A Two-Step Process for Reducing

Chronic Absenteeism
Getting students back in the building is just step
one—next comes fostering a positive school climate so
that they want to stay.

By ​Maurice J. Elias

June 10, 2019

skynesher / istock
Chronic absenteeism—defined as students missing 10 percent or
more of school days—is a target area for many school districts for
improving student achievement. This makes sense: Students who
are chronically absent are more likely to lack reading skills, have
lower test scores, and receive exclusionary school discipline, and
they are in higher jeopardy of not graduating. And it’s a big
problem: Chronic absenteeism affects ​one in seven students
nationwide​.

Typically, schools try to identify who is chronically absent and

determine if there are cohesive subgroups of children most
affected (recent immigrants, households with single parents, or
caregivers with economic or health challenges). Sometimes the
conditions that lead to absenteeism have more to do with family
circumstances than student motivation. This is valuable and
important information for school staff to have when deciding
necessary supports for an individual child.

But it’s not enough to simply get a student back on track with
school attendance. Teachers, faculty, and staff need to continue
their work in making all students feel welcomed at school. Finding
ways to get students back into the building is step one, while
continuously finding ways to let them know that they have
genuinely been missed and are valuable to the community is the
second-order change we need. Empty seats may have economic
ramifications for a school, but continually filling the hearts and
minds and raising the spirits of our students can have major
social, emotional, and educational benefits.