Maximize Attendance
No matter how good the curriculum, great the teacher, or supportive an environment, students cannot learn if they are not in school.
- Chronic absenteeism remains an obstacle to student achievement everywhere in the country, including in Troy.
- About half of the post-COVID reductions in achievement are due to increased chronic absenteeism.
- The point is not to shift the blame for failing test scores to families but to create greater awareness that attendance matters.
The Challenge:
TSD’s Chronic Absenteeism Rate remains over twice as high as it was pre-COVID. Poor attendance represents a significant barrier to both academic achievement and other educational outcomes, so as socio-emotional well-being.
Why This Matters:
Missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason is considered chronic absenteeism, which is a problem with serious consequences. Chronically absent students are less likely to read by third grade, achieve in middle school, and graduate from high school. Chronic absenteeism also weakens students’ connections to the school community and leads to increased rates of disciplinary incidents and can even contribute to threats to school safety. Where chronic absenteeism is widespread, it disrupts the entire classroom, making it harder for teachers to meet every student’s needs. Solving this requires a united effort from schools, public agencies, and community groups working with students and families. The operating assumption when working with these families is not a lack of caring, but a need for support.
Unfortunately, the TSD has been unable to return to pre-COVID levels of chronic absenteeism. Whereas prior to the pandemic, district-wide chronic absenteeism rates were around 6% across all school levels, in 2023-24 chronic absenteeism was approximately 13%. While significantly better than the state average (30% in 2023-24), the state is only 50% higher than its pre-COVID levels (about 20%), rather than twice.
Strategic Initiatives:
- Connected Community: Continue to expand participation in community engagement structures such as listening sessions, councils (faith-based, alumni, multilingual, School Advisory), Parent-Teacher Associations, and Board community events
- Expectations and Outreach: Increase attendance expectations and outreach to remove barriers to attendance
- Implement an Attendance MTSS: Following the Multi-Tier System of Supports Model published by the national non-profit Attendance Works, the District will leverage data and early warning systems to identify at-risk students and intervene when necessary (see Figure 1 below)
- Partnership with Community Organizations: Work more closely with community organizations to augment staff capacity to work with families to identify opportunities for support and provide material assistance where possible
Figure 1: Attendance Works’ MTSS
Source: AttendanceWorks.org
Key Results for Maximizing Attendance
- Key Result 2.1: Reduce chronic absenteeism in Elementary (grades K-5) from 11.2% (2024-25) to under 6% by 2028-29 (it was 5.8% in 2018-19, the last pre-COVID year)
- Key Result 2.2: Reduce chronic absenteeism in Middle School (grades 6-8) from 11.0% (2024-25) to under 6% by 2028-29 (it was 6.2% in 2018-19)
- Key Result 2.3: Reduce chronic absenteeism in High School (grades 9-12) from 17.4% (2024-25) to under 10% by 2028-29 (it was 5.3% in 2018-19)
- Key Results 2.4: Achieve a +20 Net Promoter score on a district-wide stakeholder survey of students (see future blog post on stakeholder surveys)
Note: it is important to track attendance by school level as both the reasons for chronic absenteeism as well as the strategies and tactics to improve differ by grade-band.