Chronic Absenteeism Drops for Third Straight Year in 146 K-12 Districts Serving 1.17 Million Students

Socio-economically disadvantaged students show some of the strongest attendance gains, narrowing long-standing gaps

SACRAMENTO, CA, March 11, 2026 — SchoolStatus, the leading provider of K-12 attendance and family engagement solutions, today released the SchoolStatus Midyear Attendance Trends Report, which examined trends across 146 partner districts serving 1.17 million students over three consecutive years (the first 90 days of school in 2023–24, 2024-25, and 2025–26). The student attendance data reveals continued improvement across every major attendance measure, including among historically at-risk student populations.

During the first half of the 2025-2026 school year, chronic absenteeism dropped to 18.98% in the districts included in the sample, a decrease of more than two percentage points in one year, and well below the national average of approximately 23%. SchoolStatus connects educators and families around the topics that matter most so that districts can identify students who need support early, reach families before problems compound, and follow through consistently. Data trends across three consecutive years show that districts taking this proactive approach are seeing sustained, year-over-year attendance gains.

“Chronic absenteeism has been treated like an unsolvable problem for too long,” said Dr. Kara Stern, Director of Education at SchoolStatus. “These districts just proved otherwise. When you know which students need you most, and you reach their families with a relevant, personal message before things get hard, you change the outcome. The data is right there. Proactive, positive engagement works.”

Additional Key Findings Include:

Students are missing fewer days of school across all groups:

• Through the first half of 2025–26, students averaged 5.74 absences, down from 6.42 days two years ago, which is a 0.68-day improvement per student since 2023-24. Across the 1.17 million students studied, that translates to roughly 503,000 fewer days of missed instruction in 2025-26.

The stakes of chronic absenteeism extend well beyond attendance rates: 

• Research from the University of Delaware shows that chronic absenteeism directly undermines reading achievement as early as kindergarten, with impact on both reading and math compounding over time. Chronic absence in elementary school sets the stage for lower literacy outcomes and eventually graduation risk.
• When families have clear, timely insight into their child’s attendance and how it connects to learning, they are better equipped to act before absences become chronic and missed learning time significantly impacts academic achievements. The connection between information and action is where improvements in attendance, literacy, and family engagement intersect.

Attendance gains among socio-economically disadvantaged and homeless students:

• Socio-economically disadvantaged (SED) students, which include foster youth and students from low-income and migrant families, make up 48% of the total population studied. SED students have improved attendance every single year for the last three years. The average number of absences in the first 90 days of school for this group dropped from 7.10 days in 2023-24 to 6.39 this year. Their chronic absenteeism rate fell from 25.85% to 22.76%, which is below the national average for all student groups.
• While homeless students still have the highest number of absences of any student group, they also show the biggest improvement, from 10.17 days missed in the first 90 days of 2023-24 to 9.43 days missed this school year. 

Spotting attendance trends early improves outcomes:

• By analyzing attendance and tardy patterns within the first 60 instructional days, SchoolStatus identified 18.32% of students, more than 200,000, as at risk of chronic absenteeism. The model predicts risk with 76% accuracy by day 60, allowing districts to intervene before patterns solidify. 
• In 2024–25, attendance improved by 34.2% after just one mailed intervention, reinforcing the impact of early outreach. 
• Families who engage with school communications in the first weeks of school are more than twice as likely to remain engaged throughout the year.

“Every absence has a story,” said Dr. Stern. “Educators have always known that. When they have the tools to identify at-risk students early, they can uncover those stories with enough time to reach out to families to find out what attendance barriers students are facing. And, families and educators can work together to get students back to class before habits become chronic. Three years of attendance tracking data from more than a million students shows us this approach works. The only question now is how many more students we can help with this approach.”

Download the full 2025-26 Midyear Attendance Trends Report.

About This Report
The SchoolStatus Midyear Attendance Trends Report analyzed attendance data from 146 school districts that partner with SchoolStatus Attend, serving a combined 1.17 million students. Data was pulled February 6, 2026, representing attendance patterns from the first day of school through January 30 in 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26.

Media Contact
Annmarie Ely, Associate Director
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