedi has argued in , separation is not a neutral act; it often inflicts its own kind of trauma, particularly for children of color who are disproportionately separated from their families. 

And third, rebuilding from within. Healing-centered systems support the emotional resilience of the adults who shape a child鈥檚 daily environment: teachers, social workers, family coaches, and therapists. They must not only regulate their own stress, but also help caregivers and children build emotional tools to stay grounded. It also means embedding supports 鈥� like supervision, peer learning, and trauma-informed training 鈥� so this work is sustainable.

Many people still picture child welfare as a virtuous system that rescues battered children and places them with loving families. But that鈥檚 not how it actually works. Anyone can report you to child protective services: a neighbor, a teacher, even a stranger. When the person reporting doesn鈥檛 understand the trauma of removal, or the realities of foster care, well-intentioned calls often end up making things worse.

So instead of asking, 鈥淪hould I report?,鈥� we need to ask: 鈥淗ow can I support this family better?鈥�

We deserve better. Our children do too.

It is impossible to solve a problem without knowing what it is. A recent Attendance Works reveals that 鈥渁s of mid-April 2025, the majority of states (43) published their chronic absence data for 2023-24. This represents a significant improvement.鈥� Improvements are relative; this is embarrassing. There is nothing to celebrate in that,10 months after the previous school year, most states have shared data that is now wildly out-of-date. The federal government alone has spent around $1 billion in the past two decades to help states build longitudinal data systems, the exact kind of operation that can readily track and publish chronic absenteeism data. It鈥檚 the state longitudinal data system in Rhode Island, for example, that allows the state to for every school. Any state that continues to publish merely annual chronic absenteeism data is making a statement that attendance isn鈥檛 paramount.

This lack of detailed state data hides the fact that not all students are missing school equally, even though the attendance gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers has grown since the pandemic. University of Southern California professor Morgan Polikoff last month that show 鈥渟ubstantial variation鈥� between the chronic absenteeism rates of different groups of students. Least likely to miss school are gifted students, Asian children and students in grades 2 through 5. Most likely to be chronically absent? Homeless and foster youth, low-income students and 12^th graders.

Low-income kids, in other words, were most likely to suffer during the pandemic, were more likely to experience and remain significantly more likely to miss more than 10% of school days.  If 鈥渆very day counts,鈥� as the attendance slogan states, why won鈥檛 most states publicly report on this data but once a year?

Parents should demand better attendance data, too. It鈥檚 not only the kids missing school who lose out 鈥� research shows that all students with high chronic absenteeism rates. This finding holds , too. Parents have a right to know what the chronic absenteeism rate is at their child鈥檚 school and in their child鈥檚 classroom, and should receive clear information about their own child鈥檚 attendance patterns. 

Second, reset the messaging.

One explanation for the continued higher rates of chronic absenteeism is an uncomfortable one 鈥� that the education sector is allowing it to happen. State, district and school leaders, along with mayors, city councils, state legislators and other political leaders, all play a role. Schools have sent mixed messages to students and families over the past few years about attendance, whether that鈥檚 allowing students to “” an absence by attending a Saturday session or the fact that they continue to earn high grades and timely diplomas despite many absences. And don’t forget the biggest mixed message of all: When schools closed during the pandemic, whether for two months or two years, the clear signal to parents was 鈥渟chools are closed but your child will be fine.鈥� study shows that graduation rates continued to climb after COVID despite rampant chronic absenteeism and serious learning loss. This cemented the implicit idea that physically attending school every day is no longer required for academic success. 

To undo this unintentional messaging, political and education leaders can start by acknowledging that pandemic-era school closures harmed students and should be avoided in any future crisis at all costs. Next, they should tell parents that students are expected to attend school every day. The new message must be: 鈥淚f your child is not in school every day, she will fall behind.鈥� Consider incentives like one implemented by a , New York, with low absenteeism: Only seniors who maintain a certain are permitted to leave the premises for lunch. In middle and high school, talk to students directly about why coming to school every day is essential for their long-term goals. If incentives and motivations aren鈥檛 enough, make promotion to the next grade contingent on attendance. If a student has missed more than 20 days, require summer school or make the student repeat a grade. Think this unfair? It鈥檚 hard to conceive of something more unfair to children than passing them from grade to grade without ensuring they accumulate sufficient knowledge and experience.

Finally, it鈥檚 not enough to tell students, especially high schoolers, that they should come to school every day. The learning that happens in the classroom should be so good that they don鈥檛 want to miss it. This is a  massive challenge, to be sure, but the one that may matter the most. It鈥檚 one thing to convince parents and students of the importance of coming to school every day, and another to make that attendance worthwhile. If a robust academic experience is the long-term goal for every public school student, members of society, from parents to politicians, must reject the new normal of scattershot attendance and get all kids back in school buildings every day. No hope remains but Americans’ own actions; better data and clear messaging are places to start. 

The district made progress this year with , Carvalho said during the home visit last month, but officials could not say how much progress was made exactly in reducing chronic absenteeism, defined as missing more than ten percent of the school year.  

鈥淥ur approach is we support, we鈥檙e not about penalizing,鈥� said Carvalho of the strategy being employed in getting chronically absent kids to class. 鈥淭wo years ago, we were in a different position 鈥� [but] conditions have improved dramatically.鈥� 

Carvalho said the number of chronically absent students is slowly dropping closer to pre-pandemic levels, in part because of the district鈥檚 push to personalize its efforts to bring individual students to class, with well-known tactics like his house visits. 

Los Angeles isn鈥檛 the only place struggling with persistent attendance issues. A  found that chronic absenteeism nationwide rose over 10% from 2019 to 2024, peaking in 2022 at 28% of students. 

The same report said the national percentage of students with good attendance fell sharply between 2019 and 2023, compounding the problem. 

More and more research, in fact, is suggesting that higher levels of chronically absent students could become the new normal. 

In L.A., chronic absenteeism remains a problem. At the beginning of the school year,  of all students in the nation鈥檚 second-largest district were missing class enough to be deemed chronically absent. 

That鈥檚 an improvement from the years following the COVID-19 shutdowns in the district, when nearly half of all students were chronically absent, the worst the problem ever got in LA Unified鈥檚 history. 

Carvalho said it鈥檚 gotten better because he and the district鈥檚 attendance team got personal in their approach, tailoring efforts to individual families, and knocking on the doors where kids had repeatedly missed school. 

Attendance counselors, school principals, and sometimes Carvalho himself have visited with thousands of families personally each school year since then, and talked to parents about why their kids are missing class. 

They offer solutions, like free busing or new school uniforms, or whatever could help. The tactic is a standard tool for LAUSD, one that Carvalho and district attendance workers and officials trumpet as a reason for their success. 

But chronic absenteeism has been a serious problem for years in L.A. More than 32% of L.A. Unified students were considered chronically absent for the 2023-2024 school year, the latest year for which the data exists.  

That鈥檚 well above the historic norms, but still an improvement from the abysmal previous years. Los Angeles Unified had 36% of students consistently missing class in 2022-2023, and just over 45% of students in 2021-22. 

Fallout from COVID-19 remains the main thing parents and educators blame for the historically high numbers. 

During Carvalho鈥檚 last at-home visit of the year, the mother of a chronically absent student said that since the pandemic she鈥檚 been confused over when to keep her sick home from class. 

At the start of the 2024-2025 school year, Carvalho said annual incremental gains will be how the district digs itself out. 

That plan appears to be working, he said in May, with last year seeing a dip and district officials expecting 2024 to have even lower numbers. 

LAUSD officials told the LA School Report that chronic absenteeism data for the 2024-2025 school year has not been finalized, so they could not quantify the gains. 

Still, Rudy Gomez, the director of iAttend,  program, said in an interview that the district has made progress fighting chronic absenteeism. 

鈥淲e have had some significant gains in chronic absenteeism, although we still have a lot of work to do,鈥� said Gomez. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e seen some major gains, all across the board.鈥�

School attendance is critical for success in the classroom, and success in school is core to health across a lifespan. Children who attend school regularly are far more likely to achieve academically and graduate from high school than those who are chronically absent. In turn, high school graduation leads to better health outcomes, and students who graduate are more likely to have fewer chronic illnesses and fewer injuries, and live , than those who do not.

Yet today, is chronically absent, defined as missing more than 10% of school days. In some districts, that proportion is closer to 1 in 2. The COVID pandemic widened and deepened a longstanding problem, and now, the obstacles that prevent children from coming to school 鈥� chronic illness, disengagement in the classroom and unmet social needs 鈥� are wide-ranging. While many teachers and principals have worked tirelessly to get students back into the classroom, chronic absence has become a problem too big for educators or schools to solve alone. 

A new public health , developed by education and public health experts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Kaiser Permanente and Attendance Works, offers a comprehensive, community-driven approach with three core elements: data, partnerships and prevention.

First, school attendance data should be tracked and analyzed on a regular basis by district-level teams of educators, epidemiologists and clinicians who can interpret patterns and target solutions. Key questions include: When during the academic year does attendance dip? At what age does it start to falter? Which neighborhoods are most affected? Public health departments can include chronic absence in their community health needs assessments. 

Sharing school attendance data securely with health providers can help identify children with particular conditions, like asthma, who are missing school and require extra attention. In the , for example, pediatricians 鈥� with the consent of parents 鈥� receive regular reports about which children in their practices are on track to become chronically absent. They then can talk to families about what’s happening. If children are missing school for health reasons, more intensive medical treatment may be needed. If the problem is disengagement in the classroom, clinicians can help assess whether there are additional educational needs. If there are social factors, such as inadequate child care or housing, clinicians can work with social workers in schools or community services to find resources to assist families.

Data alone is not enough; partnerships are essential. Beyond health care providers, community organizations, afterschool programs and religious institutions all have a role to play in supporting families in areas with low attendance rates. Such broad coalitions have a track record of success.

For example, the is a citywide collaborative anchored by the Cincinnati Children鈥檚 Hospital and the public school system. The collaboration reviews education and health data and uses it to inform targeted action in the clinic and classroom; for example promoting access to primary care. The results include increased improved and reduced .

The third pillar is prevention. It can be easy to see troubling attendance patterns as simply an issue with a truant student, a problem family or a bad school. But punitive approaches are less likely to work than efforts that listen to parents, address their needs and anticipate future challenges. Using data and evidence to guide action, coalitions can take such steps as providing safer transportation routes to school by improving sidewalk safety, creating protected bike lanes, installing flashing lights on crosswalks and offering better public transportation options; adding services to afterschool programs; and expanding school-based mental health support. Communities can also set a widespread expectation that all kids must go to school every day. Encouraging the development of such norms is difficult, but doing so was at the core of other successful public health strategies, like smoking cessation and traffic safety.  

Not every approach will succeed. To sustain progress, it is important to document, evaluate and share what works and why. Research-practice partnerships such as the build long-term collaborations among researchers, health practitioners and representatives from districts and state agencies to quickly assess the implementation and results of innovative programs. In San Francisco, youth are to help in such efforts.

Most fundamentally, this framework鈥檚 approach to chronic absence means keeping focus on a measurable outcome and innovating with solutions until every child has the best chance of success, both in and out of the classroom. 

Like heart rate and blood pressure, school attendance is a vital sign for health. Like weight and height, it is fundamental to child development. Now is the time to prioritize reducing chronic absence to support the long-term health of children.

A new analysis of data from three states 鈥� North Carolina, Texas and Virginia 鈥� shows that prior to COVID, 17% of students were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year. By 2023, long after schools had to cope with new variants and hybrid schedules, that figure hit 37%.

鈥淎bsences are both more common for everybody, but they are also more extreme,鈥� said Jacob Kirksey, an associate professor of education policy at Texas Tech University.

Additional new research shows that while post-pandemic chronic absenteeism lingers across the board, rates were substantially higher for low-income students. In North Carolina, for example, the chronic absenteeism rate for students in poverty before the pandemic was 9.2 percentage points higher than for non-poor students. By 2023, the gap increased to 14.6 percentage points.

鈥淭he income gap really was the main driver that showed up over and over again,鈥� said Morgan Polikoff, an education researcher at the University of Southern California. But it鈥檚 hard for schools to make a dent in the problem, he said, if they aren鈥檛 investigating the reasons for chronic absenteeism. 鈥淭here’s a big difference between the kid [who] has an illness and is chronically sick versus the kid [who] is super disengaged.鈥�

Kirksey and Polikoff were among several researchers who Friday at an American Enterprise Institute event focused on facing what Kirksey called the 鈥渦nder-the-hood dynamics鈥� of chronic absenteeism in the post-COVID era. Since 2022, when the national average peaked at 28%, the rate has dropped to 23% 鈥� still much higher than the pre-COVID level of about 15%, according to the conservative think tank鈥檚 . 

鈥淚 have a question that keeps me up at night. That question is 鈥榃hat’s the new normal going to be?鈥� 鈥� said Nat Malkus, the deputy director of education policy at AEI. 鈥淲e see this rising tide, but I think that it’s incumbent on us to say that chronic absenteeism still affects disadvantaged students more.鈥�

The research project began in September with the goal of offering guidance to districts in time for students鈥� return to school this fall. The researchers stressed that those most likely to be chronically absent this school year 鈥� low-income, highly mobile and homeless students 鈥� are the same ones who will frequently miss school next year.

鈥淎bsenteeism should seldom come as a surprise,鈥� said Sam Hollon, an education data analyst at AEI. 鈥淚t’s hard to justify delaying interventions until absences have accumulated.鈥� 

Teacher absenteeism

One new finding revealed Friday contradicts a theory that gained traction following the pandemic 鈥� that students were more likely to be absent if their teachers were also out. As with students, teacher absenteeism increased during the pandemic and hasn鈥檛 returned to pre-COVID levels. 

The relationship between teacher absences and student absences, however, is 鈥減retty negligible,鈥� said Arya Ansari, an associate professor of human development and family science at The Ohio State University. 

鈥淭hese absences among teachers don’t actually contribute to the post-COVID bump that we’ve seen in student absences,鈥� he said. 鈥淭argeting teacher absences isn’t going to move the needle.鈥�

The researchers discussed how even some well-intentioned responses to the COVID emergency have allowed chronic absenteeism to persist. States, Malkus said, made it easier to graduate despite frequent absences and missing school doesn鈥檛 necessarily prevent students from turning in their work.

鈥淚n my day, you had to get a packet and do the work at home鈥� if you were absent, Polikoff said. In interviews with 40 families after the pandemic, 39 said it was easy to make up work because of Google Classroom and other online platforms. 鈥淗ow many said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 make it harder鈥�? Zero.鈥�

In another presentation, Ethan Hutt, an associate education professor at the University of North Carolina, estimated that chronic absenteeism accounts for about 7.5% of overall pandemic learning loss and about 9.2% for Black and low-income students 鈥� a 鈥渘ontrivial, but modest鈥� impact. 

He stressed that missing school also affects student engagement and relationships with teachers. While technology has made it easier for students to keep up, 鈥渢here may be other harms that we want to think about and grapple with,鈥� he said. 

From one to 49

The new research comes as states are mounting new efforts to more closely track chronic absenteeism data and share it with the public. In 2010, only one state 鈥� Maryland 鈥� published absenteeism data on its state education agency website. Now, 49 states 鈥� all but New Hampshire 鈥� report rates on an annual, monthly or even daily basis, according to a released Tuesday by Attendance Works, an advocacy and research organization.聽

The systems allow educators and the public to more quickly identify which students are most affected and when spikes occur. Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Washington D.C. post rates even before the end of the school year. Rhode Island offers real-time data, while Connecticut publishes monthly reports.

The New Hampshire Department of Education doesn鈥檛 monitor chronic absenteeism, but has a statewide 92.7% attendance rate, a spokesperson said. 

The report highlights states that have taken action to reduce chronic absenteeism. In Virginia, bus drivers ensure their routes include students who might be more likely to struggle with transportation. With state funds, , west of Washington, D.C., opened a center for students on short-term suspension to minimize the when a student is removed from the classroom. 

Overall chronic absenteeism in the state declined from 19.3% in 2022-23 to 15.7% in 2023-24. To Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, such improvement proves 鈥渨e can still get things done in our country and in education, despite all of the culture wars and binary thinking.鈥�

鈥楶riced out鈥�

Some district and school leaders have looked to their peers for ideas on how to get kids back in school. After participating in a six-month program with 16 other districts across the country organized by the nonprofit Digital Promise, Mark Brenneman, an elementary principal in New York鈥檚 Hudson City Schools, started interviewing families about their challenges. 

He learned that Hispanic parents often keep their children home when it rains because they鈥檙e worried they鈥檙e going to catch a cold. Several had transportation challenges. His school, Smith Elementary, even contributed to the problem, he said, by holding concerts, award ceremonies or other family events in the morning. Parents would come to celebrate their children鈥檚 accomplishments, then take them out for lunch and not return.

Hudson, about 40 miles south of Albany, has undergone significant change since the pandemic, added Superintendent Juliette Pennyman. Some families leaving New York City have settled in Hudson, driving up the cost of housing. 

鈥淥ur families are being priced out of the community,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ousing insecurity was 鈥� affecting families鈥� and students鈥� ability to focus on school.鈥�

As a result of the intense focus on the issue, Smith, which had a 29% chronic absenteeism rate last year, has seen an about a 15% increase in the number of students with good attendance. 

鈥淚t’s not like we’re down to like 10% chronically absent,鈥� Brenneman said. 鈥淏ut we’ve hammered away.鈥� 

Their colleagues and they had an ambitious goal: improve overall in-seat attendance rates by at least two percentage points. Like schools across the country, Woodson has struggled with high rates of chronic absenteeism. According to the D.C.鈥檚 Office of the State Superintendent of Education, missed school regularly during the 2023-2024 school year. Rates have improved since the worst days of the pandemic, but they hovering around 40 percent across the nation鈥檚 capital. 

Nationwide, , as ,student mental health, , and compound on one another to create a perfect storm of worsening attendance. These absences aren鈥檛 just about missing class. They鈥檙e of whether students will graduate, pursue higher education, or find stable employment. 

To address the problem, Curry-Neal, Woodson鈥檚 redesign director, and Judon, the school鈥檚 student experience coach, looked beyond conventional solutions 鈥� disciplinary threats and mandatory parent calls 鈥� and took a novel approach: letting students lead. 

Woodson is part of , a partnership between XQ Institute and DC Public Schools (DCPS) to improve the high school experience through the implementation of XQ鈥檚 six, science-backed that together lay the foundation for effective high school learning. One of these principles is youth voice and choice: creating authentic, regular opportunities for students to build agency and develop their identities. DCPS Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee in linking attendance to students鈥� feelings of engagement and sense of belonging. 

We know chronic absenteeism is anything but simple,鈥� said Dr. Ferebee. 鈥淎s part of DC+XQ, Woodson is enlisting the entire school community to help tackle this and other important challenges鈥攁nd they鈥檙e leading with student voice. Our partnership with XQ is showing what鈥檚 possible when our young people have a seat at the table.鈥�

In addressing chronic absenteeism, leaders at Woodson seized on the opportunity to bring students into the fold. Curry-Neal and Judon met with about 70 students eager to improve their high school experience and presented them with attendance metrics and , which provides valuable insight for schools to monitor their students’ learning experiences. From those students, the school selected 10 mentors and charged them with leading a pilot program to boost attendance numbers.  

Known as the Attendance Pep Squad, these 10 students gather every Tuesday at lunch to strategize. Their goal is twofold: first, identify students who might benefit from peer mentorship. And second, come up with creative ways to change the culture around attendance. During the fall semester, they developed an innovative outreach event 鈥� a playful, low-stakes peer networking gathering during which students exchanged stories and identified common experiences. Potential mentees also shared their schedules, academic interests, and any obstacles they were encountering, enabling mentors (along with Curry-Neal and Judon) to determine how best to pair students. About 22 students opted in to receive a peer mentor, and the program began in December of last year. 

The Pep Squad also took steps to strengthen their fellow students鈥� sense of belonging. They organized a 鈥淲inter Spirit Week,鈥� strategically timed for the week before winter break when attendance rates typically dip. They set up scavenger hunts, social activities and games, and a school-wide assembly to celebrate and close out the week.

The results exceeded expectations. In the 2023鈥�24 school year, the Thursday before winter break had an attendance rate of just 42.6 percent. After the Pep Squad鈥檚 initiative, that number soared to 76 percent. Even the Friday before the break 鈥� one of the toughest days for any school to manage 鈥� recorded just under 60 percent. 

鈥淪tudents understand the barriers to attendance better than anyone,鈥� said William Massey, Woodson鈥檚 principal. 鈥淲e knew we鈥檇 be able to go further and faster with them in the driver鈥檚 seat.鈥�

Not surprisingly, the students鈥� efforts also appear to be having a positive impact on achievement. After just one term, nearly half of mentees have improved their GPA, recovered credits required for graduation, or both. Several mentees also saw a decrease in the number of failed courses.

While Woodson isn鈥檛 declaring victory by any stretch, its early success suggests an alternative to conventional approaches, which often focus on imposing stiffer penalties on students who miss too much school. But these approaches don鈥檛 address root problems 鈥� and they if they erode positive relationships, , and put counterproductive burdens on school staff. In contrast, when students are afforded leadership opportunities that give them agency and voice, they feel like they belong and are eager to step up. 

鈥淚t all coalesces into this magic alchemy,鈥� Curry-Neal said. 

That alchemy is backed by a growing body of data. Research shows that students who feel a strong sense of belonging not only have better attendance but also than their disconnected peers. They also graduate at higher rates and are more likely to enroll in college. In their recent book , authors Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop note that when students see school as boring, stressful, or pointless, their desire to show up evaporates.

Attendance alone doesn鈥檛 guarantee learning, but consistent presence is a crucial first step. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a limit to how much we can learn if we鈥檙e not in the building,鈥� Judon says. 

Woodson has been intentional about building a community that students want to be part of. Panorama data show that the student experience has improved every year since Woodson began their redesign journey in the 2022-2023 school year. Today, Woodson ranks in the 90th percentile among urban districts for student sense of belonging. Curry-Neal traces this back to XQ鈥檚 Design Principles and its network of schools across the country, which enabled them to learn from earlier redesign efforts at , , and . 

Woodson isn鈥檛 the only school whose redesign efforts are paying off. At PSI High in Florida, just 1 percent of students were chronically absent in 2023-24, compared to 25 percent for the broader district. At Design Works High School in New York, 10 percent of students were chronically absent in 2023-24, compared to 47 percent for NYC high schools on average.

There are no silver bullets when it comes to the very complex problem of chronic absenteeism, but it鈥檚 increasingly clear that making students feel like they are part of the solution is a step in the right direction. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 complicated,鈥� Curry-Neal admits. 鈥淎 pep squad, text messages, walking kids to school鈥攖hat only works if the rest of the school environment supports it. But right now, we鈥檙e seeing that when students feel they belong here, they want to come back. And that鈥檚 half the battle.鈥�

Want to learn more about how to create innovative teaching and learning in high schools? Subscribe to the , a newsletter that comes out twice a month for high school teachers.

Disclosure: is a financial supporter of 社区黑料.

鈥淭hey teach you ABCs,鈥� Pobrega said as he picked up her third grader after school. 鈥淭hey teach you how to write. They teach you small little words and it prepares them for first grade.鈥�

But not all parents value kindergarten as much as Pobrega. So many parents treat kindergarten as less important than other grades that it adds up into a major problem 鈥� nationally, across Ohio and particularly at Lincoln Park and other high-poverty schools.

Kindergarten has the highest absenteeism problem of any elementary grade in several states, studies have shown. In Ohio, attendance can be so bad that state data show some kindergartens approaching 90% chronic absenteeism.

Though chronic absenteeism 鈥� students missing 10 percent or more of school days 鈥� is drawing national attention for high school students, there has long been a second, less publicized, peak in absenteeism in kindergarten and sometimes preschool that is also damaging. 

Hedy Chang, one of the leading researchers of absenteeism and its effects, said kindergarten absenteeism needs educator鈥檚 attention, not just high school absences.

鈥淵ou really want to worry about both,鈥� said Chang, founder of the nonprofit Attendance Works. 鈥淵ou want to care about your youngest incoming learners, because that’s going to be critical for the long term. What you don’t invest in and address early, you might pay for later.鈥�

Consider: In Ohio, more than a quarter of Ohio kindergarteners missed at least 18 days of school in the 2023-24 school year, state data shows, making kindergarten the highest chronic absenteeism rate of any elementary school grade in the state.

That matches findings by nonprofit FutureEd in March that kindergarteners had the highest chronic absenteeism of any grade in Hawaii and Utah last school year. In all 20 other states FutureEd looked at, Kindergarten had the highest chronic absenteeism rates before 7th grade.

鈥淲e see this U-shaped curve,鈥� when charting absenteeism by grade, said Amber Humm Patnode, acting director of Proving Ground, a Harvard based research and absenteeism intervention effort. There is high absenteeism in kindergarten, it improves for several years, and typically rises again in late middle school.

She said there are really two separate absenteeism problems 鈥� one for the youngest and one for the oldest students 鈥� that need different strategies to fix.

Ohio State University professor Arya Ansari, who specializes in early childhood education, called kindergarten absenteeism 鈥減roblematic鈥� because missed classes add up over the years.

鈥淜ids who missed school in kindergarten do less well academically in terms of things like counting, letters, word identification, language skills.., they do less well in terms of their executive function skills, and they do less well socially and behaviorally,鈥� Ansari said. 

鈥淒ays missed in preschool or kindergarten kind of set the stage, or are precursors for future absences,鈥� he added. 鈥淪o when you’re frequently absent, it kind of begins to have a snowball effect and sets habits that are harder to break later on.鈥�

There鈥檚 also another dynamic at play with kindergarten absences: It varies by school, in very dramatic ways.

Though Ohio鈥檚 kindergarten chronic absenteeism rate was just above 26% last year, 27 kindergartens had chronic absenteeism triple that rate, coming close to or exceeding 80%. Lincoln Park had the worst rate in the state last year at nearly 90%, with close to 9 out of 10 kindergarteners qualifying as chronically absent.

Adding to the damage, the worst kindergarten absenteeism is happening in places where the students need it most. Ohio鈥檚 list of highest absenteeism rates is dominated by schools in, or next to, the state鈥檚 biggest or most poor cities 鈥� Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Youngstown 鈥� where students have performed well below suburban students for years.

In contrast, affluent and higher-performing schools easily have less than 5% kindergarten chronic absenteeism, with several at zero.

Students in the high-poverty schools are not only missing days that could start them on a path to catching up, the absences are holding everyone back even more, Chang said.

鈥淚 consider high (absenteeism) at 20%, 30% in a school,鈥� Chang said. 鈥�80%? That’s an extremely high level of chronic absence. When schools have really high levels of chronic absence, the churn just makes everything harder. It makes it harder for teachers to teach, set classroom norms and kids to learn.鈥�

Some of why kindergarten absenteeism is so high is easy to understand. For many kids, it鈥檚 the first year of school, so kindergartens become superspreader sites for colds, flu and other illnesses kids haven鈥檛 been exposed to before. Since chronic absenteeism includes any days missed, even for illness, rates could legitimately spike.

The pandemic added a twist to that, said Robert Balfanz, a Johns Hopkins University professor and another leader in absenteeism research.

鈥淚t used to be that parents got guidance (that) If your kid just had sniffles, you could send them to school,鈥� Balfanz said. 鈥淭hen, coming out of the pandemic, parents got the message鈥� perhaps overload, perhaps not鈥hat should you have any sign of illness, you could have COVID. That鈥檚 another factor.鈥�

Just as important: Only 17 states required students to attend kindergarten as of 2023, according to the Education Commission of the States. That easily leads parents to consider it optional and for school to really start in first grade.

Then there鈥檚 kindergartners鈥� need for parents or siblings to take them to school or to their bus stop. If school and work schedules don鈥檛 align, or if a sibling鈥檚 school is different, kindergarten falls lower on the priority list.

鈥淎 kindergartener not coming to school is not necessarily the kindergartner saying, 鈥業’m not going to school today,鈥� 鈥� said Jessica Horowitz-Moore, chief of student and academic supports for the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. 鈥淭hat has to do a lot with the parents.鈥�

Parents oftentimes don鈥檛 appreciate how fast absences add up. Another parent picking up children at Lincoln Park was a perfect example. That father said his child only missed school 鈥渁 couple times a month鈥� when in kindergarten. But twice a month is 10% of the 20 school days in a month (Four weeks of five days each) which is right on pace for chronic absenteeism.

Some of the kindergartens in Ohio with the worst absenteeism in 2023-24 were failing in many other ways too: Two charter elementary schools with kindergarten chronic absenteeism over 87% closed before school began this academic year. Some, including the Stepstone Academy charter school in Cleveland, did not respond to multiple messages from 社区黑料.

Lincoln Park, with the worst kindergarten absenteeism problem in the state, is part of the ACCEL charter schools, a fast-growing multi-state charter network, that had five of Ohio鈥檚 10-worst kindergartens for chronic absenteeism.

Representatives of the network said the schools are often in high poverty neighborhoods with families that move frequently, which disrupts attendance. Students often don鈥檛 have reliable transportation, they said, and Ohio鈥檚 charter schools have less money to put toward attendance issues than districts.

Lincoln Park school leaders say they鈥檙e trying to improve attendance and academic performance. Both the school鈥檚 principal and kindergarten teacher are new this year and interim Principal Erika Vogtsberger said she expects the preschool attendance rate to go up from 74% last year to about 80% this school year. 

She said fewer families are moving during this school year than last, and more than 90% of Lincoln Park鈥檚 students have signed up to return, bringing stability she thinks will help attendance.

The school has also been trying for a few years to encourage attendance. It has early morning and afterschool sessions so working parents can drop children off at 6:30 am and pick them up as late as 5:30 pm. It holds special events like pancake breakfasts for families to encourage attendance and gives classrooms with 90 percent attendance for five days a chance to spin a wheel for rewards like pizza parties or a chance to wear pajamas to school for a day.

But even at 90% goal to earn prizes still leaves 10% of students absent racking up days toward chronic absenteeism.

鈥淲e have to make it attainable,鈥� Vogtsberger said. 鈥淚f I had it at 95%, the kids who are here without missing a day are going to get discouraged because鈥� we do have a small cluster of people who are out pretty regularly.鈥�

鈥淣obody would get it,鈥� added Sherree Dillions, a regional superintendent for ACCEL. 鈥淎t least, with the 90%, peer to peer pressure is a big piece. You say 鈥榊ou better come … You better come tomorrow, because we want that pizza party鈥�, or we want whatever … Because the kid wants the prize.鈥�

Voghtsberger said she also does not want to punish students, either, because their parents aren鈥檛 doing what they need to do.

鈥淣o matter how bad some students want to be at school, if their parents are not getting up in the morning and bringing them, they cannot get to school, and鈥� that’s not their fault.鈥� she said. 

School officials also said parents are a problem beyond not bringing children to school. Parents, they said, are often abusive when called or visited to check on students and have sometimes threatened school officials with guns or dogs. Ohio has also moved away from taking action against students or parents for truancy, so parents face no penalty for keeping students home, as they do in other states, including Indiana, West Virginia and Iowa.

鈥淚f I had my way, parents would be held accountable across the board,鈥� Dillions said.

The Toledo school district, whose Sherman elementary school has the worst absenteeism of any school district kindergarten in Ohio, also saw parents push back when the school called or visited about students skipping school. The district decided in 2017 to pay for well-known people in neighborhoods, like football coaches or local volunteers, to serve as 鈥渁ttendance champions鈥� to talk to parents instead of school officials.

鈥�(They) go out to the homes,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淭hey complete home visits. They work with the families to remove barriers to attendance. They’re in the buildings every day, building relationships with students, removing barriers on that end as well.鈥�

鈥淭hey are not truancy officers,鈥� Baker stressed. 鈥淭hey are not to issue any punishment. That’s not their thing. This is about, 鈥楬ow can I help get Johnny back into school?鈥�

The champions have reduced some of the tension between schools and parents, she said.

Baker has seen better attendance this year, so she expects kindergarten chronic absenteeism there to fall from about 87% to 77% 鈥� still about triple the statewide rate.

There are some reasons for optimism across Ohio and nationally. Absenteeism at all grades, including kindergarten, is improving yearly since the end of the pandemic everywhere.

Baker said, though, that kindergarten may need to be more of a priority.

鈥淲e’re going to have to really hit preschool and kindergarten a little bit harder with our interventions that we are setting up,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have been very much focused on high school. But I think for us as a district … we really have to continue to hit this hard across the board.鈥�

As educators nationwide grapple with stubbornly high levels of student absences since the pandemic drove schools into disarray five years ago, Oklahoma prosecutor Erik Johnson says he has the solution. 

This week, I offer a look at chronic absenteeism鈥檚 persistence long after COVID shuttered classrooms, plunged families into poverty and led to the deaths of more than 1 million Americans. Lawmakers nationwide have proposed dozens of bills this year designed to curtail student absences 鈥� with radically different approaches.

While a proposal in Hawaii would reward kids鈥� good attendance with ice cream, new laws in Indiana, West Virginia and Iowa impose fines and jail time for parents who can鈥檛 compel their children to attend class regularly. In Oklahoma, where Johnson has ushered in a new era of truancy crackdowns, state lawmakers say parents 鈥� not principals and teachers 鈥� should be held accountable for students鈥� repeat absences.

鈥淲e prosecute everything from murders to rape to financial crimes, but in my view, the ones that cause the most societal harm is when people do harm to children, either child neglect, child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, domestic violence in homes, and then you can add truancy to the list,鈥� Johnson told me this week. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not as bad, in my opinion, as beating a child, but it’s on the spectrum because you鈥檙e not putting that child in a position to be successful,鈥� continued Johnson, who has dubbed 2025 the 鈥淵ear of the Child.鈥�

In the news

Books are not a crime 鈥� yet: Under proposed Texas legislation, teachers could soon face jail sentences for teaching classic literary works with sexual content, including The Catcher in the Rye and (unironically?) Brave New World. | 

Mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week could have devastating consequences for the health and well-being of low-income children. | 

Ten days or else: The Education Department demanded Thursday that states certify in writing within the next 10 days that K-12 schools are complying with its interpretation of civil rights laws, namely eliminating any diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or else risk losing their federal funding. | 

A Texas teen was kneed in the face by a school cop: Now, with steep cuts to the Education Department鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights, her case is one of thousands that have been left to languish. | 

Students鈥� right to privacy versus parents鈥� right to know: The Trump administration has opened an investigation into a California law designed to protect transgender students from being outed to their parents, alleging violations of the federal student privacy law. | 

• A similar investigation has been opened against officials in Maine, where the feds claim district policies to protect students鈥� privacy come at the expense of parents鈥� right to information. | 
  
• 鈥淧arents are the most natural protectors of their children,鈥� Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement after a similar federal investigation was launched against Virginia educators. 鈥淵et many states and school districts have enacted policies that imply students need protection from their parents.鈥� | 
  
• A little context: In a recent survey, more than 92% of parents said they were supportive of their child鈥檚 transgender identity. | 

The Student Press Law Center joined a coalition of free speech and journalism organizations in denouncing the recent ICE detention of Tufts University international student Rumeysa Ozturk over opinions she expressed in an op-ed in the student newspaper. 

• 鈥淪uch a basis for her detention would represent a blatant disregard for the principles of free speech and free press within the First Amendment,鈥� the groups wrote in their letter. | 
  
• The Turkish doctoral candidate is one of several students who鈥檝e been rounded up by immigration officials in recent weeks based on pro-Palestinian comments. | 

Florida lawmakers have a plan to fill the jobs of undocumented workers who are deported: Put kids on the overnight shift. | 

Minority report: Following bipartisan opposition, Georgia lawmakers have given up on efforts to create a statewide student-tracking database designed to identify youth who could commit future acts of violence. | 

A majority of school district programs focused on protecting student data are led by administrators with little training in privacy issues, a new report finds. | 

Washington students鈥� sensitive data was exposed. The culprit? A student surveillance tool. | 

ICYMI @The74

Emotional Support

Annie, who lives with 社区黑料 social media guru Christian Skotte, is the cutest regular at Brooklyn鈥檚 Prospect Park. You won鈥檛 convince me otherwise. 

Throw parents in jail. 

Chronic absenteeism nearly doubled 鈥� to about 30% 鈥� the year after the pandemic shuttered classrooms, and of more than 1 million Americans. Student attendance rates have improved by just a few percentage points since the federal public health emergency expired nearly two years ago, a reality that鈥檚 been dubbed 鈥淓ducation鈥檚 long COVID.鈥� 

But Johnson, a Republican district attorney representing three counties , said the persistent absences have nothing to do with the pandemic and instead are because 鈥渨e鈥檙e going too easy on kids鈥� and parents have been given 鈥渁n excuse not to be accountable.鈥� 

Since Johnson was elected in 2022 on a campaign promise to enforce Oklahoma鈥檚 , he’s forced dozens of students and parents into hasty court appearances and, on several occasions, put parents behind bars in the hope it will compel their children to show up for class.

Lawmakers nationwide have taken a similar approach, including in Indiana, Iowa and West Virginia, where new laws leverage the legal system to crack down on student absences. 

鈥淲e prosecute everything from murders to rape to financial crimes, but in my view, the ones that cause the most societal harm is when people do harm to children, either child neglect, child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, domestic violence in homes, and then you can add truancy to the list,鈥� Johnson said. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not as bad, in my opinion, as beating a child, but it’s on the spectrum because you鈥檙e not putting that child in a position to be successful,鈥� continued Johnson, who has dubbed 2025 the 鈥�

Since the pandemic, policymakers have taken on a heightened role in addressing persistent student absences, and lawmakers nationwide have proposed dozens of bills this year to combat chronic absenteeism, typically defined as missing 10% of school days in an academic year for any reason. Such efforts have fallen broadly into two camps: incentives and accountability. have taken a similar approach to Johnson鈥檚, imposing fines and jail stints for missed seat time. Other efforts have focused on addressing the root causes of chronic absenteeism, like homelessness, and have sought to draw kids to campuses with rewards. 

In Hawaii, for example, pending legislation seeks to entice student attendance with the promise of . In Detroit, where 75% of students were chronically absent last year, the district employs both the carrot and the stick: handing out $200 gift cards to 5,000 students with perfect attendance while warning those with an extremely high number of absences that they can be held back a grade in K-8 or made to repeat classes in high school.

In Oklahoma, where parents can be jailed for up to five days and fined $50 each day their child is absent from school without an excuse, proposed legislation would let schools off the hook. 

For years, Oklahoma schools have received poor grades for chronic absenteeism, one metric the state uses to gauge school performance. If approved, would strike chronic absenteeism from the state accountability system, a change officials said is necessary because it鈥檚 the responsibility of parents 鈥� not principals and teachers 鈥� to get kids to class. 

Schools in Oklahoma 鈥渉ave very little control over whether or not a kid gets to school,鈥� Rep. Ronny Johns, a Republican from Ada, told 社区黑料. Ada, the county seat of Pontotoc County, is ground zero for Johnson鈥檚 truancy initiative, an effort that Johns, a former school principal, said should be replicated statewide.聽

鈥淲e can encourage them to get their kids to school and everything,鈥� Johns said. 鈥淏ut in the end, parents have got to get their kid up and get them to school.鈥�

鈥楢 shared responsibility鈥�

The , collected by the U.S. Department of Education for the 2022-23 school year, found that some 13.4 million students 鈥� nearly 28% 鈥� missed 10% or more of the academic year. In a majority of states, chronic absenteeism has shown marginal improvements since its peak. Nationally, chronic absenteeism reached an all-time high in the 2021-22 school year of nearly 30%. Pre-pandemic, the national rate was about 15%. 

Some states like Colorado and Connecticut have seen substantial improvements in absenteeism, the data show. In others, including Oklahoma, since 2021-22. In 2023, nearly a quarter of Oklahoma students were chronically absent, according to the federal data. 

among Native American, Pacific Islander, Black and Hispanic students, as well as those who are English learners, in special education or live in low-income households. 

Hedy Chang, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Attendance Works, said the key to solving chronic absenteeism is to address the underlying problems that make kids absent in the first place. The California-based nonprofit focused solely on improving student attendance identifies a range of , including student disengagement, boredom and unwelcoming school climates. Caregivers鈥� negative education experiences are a factor, according to the nonprofit. So, too, is homelessness and community violence.

Last year, lawmakers in 28 states focused on identifying, preventing and addressing chronic absenteeism, according to analyses by the nonprofit FutureEd. This year, legislators in 20 states are weighing focused on chronic absences, including efforts to improve data collection and create early interventions. 

The Oklahoma legislation seeks to replace chronic absenteeism in its school accountability system with an alternative, such as a climate survey, a softer measure that would gauge students鈥�, parents鈥� and educators鈥� opinions about their schools. The move would require approval from the U.S. Department of Education. 

States have been required to collect chronic absenteeism rates since the passage of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. Since then, chronic absenteeism has been included as one of six school performance indicators on Oklahoma鈥檚 annual A-F report cards from the state education department. Currently, 38 states use chronic absenteeism to grade school performance, Chang said. 

For schools in Oklahoma, the measurement has proven to be a hurdle. In 2022-23, the state鈥檚 schools received an F grade in chronic absenteeism. Last year, the state grade ticked up slightly 鈥� to a D. 

Removing chronic absenteeism from the state accountability system, Johns, the state lawmaker, said, could allow schools across Oklahoma to receive better grades. Meanwhile, he supports initiatives to handle student absences through the courts, arguing that 鈥減arents need to have some skin in the game.鈥� 

鈥淐hronic absenteeism is driving our report card down,鈥� Johns said. 鈥淲ithout the chronic absenteeism [measurement], our report card is not going to look as bad as it is because our public schools are doing some really good things, so why shouldn鈥檛 the report card be a reflection of that?鈥�

Chang argued the move is misguided. She pointed to a growing body of research that has found schools can combat absenteeism if they form meaningful relationships with parents and partner with social services agencies that to attendance, like food insecurity. 

There鈥檚 little research to suggest that fines and other forms of punishment improve attendance. Even as some states ramp up truancy rules, others have scaled them back as studies report that punitive measures can backfire. In South Carolina schools, for example, students placed on probation for truancy wound up with even worse school attendance than they had before the courts got involved, by the nonprofit Council of State Governments Justice Center. 

In , the Oklahoma State Department of Education highlighted school districts that have made 鈥渋mpressive strides in reducing鈥� chronic absenteeism and that 鈥渙ffer valuable lessons on how schools can re-engage students.鈥� Among them is a 24% drop in absenteeism at Dahlonegah Public Schools, which hired a school-based police officer to visit the homes of students who failed to attend school. The district also credited improvements to 鈥渁 welcoming and engaging school environment.鈥� 

The state education department didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment. 

鈥淔amilies have to be involved and they have to be partners and they have to take responsibility for getting kids to school, but it鈥檚 not solely about what families do or don鈥檛 do,鈥� Chang said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a mistake to assume it鈥檚 only one group鈥檚 responsibility. This is a shared responsibility.鈥�

鈥楤roken families, no economic opportunity, no education鈥�

Johnson, the district attorney, said his office has stepped up to address a problem that state education leaders have failed to solve. He took particular aim at the state鈥檚 high-profile education secretary, Ryan Walters, who has become an outspoken champion of conservative education causes. 

Yet, as far as chronic absenteeism goes, Johnson said the state schools chief 鈥渉as no interest in talking about鈥� the topic except 鈥渨hen he could get a soundbite on Fox News.鈥� The state education department did not respond to Johnson鈥檚 comments.

The 51-year-old father of four also pinned persistent chronic absenteeism on parents 鈥� those living in poverty, in particular. Children in his district who most often miss school, he said, are 鈥渒ind of feral.鈥� 

鈥淢y friends generally don鈥檛 have children that are in crisis because, just economically speaking, they鈥檙e on the higher end of the spectrum,鈥� Johnson told 社区黑料. 

Johnson said there are about 7,500 K-12 children in the counties that make up his district and estimated that at least 30% contend with 鈥渆conomic poverty, multi-generational drug abuse, domestic abuse in the home, broken families, no economic opportunity, no education.鈥�

鈥淚f you live in a school district where there is a real high poverty level and a real high incarceration rate, then a lot of times you鈥檙e going to get kids that have been raised in those environments,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淪o you鈥檙e going to have a lot more challenges with that group than you would if every person had a four-wheel drive vehicle and in their driveway and everybody has a good industrial job and is making a good living and providing for their families.鈥�

Johnson said schools should play a role in encouraging students to go to school, but when that doesn鈥檛 work, threats of jail are needed. In Pontotoc County, just two truancy charges were filed against parents in 2023, according to data provided to 社区黑料 by Johnson鈥檚 office. That number jumped to 20 last year and, so far this year, there have already been eight. 

David Blatt, the director of research and strategic impact at the nonprofit Oklahoma Appleseed, questioned the accuracy of the data and said it could be an undercount. He said he attended a truancy court case in Ada last year where as many as 30 parents and students made appearances before a judge that lasted just 60 to 90 seconds each. 

In , Blatt found that truancy laws were enforced inconsistently across the state and urged policymakers to adopt interventions and supports for families to address chronic absenteeism rather than criminalize them. Blatt backs the legislation to remove chronic absenteeism as a school accountability measure, acknowledging that certain attendance barriers are outside of educators鈥� direct control. But he said Johnson鈥檚 characterization of the problem is 鈥渞ather harsh and one-sided.鈥� 

Rather than being apathetic toward their children鈥檚 education, he said many parents struggle with work responsibilities and transportation while children wrestle with in-school factors that can discourage attendance, such as persistent bullying. 

鈥淭here may be cases where being called before a judge will help convince them of the seriousness of things, but for other cases, it鈥檚 just going to compound their problems,鈥� Blatt said. 鈥淎dding court appearances and fees and fines doesn鈥檛 solve their problems. It just adds to them.鈥� 

Yet for Johnson, the issue stems from a lack of repercussions. By enforcing truancy cases, he said schools have 鈥渁 little bit of a weapon鈥� against parents whose children are missing school and can threaten them with jail time. Most of the time, he said, threats alone improve student attendance and in many cases the charges wind up getting dismissed.

In fewer than a dozen instances, he said, his truancy crackdown has led to parents serving time behind bars. 

鈥淕enerally, they鈥檒l go in for about four hours,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l give them the taste of it.鈥�