Present, Engaged & Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Early Absence

Although students must be present and engage to learn, thousands of this country’s youngest students are academically at-risk because of extended absences when they first embark upon their school careers. Nationally, an estimated one in ten kindergarten and first grade students are chronically absent (i.e. miss nearly a month or more of school over the course of a year including excused and unexcused absences). Absenteeism can reach even higher levels in particular schools and districts. Chronic early absence in kindergarten is associated with lower 1st grade academic performance for all children and the worst fifth grade academic achievement among poor children.

Unfortunately, many school districts and schools do not know whether large numbers of students are affected by this issue because they only track truancy (unexcused absence) and average attendance (which can mask a serious problem.) The good news is that chronic early absence can be significantly reduced when schools, communities and families join together to monitor and promote attendance, as well as to identify and address the factors that prevent young students from attending school every day. One strategy for improving attendance is ensuring children receive high quality early childhood experiences that prepare them for school including helping them get into the habit of going to school every day. A full copy of this report, co-authored by Hedy N. Chang and Mariajosé Romero,PhD, can be obtained from www.nccp.org.

For further information, visit http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_837.html.