Though researchers have documented the consequences and causes of chronic absenteeism, there is limited empirical evidence about what schools and districts are actually doing to improve attendance. This study presents evidence about the types of attendance practices that forty-seven high-absenteeism districts in Michigan are planning and…

Acknowledging the importance of students simply being in school, California has made student attendance part of its accountability system. This brief covers a session in which it was pointed out that using chronic absenteeism as an accountability measure is new and its underlying causes are not well understood. Even as many schools face the…

Accumulating evidence indicates that student attendance is closely tied to a range of educational outcomes, and yet millions of students are chronically absent each year. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), schools are now held accountable for their students' attendance at a scale this country has never before seen. As such, this is a…

Results of a survey conducted by the Office for Civil Rights show that 6 million public school students (13%) are not attending school regularly. Chronic absenteeism--defined as missing more than 10% of school for any reason--has been negatively linked to many key academic outcomes. Evidence shows that students who exit chronic absentee status can…

A significant proportion of students enrolling in mathematical subjects designed for non-STEM majors in university courses have minimal mathematical skills and poor motivation. This combination of starting attributes often leads to failure in the first mathematical subject encountered. We have been implementing simple, alternative pedagogies in an…

Dropout is a serious problem within education. This article reports on an intervention project, titled "New Roles for the Teacher--Increased Completion Rates Through Social Responsibility," which sought to reduce nonattendance and drop-out rates in the Danish adult educational system by improving teachers' competences. This goal was…

This paper presents the findings obtained from a detailed questionnaire completed by selected head teachers (n = 129), deputy heads (n = 81), middle managers (n = 178) and form tutors (n = 91) in schools within local education authorities located throughout England and Wales. The questionnaire focused upon the respondents' views on the best ways…