In May, federal, state, and local leaders convened at the White House for the Every Day Counts Summit to address the issue of Chronic Absenteeism, defined as students missing 10 percent or more of school days. This pervasive challenge impacts every state, and the event not only heightened awareness but also served as a call to action, stressing the urgent need to tackle this significant yet solvable problem. Leaders across the nation, regardless of political affiliation, have recognized the critical importance of student attendance. Under the federal K-12 accountability system, Every Student Succeeds Acts (ESSA), 36 states and the District of Columbia have included chronic absenteeism as a key measure of school quality.

Extensive research has illustrated how chronic absenteeism negatively impacts youth outcomes. Students who are chronically absent tend to have lower academic success and greater disengagement with the school environment, ultimately leading to long-term challenges for both the individual and the community. While there have been successful strategies in lowering chronic absenteeism, the pandemic–like so many other issues–exacerbated the challenges. National attendance data shows that the percentage of students who are considered chronically absent more than doubled between 2017 and 2022. The numbers tend to be highest among students of color and those living in poverty.

State and local education leaders are not the only ones addressing this issue. Advocacy groups across the political spectrum have united their vision and efforts to reduce student absences. Attendance Works, American Enterprise Institute and Education Trust established a joint goal to reduce chronic absenteeism by 50 percent in five years. These organizations are using this national goal to unify federal, state, and local education leaders to prioritize seeking the necessary solutions to combat chronic absenteeism and achieve this goal.

Indiana, one of the five states selected to participate in the Forum’s Building Ecosystems Statewide for Thriving (BEST) Youth Initiative, is answering this call. Mark Fairchild, the Executive Director of Indiana’s Commission on Improving the Status of Children, saw the BEST Youth Initiative as an opportunity to bring multiple systems (Department of Education, Department of Health, and the Division of Mental Health and Addiction) and people with lived experience in those systems together to tackle this issue: “Chronic absenteeism is a priority for Indiana because of the critical role that schools play not only in building academic skills, but also in developing the essential life skills that will guide them into adulthood. There is an opportunity in investigating this issue to discover what barriers prevent attendance and limit family and student engagement. Working to address the causes of chronic absenteeism also requires that we integrate the voices of youth and family members served by our schools, ensuring that our efforts will be informed and effective.”

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