More than one in four children in the U.S. are chronically absent, defined as missing 10 percent or more of their school days, putting their long-term learning, health, development and economic prospects at risk. Chronic absence affects all students, with significant disparities by geography, race and socioeconomic status. Absences due to mental or physical health challenges are one of the most common contributors.
A new initiative from Attendance Works, Johns Hopkins Center for School Health and Kaiser Permanente seeks to reframe chronic absenteeism as a public health challenge. A new report, All in for Attendance: Collective action of public health strategies that address chronic absence (bit.ly/41Btjid), aims to promote a public health approach that leverages individual and population-level data to guide collective action, engages new cross-sector partners, and facilitates a shift from reactive responses to proactive, prevention-focused strategies.
“The root causes of chronic absence including limited access to health care, housing instability and family stress — arise from the broader social drivers of health and often originate outside of the school setting. It is common, however, to consider chronic absence as solely an educational issue,” the report states.
The report presents a new public health framework for promoting school attendance and addressing chronic absence organized around three evidence-based guiding principles and supported by actionable recommendations. The framework’s goal is to provide a roadmap for use by state and local public health, health care, education and community-based agencies and leaders to collaborate, coordinate efforts and pool resources to reduce chronic absence.
- Principle 1: Use school attendance data as a vital sign of student and system well-being to drive action.
- Track absence patterns across communities and by risk factors, link attendance to broader health and social indicators, and use the data to inform, target and evaluate strategies to address the root causes of chronic absence.
- Principle 2: Develop strategic partnerships to align goals and drive progress on reducing chronic absence.
- Establish cross-sector partnerships between educators, health practitioners, public health departments and community-based agencies to align goals, share data responsibly, combine resources and coordinate strategies to address chronic absence.
- Principle 3: Develop strengths-based policies and programs to prevent chronic absence and promote school attendance.
- Design and invest in policies and programs that address systemic barriers, promote whole child health, strengthen school connectiveness and promote school attendance.
Each principle is broken down into actionable steps and offers real-world examples from school systems around the country for each principle.
“Preventing chronic absence requires a shift in mindset and investment, from quick fixes to long-term, system-level solutions. By embedding prevention into policy, budgeting, and practice, cross-sector partners can reduce barriers, strengthen resilience, and create school environments where every student is supported to attend consistently and thrive,” the report concludes.