In the past ten years, chronic absenteeism has attracted increasing attention. Research correlates chronic absenteeism with lower standardized test scores and grade point averages. Chronic absenteeism also correlates with higher rates of grade retention and dropping out (UEPC, 2012). Being present in school is a necessary precondition to receiving…

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reverberate across the nation, for millions of students, educators, and families, the current school year is rife with challenges. The long-term impact of the disruptions of the last two years on student enrollment and attendance remains to be seen, particularly for students with whom schools have lost…

Enrollment in early childhood education programs can be an important stepping stone to higher educational achievement, particularly for low-income children. This report examines the extent of absenteeism in the District of Columbia Public Schools' (DCPS) school-based Head Start program in the 2013-2014 school year (SY). Absence rates and the share…

This brief highlights the importance of using a measure like chronic absenteeism, rather than average daily attendance, in order to identify concerning patterns in elementary attendance rates. The chronic absenteeism measurement is better able to shine a light on the number of individual students struggling with attendance. Subsequent briefs in…

We measure the relationship between travel time to school and students' likelihood of transfer (and where they transfer to), attendance, and test scores in Washington, DC. Travel time to school is especially salient in DC, where roughly three-quarters of students attend a school other than the one tied to their neighborhood. A longer commute is…

In 2013, the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) published the first-ever report on English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in member districts, reporting on a range of indicators in addition to ELL enrollment and languages spoken by such students. This report updates most of the data presented in the 2013 Council ELL report, shedding light…

City Year is a learning organization committed to the rigorous evaluation of its "Whole School Whole Child" model, which trains and deploys teams of AmeriCorps members to low-performing, urban schools to empower more students to reach their full potential. A third-party study by Policy Studies Associates (PSA) examined the impact of…

The Houston Independent School District's (HISD) goal is to produce capable, confident young adults who are poised to excel in whatever they do. Whether they emerge from high school with dreams of pursuing higher education or choose to enter the workforce immediately, HISD wants its graduates to be ready to succeed. One way they assess their…

This report provides baseline data on attendance in the Chicago Public Schools. The report is divided into four sections and two tables. The first section, "The Effects of Student Assistance," examines the relationship between student attendance, achievement, and the dropout rate. The second section, "Attendance Statistics,"…

This is the 12th annual report on conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District (RUSD). This year, the analysis again focuses on the long-term historical trends in RUSD. The analysis compares RUSD data to data of nine peer school districts as well as statewide data. The peer districts are defined as those Wisconsin districts with…

This report examines the performance of the Worcester Public Schools, Massachusetts, highlighting the areas in which Worcester is succeeding and where it needs improvement. Indicators presented in the report were developed in collaboration with representatives of a wide variety of organizations, as well as public officials. The report provides…

Despite increasing recognition that a high school diploma is a minimum requirement for success in the workplace, nearly half of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students fail to graduate, and in some CPS high schools, more students drop out than graduate. Research on dropping out has shown that the decision to persist in or leave school is affected by…

This study focuses on school system characteristics that affect the dropout rate in the Chicago public high schools. Although the primary variable for investigation is attendance rate, other school system variables examined include type of school, percentage of low-income students in a school, and the overall level of student ability for a school…

The statistics presented in Chapter I of this report relate entirely to the public elementary and secondary schools in State school systems, with a few figures included for kindergarten and private elementary and secondary schools. The information contained herein has been furnished by the State offices of education in 48 States, the District of…

This bulletin provides the second chapter of the Biennial Survey of Education, 1930-32, which has been published in separate chapters dealing with a segment only of the educational system. The statistics presented in this report document city public schools for the school year 1931-32. The cities are divided into four population groups on the…