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Facts About Learning

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Facts About School Attendance

1. Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school. 

2. Chronic absence appears to have doubled by the end of the 2021-22 school year. We estimate that it now affects nearly one out of three students (or 16 million vs. 8 million students in the 2018-19 school year). 

3. Absenteeism starts early. 

4. Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade or be held back. 

5. By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school. 

6. Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days in most school districts, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month and that’s known as chronic absence. 

7. Students who live in communities with high levels of poverty are four times more likely to be chronically absent than others often for reasons beyond their control, such as unstable housing, unreliable transportation, and a lack of access to health care. 

8. When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic progress, and chances for graduating increases. 

9. Attendance improves when schools engage students and parents in positive ways and when schools provide mentors for chronically absent students. 

10. Poor attendance in school leads to poor attendance in the workforce and leads to job struggles as an adult. 

KEY FACTS ON CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM 

When a student misses two (2) days a month, they will:

  • miss twenty (20) days a year! 
  • miss thirty (30) hours of math over the school year! 
  • miss sixty (60) hours of reading and writing over the school year! 
  • • miss over one (1) year of school by graduation! 

When a student misses four (4) days a month, 

  • they will miss forty (40) days a year! 
  • miss sixty (60) hours of math over the school year! 
  • miss 120 (120) hours of reading and writing over the school year! 
  • miss over two (2) years of school by graduation!