Decreasing Chronic Absenteeism

By: McKenna Nacey

About 1 in 7 students in the United States are considered chronically absent. Chronically

absent is defined as a student missing 15 or more days of school whether they are excused or

unexcused. The highest rates of chronic absenteeism are found in kindergarteners and seniors.

The four categories for reasons students miss school are student, family, school, and community

specific. Economically disadvantaged students are more likely to be chronically absent.

Hundreds of different programs have been implemented throughout the country and some have

been successful while others haven’t been.

The best way for schools to make progress decreasing chronic absenteeism is for multiple

programs to be installed in a four step solution. The four steps include monitoring, prevention,

intervention, and truancy/legal intervention. These steps are based off of the Indiana Department

of Education idea. Monitoring is done by watching attendance to identify kids at risk of being

chronically absent. One monitoring program is called Early Warning Intervention and

Monitoring System. According to Brookings Institution it has proven to reduce chronic

absenteeism by 10-14%. School staff use the program to look for absences in the early portion of

the year to predict at risk kids.

The second step is prevention which works to improve awareness among students,

parents, and communities about the importance of attending school. Some schools have sent out

postcards and text messages about the importance of student attendance; they are inexpensive

and effective. Both postcards and text messages have shown to improve attendance rates because

it involves the family in supporting the kids. Another method of prevention is student mentoring
such as the Big Brothers/ Big Sisters program. Its proven effective in helping kids connect with

others and finding someone to relate to. Part of what these mentors do is help make sure students

don’t get in trouble and stay in school. A more recent method of preventing chronic absenteeism

is the “No pass, No drive” rule which makes going to school and achieving a condition to have a

driver’s license. This rule is extremely effective with high school students who are chronically

absent.

The third step is intervention and this happens when prevention has no impact and

monitoring shows red flags. Monitoring systems are able to alert staff when students are

off-track and staff then intervenes. A call home is normally the first step and creating a contact

person at the school that parents are able to communicate with. In elementary schools, rewarding

students for attendance is a popular way to intervene with students. After school programs give

students something to look forward to so they are more likely to show up for class. Student

counseling works to figure out specific reasons kids are chronically absent and help them figure

out ways to remedy the issues.

The last step is truancy/legal intervention which means chronic absenteeism leaves the

hands of the school. Schools can refer students to truancy centers outside of school and truancy

officers then work with kids to get back on track at school. Collaboration between schools and

juvenile systems is also popular. Some states administer steep fines and possible jail time for

juveniles and parents. Judges also help develop agreements between parents and the courts to

improve attendance. Schooling and education continue to grow in importance. Using the 4 step

program and using the methods under each step, success is possible but for success to happen

there needs to be quality of implementation. Improvement of chronic absenteeism is going to end

up requiring more substantial investments. Through all these actions schools will better

understand chronic absenteeism and be successful in eliminating it.