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Chronic Absenteeism Matters to Parents and Families

Every Student, Every Day:

A National Initiative to Address and Eliminate Chronic Absenteeism
 

PARENTS AND FAMILIES

Why Chronic Absenteeism Matters for Parents and Families
 

Your child’s daily, on-time attendance in school is critical to his or her success in school and in life. It’s understandable that some challenges to your child’s school attendance are unavoidable, such as an illness or a family emergency. However, it’s important to understand the impact of absences from school, especially if they become frequent. Chronic absenteeism, typically defined as missing 10 percent 918 days) or more of a school year – as few as a couple of days per month – can cause your child to fall behind in school. Absences can add up and impact your child’s reading, writing, and math skills, which will have a negative effect on his or her future.

Did you know?

  • Chronic absenteeism means missing 10% or more of school days in a year.
  • 5 to 7.5 million students are chronically absent each year.
  • Students who are chronically absent are less likely to succeed academically and more likely to drop out of school.
  • Attending school everyday increases a child’s chances of success in school and life.

Did you know?

A student is chronically absent if he or she misses as few as two days of school a month.

2 DAYS A MONTH x 9 MONTHS = CHRONIC ABSENCE

Take Action to Help Eliminate Chronic Absenteeism

Parents and Families Should:

  1. Make getting to school on time everyday a high priority in your family.
  2. Talk with your child about the importance of school attendance from an early age and the negative effects of too many absences.
  3. When necessary, create a safe space for your child to share what’s keeping them from participating in school on a regular basis.
  4. Have a back-up plan for getting your child to school when there are difficulties with transportation, family illness, or other challenges.
  5. Schedule doctor and other appointments for after-school hours whenever possible.
  6. Monitor students’ school attendance to make sure your child is in class every day.
  7.  Contact your child’s school to discuss supports and services that can help your child maintain regular school attendance.

Resources to Support Parents and Families to Address and Eliminate Chronic Absenteeism

  • Attendance Works is a national nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness about chronic absenteeism, provides resources and handouts for parents and families. Raising the next generation is a shared responsibility. When families, communities and schools work together, students are more successful and the entire community benefits. Visit the U.S. Department of Education’s Family & Community Engagement Webpage for more information at: http://www.ed.gov/family-and-community-engagement.
  • The U.S. Department of Education provides links and resources to support parents and families to encourage their children to attend and succeed in school every day. See more at: http://www2.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml.
  • Youth.gov. Learn more about the information, strategies, tools, and resources for youth, families, schools, youth-serving organizations, and community partnerships related to a variety of cross-cutting topics that affect youth. See more at: http://youth.gov and http://engage.youth.gov/.
  • StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying. See more at: www.StopBullying.gov.