The REL provided support to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to develop its capacity on analytic issues related to chronic absenteeism, one of PDE's School Quality and Student Success indicators identified in the state's ESSA plan. This project improved PDE staff's knowledge about how other state ESSA plans measure chronic absenteeism; about how well Pennsylvania's measure usefully differentiates among schools; and about how potential variations in the planned measure of chronic absenteeism would alter the list of identified schools. The REL taught PDE staff to conduct their own analyses of their measures, enhancing their ability to inform potential decisions on the refinement of the state's measures in future years.
