Supporting Chronically Absent Students Resource Center

Key Insights

Chronic absenteeism rates have doubled since before the pandemic, leading to a cascade of consequences that impact student success, employee morale, and district budgets. Research shows that three emerging root causes for chronic absenteeism have largely gone unaddressed: more parents today undervalue in-person attendance, students have lost the motivation to attend school since the pandemic, and teachers are unsure of their role in combatting absenteeism at large. Despite chronic absenteeism being a decades-old issue in public education, superintendents are still searching for sustainable answers.

To address these three problems and support chronically absent students in returning to school, districts must meet three conditions: parents know why and when to bring their students to school, students can and want to come to school, and teachers understand and embrace their influence over student attendance.