Helping Educators Address Chronic Absence Through Evidence-Based Interventions

Educators, policymakers, researchers, and other interest-holders in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) West region and across the country acknowledge the need to reduce chronic absence. In fact, many states include chronic absence as an indicator of school performance.  Students who miss 10 percent or more school days per year are categorized as chronically absent and are at risk of falling behind and not graduating on time, or dropping out altogether.^[i]  The most recent federal data show that about 14.8 million students nationwide were chronically absent during the 2021/22 school year.^[ii] Students who are chronically absent are missing out on critical instruction time, which can lead to lower academic performance. It can also signal community distress, including poverty, homelessness, unhealthy living conditions, and neighborhood violence.^[iii] If chronic absence is not addressed, the long-term negative impacts on students can be significant. 

The reasons for chronic absence can be related to health, family, or community issues. For example, a student may have a chronic physical or mental illness, a parent with an unpredictable work schedule, or challenges with transportation to and from school. These are considered external causes and are much harder for educators to address. 

A large contributor to chronic absence is a lack of student engagement, and a lack of trusting relationships with adults at school. These are the causes that districts are able to address and are at the heart of REL West’s partnership with Washoe County School District. 

Many states, districts, and schools are developing strategies to reduce chronic absence and ensure students attend school consistently. One way districts are working to address this problem is by implementing interventions through a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). MTSS is a framework that takes a proactive approach to identifying students with academic or behavioral needs and helps educators provide strategies to meet those needs. Research shows that academic, attendance, behavioral, and social-emotional interventions, as well as other student supports, work together to nurture the whole child.^[iv] The MTSS framework can include both formal interventions as well as supports and modifications to help students.

Using tiered interventions can help educators meet various student needs—including attendance. For example, some students may benefit from more targeted or individualized interventions based on their specific needs. Learn more about what those interventions can look like through these case studies.

As districts are continuing to explore these issues,  the following questions may be useful to consider:

1. What kinds of information should we use to select the supports students need, given that their challenges may be complex and overlap with academic, attendance, behavioral, and social-emotional issues?
2. How can we more intentionally “listen to learn” from students in order to offer the right kinds of supports?
3. How should we monitor interventions and other supports to know if they are working for each student?

To learn more about REL West’s work to address chronic absence, click below:

• Using Data and Evidence to Tackle Chronic Absence – Blog
• Applying a Cycle of Evidence-Based Continuous Improvement When Selecting Interventions and Project Components to Improve Attendance – Resource

^[i] Bauer, L., Schanzenbach, D. W., & Shambaugh, J. (2018). Reducing chronic absenteeism under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Brookings Institution.

^[ii] U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). ED Data Express: Data about elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. Retrieved from https://eddataexpress.ed.gov/, via https://www.attendanceworks.org/rising-tide-of-chronic-absence-challenges-schools/?preview=true

^[iii] Chang, H., & Romero, M. (2008). Present, engaged, and accounted for: The critical importance of addressing chronic absence in the early grade. National Center for Children in Poverty. 

^[iv] McREL International. (2015). RtI, PBIS, and MTSS: An evolution, a revolution, or roses by other names? Retrieved from https://www. mcrel.org/rti-pbis-and-mtss-an-evolution-a-revolution-or-roses-by-other-names/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzoeuBhDqARIsAMdH14FghJMN8NTX_SN7S8-dvJbwC_SwhoC1GZ6_ f7-qvqgn31F_i2y8WukaAoreEALw_wcB; Pennock, S. (2023). Empowering students: Effective school interventions for success. Retrieved from https://quenza.com/blog/knowledge-base/ school-interventions/