This executive summary highlights the value of making chronic absence data transparent and available to families, community partners, and other stakeholders outside school systems. Aimed at motivating action, this report: (1) shares key findings from the analysis of the scale, scope, and concentration of chronic absence in schools throughout the…

The U.S. education system is founded on the idea that students are in class every weekday; simply put, to benefit from school, a student must be in attendance. Nevertheless, many students miss school on a regular basis, thereby missing out on valuable instruction. Statistics on absenteeism among homeless students are particularly concerning, with…

When troubling attendance data in New Britain, Conn., caught district leaders by surprise, they reconsidered their focus on truancy in the older grades and turned their attention on their elementary schools. With support from local philanthropy and assistance from Attendance Works, the district significantly reduced the incidence of chronic…

For many years, the Kauffman Foundation has focused efforts on improving educa­tion for children in Kansas City. Prior to opening the Kauffman School, the Kauffman Foundation operated several programs that addressed the challenges faced in urban education, such as Project Early (an early childhood program), Project Choice (a high school dropout…

It is important for every student in Ohio to attend school every day. Missing too much school has longterm, negative effects on students, such as lower achievement and graduation rates. There are many reasons students miss school, but districts often can directly impact their students' attendance. By using data to identify and support students who…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

The United States high school dropout problem has been called a national crisis, with only 74.9% of public high school students graduating with a diploma in 2008. With states and districts under mounting pressure to raise graduation rates, there is increasing urgency to obtain more accurate and timely data to systematically identify students most…

Most educators, especially elementary principals, know from experience and common sense that attending school regularly during the early elementary years is essential. Young children need enough time in the classroom to gain the basic social and academic skills that will equip them to succeed long term in school. What many educators might not…

This guide is a training and supportive tool for use by local education agencies (LEAs) in the state of Alabama that are utilizing the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Information-INow-INFocus information system software. The Graduation Tracking System (GTS) utilizes existing STI technology to capture student information pertaining to…

This worksheet from the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) is an optional tool to help schools organize multiple years of student and program data for the purpose of identifying school-completion needs that can be addressed through the implementation of research-based interventions. It is designed for use…

The high school dropout problem has been called a national crisis. Educators, researchers, and policymakers continue to work to identify effective dropout prevention approaches. One important element of such prevention efforts is the identification of students at highest risk for dropping out and then the targeting of resources to keep them in…

This article draws attention to local and global attendance monitoring in higher education. The paper outlines benefits of attendance monitoring for both the individual learner and university, and compares traditional paper-based attendance monitoring systems with an electronic system piloted in the Business School and School of Technology at the…

The 14 City Technology Colleges (CTCs) opened so far in Great Britain are achieving an average attendance rate of between 90 percent and 97 percent. This high level of attendance has been assisted by the use of electronic registration (role taking) devices, including smart cards, portable computers, and optical readers. This report compares…

There is a strong and growing argument for higher educational attainment in the United States. The jobs that are expected to support the economy in the coming years will depend on a skilled workforce that is able to learn and adapt quickly to new challenges. However, demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K-16 pipeline to…