Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent or more of the total number of days enrolled in the school year for any reason including excused and unexcused absences and days absent due to out of school suspension or an in-school suspension that is longer than one-half of the school day. Chronic absenteeism data provided by the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) since 2009 has shown a decrease of 5 percentage points to 10.6 percent in the 2014-15 school year.

All demographics have seen a decline since 2009, however, substantial gaps remain. In 2014-15, students who are eligible for free meals (19.9 percent), with disabilities (19 percent), or are English learners (17.5 percent) were twice as likely to be chronically absent than those who are not. Black (16.1 percent) and Hispanic/Latino students (18 percent) were also more than twice as likely to be chronically absent from school compared to white, Non-Hispanic students (7 percent). Chronic absence data reports for specific districts and schools can be generated on the CSDE’s new data portal, EdSight.

Attendance Works, a national initiative that promotes awareness on chronic absenteeism, reports that the reasons that children are chronically absent fall into four categories: 1) myths/misperceptions about attendance (e.g., absences are only a problem if they are unexcused or attendance only matters in the later grades); 2) barriers to attendance (e.g., chronic disease or lack of dental health care or unmet basic needs: transportation, housing, food, clothes etc.); 3) aversion to school (e.g., academic or social struggles or poor school climate or unsafe school); and 4) disengagement from school (e.g., no meaningful relations with adults in school or high suspension rates and disproportionate school discipline).

Chronic absenteeism has a significant impact on the stability of children’s overall well-being as well as their future success. Absenteeism in preschool or Kindergarten has been shown to delay reading mastery, while in upper grades, lower graduation rates and increased achievement gaps are notable results. CSDE cites findings that show a correlation between chronic absenteeism, academic achievement and high school graduation.

Efforts to address chronic absenteeism in Connecticut have occurred at both the district/community and state levels. In New Britain, community partnerships, specialized school teams to monitor students at risk, and greater focus on Kindergarten absenteeism have provided substantial reductions. The Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers has indicated that the implementation of the state’s School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) has been beneficial as well. The SBDI, which is focused on middle schools and high schools with higher levels of juvenile justice involvement, has drastically decreased school-based court referrals and, instead, greatly increased the rate of referrals to behavioral health services. Also at the state level, CSDE recently launched the Next Generation Accountability System, a new, broader set of performance measures that gives a more comprehensive and holistic picture of how schools and students are performing. Chronic absenteeism is one of 12 indicators and is inclusive of all grades, Kindergarten through Grade 12.

Chronic absenteeism is one of the two strategic action groups formed as a part of the Connecticut Kids Report Card. It serves as a centralizing force for disseminating promising new practices, promoting communication and collaboration among critical state agency and community-based partners, and reporting to the legislature on statewide progress. The 2015 Legislative session produced Public Act 15-225, an Act Addressing Chronic Absenteeism, that establishes district and school-level attendance review teams, improves local data for state analysis, directs the state to develop a chronic absenteeism prevention and intervention guide, and allows truancy clinics to be implemented statewide. This act also expanded the definition of an absence to include an in-school suspension that is longer than one-half of the school day.

• Department of Education
• Inter-agency Council for Ending the Achievement Gap
• Office of Early Childhood
• Department of Children and Families
• Achievement Gap Task Force
• CT Association of School-Based Health Centers
• Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
• Stamford Youth Services
• Connecticut Association for Community Action

• Clarify the reporting of out-of-school suspension and expulsion data and analyze to identify district trends. (SDE)
• Research absenteeism data for preschool students. (SDE)
• Use Data Mapping to display rates of demographics, chronic absenteeism and available resources in pilot communities. (SDE)
• Communicate and promote best practices. (SDE)
• Expand and strengthen school-based mentoring opportunities. (SDE)
• Explore best practices for addressing absenteeism for children that attend Pre-K. (SDE)
• Ensure that members and partners of the Chronic Absenteeism SAG are identified and represents all strategic partners with a role to play in improving results/"turning the curve." (SDE)
• Ensure the CT Kid's Report Card is revised, posted and used as a SAG communication tool to track progress. (SDE)
• Ally with organizations already in a consortium with each other and SDE to educate them and ask them to educate their members. (David Nee)
• Consider steps to include information about absenteeism disaggregated by race and economic status in regular reports. (David Nee)
• Alert educators to the need for community partnerships to incorporate actions on the community side. (David Nee)
• Utilize ‘Restorative Practices’ in schools (SYS)
• Implementation of ‘Safe Streets’ Programs (SYS)

Strategies provided by the State Department of Education (SDE), CT Kid's Report Card Leadership Committee Co-Chair David Nee, and Stamford Youth Services (SYS)