Chronic Absenteeism Is A National Crisis
The promise of the American dream is that every child has the chance to learn and succeed regardless of their social class or the circumstances to which they are born. But this promise is at risk for millions of our students.
A new report, just released by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, provides, for the first time, hard data on how many students are chronically absent, defined as missing 15 or more days of school.
The numbers are staggering. More than 6.5 million nationwide missed 15 or more days of school in the 2013-14 academic year. These chronically absent students included 3 million high school students (18 percent) and 3.5 million elementary school students (11 percent). Because the data was collected only by school and not by grade, the report can't immediately validate the findings of local and state studies, which suggest chronic absence is especially high among kindergarten and first-grade students. But the national data clearly show some populations, especially American-Indian, African-American, Pacific Islander and multiracial children, experience significantly higher levels of chronic absence than white students.
The Office for Civil Rights decided to begin collecting data on chronic absence because it understands that kids don't have equal access to educational opportunity if they're not in their seats. It's common sense; you don't benefit from instruction if you don't show up for class. A growing body of research shows missing just 10 percent or more of school, starting in kindergarten or even preschool, is an early sign of academic risk. Especially if it persists for more than one year, chronic absence predicts lower levels of numeracy and literacy by third grade, failing classes in middle school and dropping out in high school.
Turns out attendance is especially important for children living in poverty whose families too often lack the resources to make up for missed classroom instruction. And it is these children who are most likely to face challenges like poor health, unstable housing, unreliable transportation and unsafe neighborhoods that can cause multiple years of chronic absence.
As awareness of this national crisis builds, the challenge and opportunity before us is to use it as a call for collective problem-solving and action, and avoid making the all too common assumption that children are not in school because their parents do not care. Through our experience working in hundreds of communities, Attendance Works has learned that children are more likely to show up to school every day when their families have hope for a better future for their children, faith that their children's school will get them to that future and the knowledge, skills and basic resources to get them to school.
When children are chronically absent, we need to take the time to unpack exactly where this scenario is breaking down. Is, for example, the problem that children have a chronic illness like asthma and lack access to preventive health care? Are families losing hope because they see too many young people losing their lives to violence rather than gaining access to meaningful jobs? Is the challenge that their schools have such negative discipline practices or poor quality instruction that parents have lost faith in their local education system? Does poor attendance reflect too many families not realizing missing just two days a month is a problem?
We know that chronic absence is not an issue everywhere. The Education Department will soon further refine the data, breaking it out by state, district and schools, providing an invaluable tool for quickly identifying which schools are in most need of preventive action and early intervention.
The good news is chronic absence is a solvable problem. Students get to school when educators and community partners join together with families to identify and address the barriers, work to create a more welcoming school environment and help everyone understand the importance of avoiding unnecessary absences. There certainly cannot be a more important foundation for educational opportunity.
Hedy Chang is the executive director of Attendance Works, a national initiative aimed at advancing student success by addressing chronic absence.
