How Chronically Absent Are Chronically Absent Students? Deep Data Dives in California

• In Event: Chronic Absenteeism: Measuring Impact, Owning the Problem, Improving Policies, and Seeing Change

Abstract

In 2017, California began translating the attendance data it received from schools and districts into data points that would work to measure chronic absenteeism in its new accountability system. Since then, the information that has been shared each Fall through California’s School Dashboard has enlightened stakeholders to essential ways that school attendance patterns contribute to the achievement gap.
While the data has been shared at the school, district and student group level for purposes of accountability and reporting, the California Department of Education (CDE) spent time in 2020 taking a deeper dive into the data and looking into more than just the simple results. The impetus for this investigation were conversations with school districts throughout the state in 2019 when chronic absenteeism actually increased year over year. Several districts requested data support from CDE in understanding how the changes that they had made were not affecting the rates of chronically absent students. California Education Code defines a chronically absent student as any student who misses 10% or more of the days that they were expected to attend school. However, once a student reaches that threshold, there is no additional categorization for their absences, but the ability to change a student’s attendance patterns raises exponentially. In our preliminary examination of the data for these districts, we found that the total number of absences lowered year over year, and the average number of absences per student declined as well. And while the students who were chronically absent in prior years also reduced their absences, they still exceed the 10% threshold each year.
Exploring California’s full chronic absenteeism and accountability data is a peek into the country’s largest and most diverse student population, with over 4 million students represented in grades K-8. This presentation from CDE will share an exploration of absence patterns above and below the 10% threshold for multiple populations: urban, suburban and rural locales, as well as 12 student group populations. CDE will also evaluate what the state’s other accountability indicators (Academic & Suspension) to see how they are affected among schools, districts and student groups that lowered their chronic absenteeism rates. Attendees to the presentation will be able to have a better context of the data landscape in schools, as well as preliminary policy questions that may better address the issues that contribute to chronic absence.

Authors

• Kimberly Mundhenk, California Department of Education

• Jenny Singh, California Department of Education