Education Week - October 18, 2017 - 6

at least one additional indicator that differs from traditional measures such as student-test scores.
In plans already submitted for federal review, 34 states
and the District of Columbia chose chronic absenteeism
as their "additional indicator," or as part of an index of
measures they'll use to meet that requirement. States
used a variety of definitions of chronic absenteeism.
Many hewed closely to the threshold suggested by national research and advocacy groups like Attendance
Works, which recommends students miss no more than
10 percent of days in a school year for any reason, including discipline, illness, or otherwise "excused" absences.
Chronic absenteeism is an important measure of
school quality, many education groups say, because it is
based on objective attendance data that states already
measure and because it is affected by a wide variety of
factors linked to student success. Those include student
engagement, school climate, use of exclusionary discipline like suspensions, and how well schools address
students' nonacademic needs by providing their charges
access to supports like food pantries.
Chronic-absenteeism data give schools a more focused
view of which students need help, Attendance Works officials say. Schools have typically tracked daily attendance, which may mask higher concentrations of absences among a group of students.
"It's really important to have indicators that are directly connected to academic achievement," said Hedy
Chang, the executive director of Attendance Works.
"There's now a growing level of evidence that proves
what we know from common sense, which is that if kids
aren't in the classroom, they can't benefit."
More than 7 million students nationwide missed 15 or
more days during the 2013-14 school year, the most recent federal data show. At 11 percent of public schools-
about 10,000-more than 30 percent of students missed
at least 15 days that year for any reason, including suspensions and excused absences, an analysis by Attendance Works found. At an additional 10,000 schools, between 20 percent and 29 percent of students missed at
least 15 days. The problem is most severe in high schools,
and high-poverty schools are more likely to struggle with
chronic absenteeism, the report found.
Schools have tackled absences in a variety of ways.
After a group of Texas districts analyzed data and found
students were missing excessive days because of acute
illnesses, they partnered with a community organization
to offer free flu shots to students. In Grand Rapids, Mich.,
schools started a public-awareness campaign to inform
families about the importance of attendance. It has since
been copied by other districts.
In Maine, some schools send teams of teachers and
volunteers through neighborhoods to help walk young
students to school, addressing safety concerns and helping them feel motivated to get to school on chilly winter

| Education Week * October 18, 2017

days. And districts like Baltimore have used mentorship
programs and the community schools model, which coordinates student services such as health care, to help
confront especially high rates of concentrated absences.
Groups like the Coalition for Community Schools believe the more careful monitoring of chronic absenteeism
will lead schools to focus more on "whole child" out-ofschool factors and take a collaborative, "all-hands-ondeck approach to supporting our students," said José
Muñoz, the organization's director.

Statewide Effort
Willamina's efforts started after Oregon's nine federally recognized Native American tribes identified
school attendance as a key issue for the academic success of their children, and state data backed up their
concerns. In 2015-16, 33 percent of American Indian/
Alaska Native students missed at least 10 percent of
school days in Oregon, the worst rate of chronic absenteeism among any racial or ethnic group. The state
average was 19 percent.
So two years ago, as part of a larger plan to address
school attendance, the state awarded funds to the tribes
through a Tribal Attendance Pilot Project. Those tribes
worked with schools that served large numbers of their
students to hire coordinators who would monitor attendance, identify problem spots, and work with families to
address the issues that kept students out of school.

Samantha Bearface, a 5th
grader at Willamina
Elementary School in
Willamina, Ore., participates
in a spelling lesson. In an
effort to lower chronic
absenteeism among its
Native American elementary
school students, the district
worked with the
Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde to hire a
coordinator who worked
with families to address
transportation, bullying,
and other issues that were
keeping kids out of school.
Photo: Leah Nash
for Education Week

Education Week - October 18, 2017

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