How important is attendance for your child?
The attendance rate is important because students are more likely to succeed in academics when they attend school consistently. It’s difficult for the teacher and the class to build their skills and progress if a large number of students are frequently absent. In addition to falling behind in academics, students who are not in school on a regular basis are more likely to get into trouble with the law and cause problems in their communities.
A 2019 report by physicians at Council on School Health published in Pediatrics states: “Chronic school absenteeism, starting as early as preschool and kindergarten, puts students at risk for poor school performance and school dropout.” An earlier 2008 study conducted by the Rodel Community Scholars at Arizona State University that tracked students from kindergarten through high school found the same pattern: high school dropout patterns were linked with poor attendance, beginning in kindergarten. Gregory Hickman, director of the Rodel Community Scholars program and former director of the Arizona Dropout Initiative, notes they discovered that as early as kindergarten, behavioral differences are apparent between children who go on to graduate and those who drop out, with dropouts missing an average of 124 days of school by eighth grade.
In their report, researchers wrote: “Educators should begin developing strategies to improve student attendance from as early as kindergarten.”
The U.S. Department of Education categorizes “chronic” absence as missing 15 or more days in a school year. Some organizations, researchers, and an increasing number of states define chronic as missing 10 percent of the school year (approximately 18 days). Estimates of the number of chronically absent students in the U.S. vary from 13 percent to 16 percent.
School budgets may suffer when students don’t attend. In many states, school budgets are based on the average daily attendance at a school. If many students enrolled at a school fail to consistently attend, the school has less money to pay for essential classroom needs.
by: The GreatSchools Editorial Team Updated: March 1, 2023