\u201cWe look for patterns,\u201d says Miranda, who is in her eighth year as principal of William Jefferson Clinton K-8 School. \u201cFor example, if I see a student is absent today, and then I see they are on my absent list again tomorrow, I know something is up. I need to call that family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miranda also knows her superintendent will hold her responsible if more than 5 percent of her students are chronically absent, a term that refers to students missing 10 percent or more of the school year or 18 or more days in a 180-day school calendar. And everyone in the district can see how her school\u2019s attendance measures up against others, which is another incentive for her and other principals to ensure as many kids as possible are in school every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I see a student is absent today, and then I see they are on my absent list again tomorrow, I know something is up. I need to call that family.\u201d \u2014 William Jefferson Clinton Principal Miranda Susana<\/p>\n
Compton officials say that comprehensive data system and principal accountability \u2014 in part, by building student attendance into principals\u2019 annual evaluations \u2014 are two major reasons the district slashed its chronic absenteeism rate for kindergarten to eighth grade students to 5 percent in the 2024-25 school year from 15 percent the year before. Across the district, just 12.2 percent of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, according to the state\u2019s education department, a 16 percent drop from 2022-23. (Nat AEI\u2019s chronic absenteeism tracker puts Compton\u2019s chronic absenteeism rate at 16 percent in 2025, down from 23 percent in 2024.)<\/p>\n
That rate is lower than that of many districts \u2014 including Philadelphia \u2014 that are still trying to get students to attend school regularly six years since the start of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
An Associated Press <\/a>analysis in conjunction with Stanford University Professor Thomas Dee found nearly a quarter of kids were still chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year. (The analysis looked at data from 42 states and the District of Columbia.)<\/p>\n Although chronic absenteeism rates have decreased slightly, according to a June report by the American Enterprise Institute<\/a>, absenteeism remains a major challenge for many school systems trying to improve academics, which also took a beating during the pandemic.<\/p>\n A Philadelphia story <\/p>\n Philadelphia\u2019s attendance rate has inched up every year since plummeting during the pandemic \u2014 though large numbers of students still continue to miss school. Preliminary data show that 63.4 percent of students regularly attended school last year, up from 61 percent the previous year. Still, nearly 37 percent of kids did not consistently attend school last year.<\/p>\n Attendance is tied closely to how well students do in school and is a strong predictor of whether they\u2019ll graduate. And the negative effects are not confined to those who don\u2019t show up: Absences also disrupt learning<\/a> for students who attend consistently because teachers have to spend time going over content they\u2019ve already covered.<\/p>\n Attendance was a big sticking point before the pandemic, when about 15 percent of students were chronically absent in 2019. But the rates skyrocketed in the post-pandemic years amid changing societal attitudes about when to send children to school, especially when they\u2019re sick, an increase in virtual learning options, and concerns about student safety. Historic barriers, such as homelessness, lack of clean clothing and transportation, and family responsibilities, including caring for younger siblings and relatives or working to help support families, also remain hurdles for children. And whether students, especially older ones, find the school work rigorous and relevant also influences whether they attend.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a problem that a teacher, a guidance counselor and a principal will solve. It\u2019s a problem that our village will solve.\u201d \u2014 School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington<\/p>\n School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington says he\u2019s proud that thousands more children are showing up to school regularly, but \u201cwe need our students in school not less than 90 percent of every month and 90 percent of every school year because when kids are in school they just learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s been looking for ideas near and far. This past school year, the school district adopted a daily attendance dashboard<\/a>, based on Rhode Island\u2019s, to track student attendance \u201cwith a fierce sense of urgency,\u201d Watlington says.<\/p>\n That surfaced a problem hidden in plain sight: half-days, which the district eliminated this year.<\/p>\n Watlington is also paying attention to Oakland, CA and Detroit, MI, the latter of which still wrestles with attendance, but has seen sharp declines <\/a>in chronic absenteeism in recent years. Detroit has offered a range of support to students, including hiring counselors, social workers and academic interventionists, according to Chalkbeat<\/a>. Attendance agents also track attendance and visit students\u2019 homes, and the district has offered financial incentives <\/a>to students \u2014 up to $1,000 in gift cards for high schoolers with perfect attendance during specific periods, according to the news outlet.<\/p>\n Locally, the Philadelphia superintendent says he plans to convene two faith leader summits this year, after holding one last year, and to launch a faith leaders\u2019 advisory council to help tackle the issue. Some schools have added washers and dryers to reduce that barrier for students, he says.<\/p>\n Making students feel welcome and engaged at school is also a priority. \u201cWhat we do in the classrooms matter for who shows up,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n District staff will also canvas the community, not just to boost enrollment numbers, but to target student absenteeism as well, Watlington says.<\/p>\n