A collection of resources developed by REL West.

Students who are chronically absent—missing 10 percent or more school days per year—are at serious risk of falling behind at school and not graduating.

  • Chronically absent preschool and kindergarten students are academically and developmentally behind their classmates who attend school regularly
  • By 3rd grade, chronically absent students have lower reading and math achievement, signaling academic problems ahead
  • Being chronically absent in 6th grade raises the likelihood of not graduating from high school
  • Students are 7 times more likely to drop out if they are chronically absent even just one year between 8th and 12th grade

The resources in this REL West collection share how schools and districts can use data to design and carry out strategies to reduce chronic absence—from building community awareness to providing intensive one-on-one support for students and families. Educators can leverage these data-driven tools and best practices to implement multi-tiered systems to support student attendance.

View the Promoting Attendance collection of resources.