Schools implementing new strategies to combat student absenteeism: Introducing bus stops, offering breakfast treats, and butterfly catching activities
Schools across the United States are addressing the issue of chronic absenteeism, a problem that has intensified since the pandemic, with students now missing 10% or more of the school year—50% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
In Kansas City, Kansas, a unique approach is being taken at school leaders aim to help families divulge what is going on and refer them to other community agencies for assistance. The "non-blaming approach" has seen success, with an elementary school reducing chronic absenteeism from 55% in 2021 to 38% in 2024 by assigning all students to an adult in the building and encouraging them to build an "authentic" relationship.
In Providence, Rhode Island, Nathanael Greene Middle School cut chronic absenteeism nearly in half—from 50% to 25%—by personalizing outreach to families, adding bus stops to improve transportation access for students living too close to qualify for regular buses, and partnering with a food pantry to provide weekend food bags. These efforts addressed key barriers like lack of transportation and weekend hunger that discouraged attendance, particularly for low-income students.
Indiana charter schools are also taking action. By making parent education a priority, with mandatory family orientations illustrating the importance of regular attendance for young children, and using federal funds for the school breakfast and lunch program to create a restaurant-style cafeteria, with homemade biscuits and gravy days associated with the lowest rates of tardies, chronic absenteeism among kindergarten through eighth graders decreased from 64% in 2021-22 to 10% in 2024-25.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Alamosa Elementary School, which once had a low chronic absenteeism rate, saw a spike in chronic absenteeism during the 2021-22 school year, with 64% of students missing more than 10% of the school year.
In Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Albuquerque, schools are implementing "schools within schools" or small dedicated classrooms for chronically absent students dealing with anxiety or disengagement. For example, a Midwestern high school implemented a quiet, low-stress classroom for students with extreme absenteeism (up to 300 days absent), allowing credit recovery and gradual reintegration, which led to a 95% graduation rate in this subset.
In New York City, weekly meetings with students to discuss their attendance data and set goals, combined with integrating supports within Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) frameworks, have shown promising results.
Effective interventions include personalized outreach and family engagement, transportation solutions, food security initiatives, specialized classrooms, and data-driven, multi-tiered support systems. The Providence model of direct family engagement combined with transportation and food assistance, and the “school within a school” approach elsewhere represent some of the most promising practices to date.
However, it's important to note that reasons for chronic absenteeism vary widely, from health issues to transportation problems and feelings of boredom. As such, addressing chronic absenteeism requires multifaceted, community-tailored strategies that consider these underlying causes.
In conclusion, schools across the nation are working tirelessly to address chronic absenteeism, implementing innovative strategies and tailoring interventions to the needs of their communities. By reducing practical barriers (transport, food), addressing mental health/anxiety, and implementing personalized supports that encourage re-engagement with school, schools are seeing significant reductions in absenteeism and improved graduation rates.
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