Report: Arkansas Schools Have High Chronic Absenteeism Rates

Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center released an analysis Friday that shows 50 Arkansas public schools have chronic absenteeism rates of 30 percent or more.

Another 109 Arkansas schools are experiencing chronic student absence rates of 20-29 percent, according to the analysis called “Portraits of Change: Aligning School and Community Resources to Reduce Chronic Absence.”

Portraits of Change also includes examples of successful attendance initiatives, like that of Monitor Elementary in Springdale. Monitor reduced its chronic absence rate from 19 percent to 6 percent in two years.

The report also shares how businesses, nonprofits and local governments can team up with educators to add support and resources.

A similar 2016 study by the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families found that more than 12 percent of all Arkansas students in kindergarten through third grade were chronically absent in 2014-15, meaning they missed 18 or more days of school. Chronic absence is typically defined as missing 10 percent or more of the school year for any reason, whether excused or unexcused, including school suspensions.

“Over the past year, the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has partnered with the Arkansas Department of Education and Attendance Works to provide professional development on chronic absence to more than 40 school districts,” Angela Duran, campaign director of the AR-GLR, said in a news release. “The ADE has included chronic absence as a new accountability indicator in the recently released draft Every Student Succeeds Act state plan. Schools and districts will begin reporting chronic absence rates in the 2018-19 school year, providing them an early warning indicator about students that may be heading in the wrong direction academically.”

Many children miss too much school because of chronic health problems, unreliable transportation or housing moves — barriers that state and city agencies and community partners can help families address, the report said.

Ginny Blankenship, AACF’s education policy director, said in the release that chronic absenteeism has a negative impact on a child’s ability to read by the end of third grade.

“Although chronic absenteeism affects students from all income levels, the problem is even worse for children who grow up in poverty,” she said. “The good news is that there are many simple, inexpensive things that schools can do that have proven to help keep more kids in school every day, thriving and ready to learn.”

September is Attendance Awareness Month, and Portraits of Change relied on the latest federal data available. For the full report, click here.