This document discusses chronic early absence and strategies to address it. It defines key terms like average daily attendance, truancy, and chronic absence. It summarizes data showing chronic absence is associated with lower academic performance and higher dropout rates. Successful programs use multi-tiered approaches, data-driven action, attendance teams, home visits, and community partnerships. Reducing chronic absence requires ownership from superintendents, mobilizing communities, and using attendance data to monitor progress and target interventions.

1. www.attendanceworks.org
Reducing Chronic Early
Absence
Spring 2013
Hedy Chang, Director
Why it Matters, What Can
You Do

2. Average
Daily
Attendance
• The % of enrolled students who attend school each day.
It is used in some states for allocating funding.
Truancy
• Typically refers only to unexcused absences and is defined
by each state under No Child Left Behind. It signals the
potential need for legal intervention under state
compulsory education laws. In MI, unlike most other states,
definition of truancy left to each district; MI reports 10
unexcused absences primarily for purposes of NCLB.
Chronic
Absence
• Missing 10% or more of school for any reason -- excused,
unexcused, etc. It is an indication that a student is
academically at risk due to missing too much school
starting in Kindergarten.
Unpacking Attendance Terms
2

3. 90% and even 95% ≠ A
High Levels of ADA Can Mask
Chronic Absence
7%
12% 13% 13%
15% 16%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
A B C D E F
Chronic Absence For 6 Elementary Schools
in Oakland, CA with @ 95% ADA in 2012
% Chronic Absence
3
98% ADA = little chronic absence
95% ADA = don’t know
93% ADA = significant chronic absence
20% 20% 20% 21%
23%
26%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
A B C D E F
Chronic Absence for 6 Schools in New
York City with 90% ADA in 2011-12
% Chronic Absence

4. Truancy (unexcused absences)
Can Also Mask Chronic Absence
4

5. Sporadic – Not Just Consecutive –
Absences Matter
• A 407 alert is issued when a student misses 10 consecutive days or 20 days over a
40 day period. It misses more sporadic absence.
• 1 out of 5 elementary school children were chronically absent.
Source: Nauer, K. et al, Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families, Center for New York City
Affairs New School, Oct 2008
New York City Schools (2008)
5

6.  Nationwide, as many as 10-15% of students (7.5 million)
miss nearly a month of school every year. That’s 135
million days of lost time in the classroom.
 In some cities, as many as one in four students are
missing that much school.
 Chronic absenteeism is a red alert that students are
headed for academic trouble and eventually for dropping
out of high school.
 Poor attendance isn’t just a problem in high school. It can
start as early as kindergarten and pre-kindergarten.
6
Chronic Absence:
A Hidden National Crisis

7. Kent County Data Shows Chronic Early
Absence is a problem in MI
7
Community Research Institute 2011 Report - Grades 1st – 3rd

8. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is focusing
on three challenges to reading success that are
amenable to community solutions:
• The Readiness Gap: Too many children from
low-income families begin school already far
behind.
• The Attendance Gap (Chronic Absence): Too
many children from low-income families miss
too many days of school.
• The Summer Slide (Summer Learning Loss): Too
many children lose ground over the summer
months.
8
The Campaign for
Grade-Level Reading

9. 9
Students with more years of chronic absenteeism,
starting in preK have lower 2nd grade scores
* Indicates that scores are significantly different from scores of students who are never chronically absent, at p<.05 level; **p<.01;
***p<.001
Some risk
At risk

10. 64%
43% 41%
17%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
No attendance risks Small attendance risks Moderate attendance risks High attendance risks
Percent Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced on 3rd Grade ELA
Based on Attendance in Kindergarten and in 1st Grade
Students Chronically Absent in Kindergarten and
1st Grade are Much Less Likely to Read Proficiently
in 3rd Grade
No risk Missed less than 5% of school in K & 1st
Small risk Missed 5-9% of days in both K & 1st
Moderate risk Missed 5-9% of days in 1 year &10 % in 1 year
High risk Missed 10% or more in K & 1st
Source: Applied Survey Research & Attendance Works (April 2011) 10

11. Chronic Absence Associated with Early
Academic Trouble in Kent County, MI
CRI Report, 2011 11

12. The Long-Term Impact of Chronic Kindergarten
Absence is Most Troubling for Poor Children
40
42
44
46
48
50
52
0-3.3% in K 3.3 - 6.6% in K 6.6-10.0% in K >=10.0% in K
AverageAcademicPerformance
Absence Rate in Kindergarten
Reading
Math
Source: ECLS-K data analyzed by National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
Note: Average academic performance reflects results of direct cognitive assessments conducted
for ECLS-K.
5th Grade Math and Reading performance by K attendance for children living In poverty.
Academic performance was lower even if attendance had improved in 3rd grade.
12

13. 13
Multiple Years of Elementary Chronic Absence
= Worse Middle School Outcomes
Oakland Unified School District SY 2006-2012, Analysis By Attendance Works
Chronic absence in 1st
grade is also associated
with:
• Lower 6th grade test
scores
• Higher levels of
suspension
Years of Chronic Absence in Grades 1-5
Increase in
probability of
6th grade
chronic
absence
Each year of chronic absence in elementary school is associated with
a substantially higher probability of chronic absence in 6th grade
5.9x
7.8x
18.0x

14. The Effects of Chronic Absence on
Dropout Rates Are Cumulative
14
With every year of
chronic
absenteeism, a
higher percentage
of students
dropped out of
school.
http://www.utahdataalliance.org/downloads/ChronicAbsenteeismResearchBrief.pdf

15. 15
Reducing Chronic Absence is Key to
Reducing the Achievement Gap
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
%ofActiveStudents
Grade Level
% Chronically AbsentStudents By Ethnicity
2011-12School Year
African
American
Asian
Latino
White

16. 16
Why Are Students Chronically Absent?
Myths
Absences are only a
problem if they are
unexcused
Sporadic versus
consecutive absences
aren’t a problem
Attendance only
matters in the older
grades
Barriers
Lack of access to
health care
Poor
transportation
No safe path to school
Aversion
Child struggling
academically
Lack of engaging
instruction
Poor school climate
and ineffective school
discipline
Parents had negative
school experience

17. Hope
for a better future
+
Faith
that school will help you or your child succeed
+
Capacity
Resources, skills, knowledge needed to get to school
17
Going to School Every Day Reflects…

18. 18
Universal Strategies for Building a Culture of
Attendance & Identifying Barriers

19. Increased Attendance Involves a 3-Tiered
Approach that Fits with Most Reform Efforts
A small fraction
of a school’s
students
Students who were chronically
absent in prior year or
starting to miss 20%
or more of school
Some
of a school’s
students
Students at risk for
chronic absence
All of
a school’s
students
All students
in the school
Recovery
Programs
Intervention
Programs
Universal/Preventive
Programs
High
Cost
Low
Cost
19

20. Variation Across Schools Helps Identify
Good Practice and Need for Intervention
Chronic Absence Levels Among Oakland Public Schools
(2009-10)
20

21. • Data-driven action: Data are used identifying where to place
counselors, which students to target & to evaluate success.
• Attendance Improvement Counselors: Attendance
Improvement Counselors, along with Vista national service
members helped the schools track data, adopt universal and
targeted interventions, create incentives for good attendance,
reach out to students and parents, and ensure a timely
response to poor attendance.
• Capacity-building: The Attendance Improvement Counselors
also charged with building the capacity of the school staff,
parents and community partners to understand attendance
laws, use data, and develop a comprehensive approach that
includes prevention and early intervention.
Los Angeles
Attendance Improvement Program

22. LAUSD Attendance Improvement
Program Outcomes
Note: Program operated in 77 schools including 52
elementary and 25 high schools with poor K and 9th grade
attendance

23. • Strength-based approach with more positive
perceptions of parents, higher expectations of
their students and parents
• Greater levels of parent engagement
• A shared belief that everyone had a role in
improving attendance and should work together
• Deeper levels of commitment to program
implementation and delving into the causes of
absence
• School leadership made improving attendance a
high priority
Characteristics of More Successful
AIP programs

24. • Professional development: trained site administrators and
teams to interpret attendance data, adopt best practices and
engage in peer learning.
• Actionable data: sent report every 10 days pm how many and
which students are chronically absent
• School attendance teams: monitored the data and ensured
appropriate support s are in place.
• Home visits: hired two outreach workers to conduct home
visits to chronically absent kindergartners.
• Parent engagement and communications: Messaged thru
newsletters, daily interactions with parents & attendance
incentives.
• Community partnerships: used community agencies to offer
supports at school sites and thru a district Attendance Review
Committee formed to avoid referrals to juvenile court.
New Britain Connecticut

25. New Britain, CT – Year 1 Results
30%
24%
19%
15%
13%
15% 15%
19%
24%
20%
18%
13% 14%
11% 11%
12% 11%
14%
15%
13%
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ALL
Chronic Absence Drops from 20% to 13% in
grades K-8 in New Britain, CT
2011-12 Baseline 2012-13

26. KSSN experience –
Impact Is Possible & Implementation Matters
26
Chronic absence, 2005-2012
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Alger
Burton Elementary
Coit
Harrison Park
Elementary
MLK - K-8
Sibley Elementary

27. • Superintendent and Principal Leadership
• District and Building Attendance Policy
• Teacher/Staff Buy-in
• Regular Attendance Meetings
• Parent Outreach
• Attendance Incentives
• Interagency Casemanagement
• Year End Assessment
KSSN Insights into Elements of
Success
27

28. Ingredients for Success & Sustainability
in a District and Community
28

29. Chronic Absence =
The Warning Light On A Car Dashboard
• Ignore it at your
personal peril!
• Address early or
potentially pay more
(lots more) later.
• The key is to ask why
is this blinking? What
could this mean?
29
The Parallels

30. Own the
Issue
Mobilize
the
Community
Drive With
Data
The Superintendents Call to Action
To sign-up for the Call to Action, or to learn more, please visit:
www.attendanceworks.org/superintendents-call-to-action
30

31. • The beginning of school is when expectations and
norms are set for the year.
• The more days of instruction a student misses, the
larger the negative impact on achievement.
• Chronic absence is missing 10% of days which
would be 2 days by the end of the first month of
school. Schools could use this as a trigger to
intervene before students fall so far behind they
need more intensive remediation.
Why September Counts
31

32. http://www.attendanceworks.org/attendancemonth/
32
Join us in September for
Attendance Awareness Month

33. Key Message #1: Good attendance helps children
do well in school and eventually in the work place.
33
Key Messages

34. Key Message #2: Absences add up. Excused and
unexcused absences result in too much time lost in
the classroom.
34
Key Messages

35. Key Message #3: Chronic absence, missing 10
percent of the school year or more, affects the whole
classroom, not just the students who miss school.
35
Key Messages

36. Key Message #4: We need to monitor how many days
each student misses school for any reason — excused,
unexcused or suspensions — so we can intervene early.
36
Key Messages

37. Key Message #5: Chronic absence is a problem we
can solve when the whole community, including
parents and schools, gets involved.
37
Key Messages

38. Key Message #6: Relationship building is
fundamental to any strategy for improving student
attendance.
38
Key Messages

39. Key Message #7: Reducing chronic absence can
help close achievement gaps.
39
Key Messages
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4

40. www.attendanceworks.org
Attendance Works
Hedy Chang, Director
hedy@attendanceworks.org
Cecelia Leong, Associate Director
cecelia@attendanceworks.org
Phyllis Jordan, Communications Lead
phyllis@attendanceworks.org
301.656.0348
Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Associate
sue@attendanceworks.org
Elise Dizon-Ross, Manager, Research & Development
elise@attendanceworks.org