Education Policy, Business and Technology

Data Can Help Schools Confront 'Chronic Absence'

THE Journal: Half of "chronically absent" students are found in just four percent of the country's school districts. Thirty districts in Texas and California alone account for 10 percent of the country's total chronically absent kids. About 500 districts have chronic absenteeism that surpasses 30 percent — more than twice the national average.

The data cited here isn't new. It was shared in June by the Office for Civil Rights, which compiled it from a 2013-2014 survey completed by nearly every school district and school in the United States. What is new is a report from Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center that encourages schools and districts to use their own data to pinpoint ways to take on the challenge of chronic absenteeism. Both of those organizations promote improvements in school practices that will lead to higher graduation rates.

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