Student success begins with coming to school. Each day that a student is absent from school is a day of lost opportunity. Research shows that, starting as early as kindergarten or pre-kindergarten, chronic absence can have adverse consequences for academic achievement. By third grade, chronically absent students, especially those who have experienced multiple years of poor attendance, are less likely to read on grade level. By sixth grade, chronic absence becomes a warning sign that a student will drop out of high school.
While you might think that a few absences here and there don't add up to much or won't impact learning, they do. Missing 18 days of school, which is 10 percent of the time, is considered chronic absenteeism.
Sporadic absences, not just on consecutive days of school, also matter. Before you know it, just one or two days a month can add up to nearly 10 percent of the school year.
What attendance tells us:
- Absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with school work, dealing with a bully or facing other serious difficulties.
- By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school.
- By 9th grade, attendance is a better predictor of graduation than 8th grade test scores.
The bottom line is that children suffer academically if they miss school. We understand that some absences are unavoidable. Children will get sick and need to stay home occasionally. But, it is so important that children are in school as often as possible.