“By middle and high school, it is a surefire predictor of kids being on the path to drop out. They are much larger than many other school districts and have a growing number of low-income residents. Poor, rural districts with higher white populations also had high rates of chronic absenteeism, though because the districts were smaller, fewer students were affected. Until recently, chronic absenteeism was overlooked as a factor in performance and student outcomes, said Chang, adding that she hopes it is now recognized as a deciding element. If you know where your chronic absenteeism is happening, it can allow you to think about how you want to bring in other community partners to solve the problem.”

Source: Washington Post September 06, 2016 06:56 UTC