About one in four students is chronically absent, according to the latest data from 39 states and Washington, D.C. This issue persists despite improvements in some states, highlighting the need for schools to implement policies that encourage regular attendance.
Chronic Absenteeism Rates
The data shows that 23% of students were categorized as chronically absent during the 2024-25 school year, which is still above pre-pandemic levels. While most states improved their rates compared to the previous school year, the gains were smaller than before.
New data shows that about 1 in 4 students is chronically absent. What can schools do to address this issue?
State-Level Variations
High rates of absenteeism remained unchanged in nine states, including Washington and Ohio, and increased in New Mexico, Mississippi, and Arkansas. In contrast, Alabama and Delaware reduced their chronic absenteeism rates to within one percentage point of pre-pandemic levels.
Chronic absenteeism is a significant issue that affects not only individual students but also the overall academic environment of a school.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
Consequences of Chronic Absenteeism
When students miss significant time from school, they are at higher risk of falling behind in coursework and dropping out. For example, chronically absent elementary students have a harder time reading at grade level than their peers.
Key takeaways
- Chronic Absenteeism Rate: 23% of students were chronically absent during the 2024-25 school year.State-Level Variations: High rates of absenteeism remained unchanged in nine states, and increased in New Mexico, Mississippi, and Arkansas.Consequences: Chronic absenteeism can lead to falling behind in coursework and dropping out.
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism
School administrators need to get back to basics and start holding students accountable for missing school, and end any residual pandemic-era policies that allow students to miss homework or exams without consequences. Additionally, schools may need to implement new policies to encourage students to attend school more regularly.
To address chronic absenteeism, schools must implement policies that encourage regular attendance and hold students accountable for missing school. By doing so, we can help ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed academically and reach their full potential. Learn more about how Learning Success can help
See what All Access gives your child
See MTSS for schools
Is your child struggling in school?
Get your free personalized learning roadmap
You describe what you see at home. We turn it into a plan you start this week.
- Answer 5 short questionnaires about what you already notice, 30–45 minutes at your own kitchen table
- Your child sits no test and gets no score: nothing to schedule, nothing for them to dread
- You do the answering, the AI does the writing, and a person reviews it before it reaches you
- Access all 40+ courses instantly: reading, math, focus, processing and more, with new ones added regularly
Why we use AI, plainly: it writes from a knowledge base our team maintains and audits. We work through it line by line and pull anything the evidence stops supporting. The roadmap you get on Tuesday reflects what we corrected on Monday, and a human still reads it before you do.
Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.
Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.
References
- Reason Foundation - About one in four students is chronically absent
