Which school do you want to support?
School is required for children in California beginning in first grade, but huge numbers of elementary school children miss an awful lot of school.
The reasons are generally mundane. Parents or caregivers can fail to get kids to school for all sorts of reasons.
Children who miss school can fall behind quickly, and schools are generally not equipped to support family interventions that can make a difference.
Parents have a legal responsibility to get their kids to school. It is easy to think of truancy, which is defined as "missing more than 30 minutes of instruction without an excuse three times during the school year" as a law enforcement issue — a problem of willful teenagers. But most truancy is better thought of as absenteeism or just students who miss school.
The school system in California is set up to take attendance very seriously because early absenteeism predicts later problems, including failing to graduate high school. Districts need to address absenteeism early and often. School Attendance Review Boards (SARBs) work to enforce attendance.
Most kids never miss school, or miss it rarely. When districts focus on improving attendance, they need to focus on students or groups of students who miss school the most, especially in early grades. To help drive focus on this issue, in 2018 California began collecting data about chronic absenteeism in grades K-8 for the California School Dashboard. You can read much more about that in our blog post on Attendance and absenteeism.
The school finance system in California has been designed with a powerful incentive to keep students in school: it funds school districts on the basis of Average Daily Attendance (ADA), rather than on the number of students enrolled. This is also a part of the reason why schools take attendance every day. Districts take this very seriously. Most states base funding on enrollment, not attendance — California is one of only a handful of states that enforce attendance through the school finance system.
Because attendance directly affects school district finances, districts have a big incentive to boost it. Investments that increase attendance can pay for themselves quickly if they work. For example, effective attendance-management systems enable school office staff to call parents of absent students by lunchtime.
In 2018-19 about 750,000 California students were chronically absent, meaning they missed 18 or more school days (or 10% or more school days in the school year). This level of absence from school correlates with all kinds of bad outcomes, including failure to finish high school. According to a 2016 report of the State Attorney General's office, 82% of those in prison in America are high school dropouts.
To find out the absence rate in your school district, check out this interactive map. Chronic absenteeism data is also available on the California Department of Education (CDE) DataQuest web site. The reports indicate chronic absenteeism rates of schools and school districts and which student subgroups have the highest chronic absenteeism rates.
California's strict attendance rules are a hardship for student organizations and athletic groups. For example, even students that serve on school boards or as advisors in school accreditation teams need permission to attend meetings during school hours. School districts receive funding based on attendance; in 2018 each missed day, regardless of the cause, cost the district about $75.
In 2020, the pandemic threw a giant wrench into the connection between funding and attendance. Suddenly, the priority was no longer physical attendance, rather it was online engagement. Huge numbers of students lacked access to a computing device or stable internet. Even in normal times, students in poverty or living in rural areas generally miss school at higher rates, which in turn suppresses school funding in those areas. Attendance became a fixture of California's education finance system in the middle of the 20th century. In the context of the pandemic, leaders re-evaluated the long-discussed change of switching to using enrollment-based funding formulas, as a majority of states do. For the 2019-2020 school year, the state used attendance data to calculate school funding. With kids back in person, the state switched back to using average daily attendance, its pre-pandemic policy.
Sometimes students miss school because of their behavior. Out of school suspensions and expulsions are a tool that schools use to punish students and maintain order in schools. However, these disciplinary approaches also keep kids from learning, especially those kids whose achievement is of the greatest concern.
The California Endowment has been a leading voice in creating a movement to find other ways to address student misbehavior. They argue that suspensions are largely counterproductive, and that it is better to "suspend" students in a way that keeps them in a learning environment. A study of school suspension practices by the ACLU in 2018 found that students in America miss about 11 million days of school annually due to suspensions. The rate of suspensions is significantly lower in California than in other states, but varies by county.
Parents and PTAs can help get kids to class on time and not miss school. From creating a regular bedtime routine to making sure backpacks are ready to go in the morning, time-proven strategies really work, if parents know about them. Attendance Works provides useful web-based handouts for preschool, elementary, middle and high school in several languages.
This lesson concludes the Ed100 coverage of the topic of Time as a lever for educational success. This is a good moment to reiterate the organizing framework of Ed100: Education is Students and Teachers spending Time in Places for Learning with the Right Stuff in a System with Resources for Success. So Now What?
The next series of lessons picks up the topic of places for learning, including primers about neighborhood schools, charter schools, and learning beyond the classroom.
Updated July 2017, December 2017, January 2018, October 2018, June 2019, May 2020, December 2021.
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Carol Kocivar April 26, 2023 at 8:00 pm
from the Public Policy Institute of California
The state’s three largest nutrition programs—CalFresh, WIC, and school meals—serve almost 4 million California households. This fact sheet offers a snapshot of these programs and their impact on poverty.
https://www.ppic.org/publication/californias-nutrition-safety-net/?utm_source=ppic&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=epub
Carol Kocivar April 26, 2023 at 7:00 pm
https://www.attendanceworks.org/new-report-how-do-unexcused-absences-disrupt-efforts-to-improve-attendance/
Carol Kocivar March 24, 2023 at 4:40 pm
Absenteeism and Truancy in California Schools: PACE March 2023
The report makes several recommendations, including using attendance data to identify disparities and bright spots; strengthening monitoring of reasons for absences; updating policies related to unexcused absences; improving communication of attendance policies to students and families; and investing in professional development to improve attendance practices.
https://edpolicyinca.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dcb5c37ddafe5d3418812162d&id=5421e5b98d&e=d78a703d24
Carol Kocivar March 24, 2023 at 4:40 pm
Absenteeism and Truancy in California Schools: PACE March 2023
The report makes several recommendations, including using attendance data to identify disparities and bright spots; strengthening monitoring of reasons for absences; updating policies related to unexcused absences; improving communication of attendance policies to students and families; and investing in professional development to improve attendance practices.
https://edpolicyinca.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dcb5c37ddafe5d3418812162d&id=5421e5b98d&e=d78a703d24
Carol Kocivar August 4, 2022 at 2:11 pm
The state 2022-23 Budget invests $2.8 billion ongoing and $413 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to cushion the financial blow of increased absences.
The Budget allows school districts to use the greater of current year or prior year average daily attendance or an average of the three prior years’ average daily attendance to calculate LCFF funding.
The Budget also enables all classroom-based local educational agencies that can demonstrate they provided independent study offerings in fiscal year 2021-22 to be funded at the greater of their current year average daily attendance or their current year enrollment adjusted for pre-COVID-19 absence rates in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
Carol Kocivar August 4, 2022 at 2:03 pm
The Budget allows school districts to use the greater of current year or prior year average daily attendance or an average of the three prior years’ average daily attendance to calculate LCFF funding.
The Budget enables all classroom-based local educational agencies that can demonstrate they provided independent study offerings to students in 2021-22 to be funded at the greater of their current year average daily attendance or their current year enrollment adjusted for pre-COVID-19 absence rates in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
Carol Kocivar June 14, 2022 at 12:50 pm
Three Major Drivers of LAO Projected Attendance Changes
• Longstanding declines in the school aged population. Project a reduction of 170,000 students by 2025-26.
• Recovery of pandemic-related declines. Assume increase equivalent to 140,000 students by 2025-26.
• Increased Transitional Kindergarten enrollment. Assume 230,000 additional students by 2025-26.
https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2021/Attendance-Based-Funding-113021.pdf
Carol Kocivar June 14, 2022 at 12:40 pm
https://lao.ca.gov/reports/2022/4595/K-12-Student-Attendance-Update-051122.pdf
Carol Kocivar May 23, 2022 at 11:40 pm
https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/better-way-measure-student-absenteeism
Carol Kocivar May 15, 2022 at 3:11 pm
A Toolkit for Communicating with Students and Families This toolkit is designed to help educators and their community partners integrate attention to attendance and engagement into school daily operations. The goal is not to add more work to school staff who are stretched thin, but to enhance the effectiveness of what they already do. https://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/toolkits/showing-up-matters-for-real/
Jeff Camp - Founder April 13, 2022 at 7:03 am
Jeff Camp - Founder March 17, 2022 at 5:07 pm
Selisa Loeza October 23, 2021 at 10:39 pm
When I tested positive for COVID, my children missed 8 days of school to quarantine although I was isolated and they tested negative.
It makes complete sense from a health standpoint of keeping others safe, but it can still feel devastating to consider the impact.
Children are now also required to stay home if they have runny noses, etc because it could be a symptom.
We are now faced with health vs attendance and because of state requirements, not allowed to have access to online class time.
Benjamin Lemasters Tahir March 13, 2021 at 9:44 pm
Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh November 5, 2019 at 2:58 pm
Anoush Voskanian November 20, 2019 at 4:37 pm
Susannah Baxendale January 17, 2019 at 1:09 pm
Jeff Camp August 23, 2018 at 10:49 pm
Susannah Baxendale January 17, 2019 at 1:13 pm
nkbird August 9, 2018 at 5:10 pm
Carol Kocivar May 20, 2018 at 2:46 pm
Can a Few Simple Letters Home Reduce Chronic Absenteeism? New Research Shows They Can
Read it here here
Jeff Camp - Founder March 28, 2018 at 5:58 pm
Carol Kocivar December 6, 2017 at 11:39 am
Learn more in this article from EdSource:
https://edsource.org/2017/state-releases-data-on-chronic-absenteeism-to-help-flag-students-at-risk/591243?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
Carol Kocivar December 5, 2017 at 11:15 am
"As districts across the country try to drive down absenteeism, New York City leads the way'"
https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2017/11/30/as-districts-across-the-country-try-to-drive-down-absenteeism-new-york-city-leads-the-way/
Carol Kocivar October 27, 2016 at 2:55 pm
Attendance: A Measure of School Success
Missing just two days of school in a month is a key warning sign for trouble. Yes, there are some things your school can do about it.
https://ed100.org/blog/Attendance-Success
Carol Kocivar October 27, 2016 at 2:48 pm
In School + On Track 2016
"An estimated 210,000 K-5 students in California are chronically absent – missing 10% of the school year – making up 7.3% of elementary school students in the state."
"Chronic absence rates are disproportionately high for certain groups of students and are concentrated in a small number of schools and districts:
• 77% of all chronically absent students are low-income
• The chronic absence rate for African American students (14%) is 2X the rate for all students
• 50% of chronically absent students in our sample attend 20% of schools and 10% of districts; 25% attend 7% of schools and 3% of districts."
"In 2013, just over half of districts surveyed said they tracked student attendance data over time. In 2016, 85% of districts reported that they do."
Find the report here: http://oag.ca.gov/truancy/2016.
Carol Kocivar June 10, 2016 at 4:14 pm
An inter-active web resource from the US Department of Education takes a close look at which groups of students are more likely to be chronically absent. The data is drawn from nearly every public school in the country and helps us understand who is chronically absent, at what grade levels chronic absenteeism tends to occur, and how chronic absenteeism compares community-by-community and state-by-state.
http://www2.ed.gov/datastory/chronicabsenteeism.html#intro
Jeff Camp - Founder February 5, 2016 at 1:31 pm
Santa Ana Unified School District (one of the CORE districts) has begun experimenting with ways to improve attendance, which is reported on the district's School Quality Improvement Index. (Yep, it's really called the "squee".) The district began operating a Saturday School for chronically absent students to make up for days missed. The curriculum for Saturday School is evolving: the point is to increase the chance that students at risk will decide that school is worth showing up for. Data in the SQII will help to evaluate the program's effectiveness.
Carol Kocivar December 5, 2015 at 11:24 am
The California Attorney General’s Office has created suggestions for school districts for inclusion in their LCAP's to address attendance and chronic absence issues.
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/tr/ago_sample_lcap.pdf
Stacey W April 6, 2015 at 8:50 pm
Tara Massengill April 27, 2015 at 9:06 am
aimeef23 April 27, 2015 at 4:09 pm
JH McConnell October 19, 2015 at 11:25 pm
cnuptac March 22, 2015 at 6:44 pm
JH McConnell October 19, 2015 at 11:08 pm
Rob M April 10, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Having the state create incentives for districts to focus energy on increasing attendance is important. At the same time, the state’s finance system will need to focus on more more than just seat time for schools to be able to take advantage of new learning opportunities such as distance learning or self-paced learning. In the end what we care about is how much students learn, not whether they have lots of seat time. This will be a difficult policy balance to retain the important focus on attendance while allowing districts to experiment with alternative methods of instruction.
JH McConnell October 19, 2015 at 11:18 pm
There is some truth, however, that students who are not going to school may resist going to school because they are not doing well there. In that case not going to school is an indicator of an existing problem, and not the cause of the problem. The cause of the problem may very well be inadequate or ineffective teachers or sub-standard instructional material.
Jeff Camp - Founder October 20, 2015 at 9:58 am
Lisette October 3, 2017 at 4:30 pm