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School attendance across the country is a pressing concern. Post-pandemic absenteeism rates are a primary contributor: Between 2018 and 2022, chronic absences climbed by a troubling 91%, translating into an additional 6.5 million students regularly missing school and crucial instruction.

Innovative, data-informed interventions can effectively reduce absenteeism and boost student engagement, according to MTSS and attendance experts on the edLeader Panel “Prevent Chronic Absenteeism with Data-Driven MTSS Practices.”

Understanding Chronic Absenteeism and Its Causes

Chronic absenteeism is when students miss 10% or more of school days—about two days a month—for any reason. It is not truancy, which is unexcused absences. Truancy is often addressed as a problem after students have missed a lot of school.

The response to chronic absenteeism focuses on promoting daily attendance, not on reacting to accumulated absences. Understanding the four causes of chronic absenteeism supports this approach:

1. Barriers to attendance or students struggling to come to school
2. Students who are school-averse and are avoiding school
3. Families with misconceptions about the importance of daily school attendance
4. Students who are disengaged from school

It’s About Resources

An MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) can address barriers to attendance. As a data-driven, multi-level preventive framework, it helps schools allocate resources to support student needs effectively.

But educators tend to view the MTSS pyramid as focused on students. They often label students as Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 based on perceived need. This view can lead to:

• Lower expectations for those labeled as Tier 2 or Tier 3
• An assumption that these students will always struggle
• A belief that only specialized interventions can help them

Schools that stop categorizing students into tiers use tiered resources strategically to support all students, thereby addressing many needs, especially attendance issues.

Targeted Data Practices: Tracking Risk for Absenteeism

Effective attendance strategy teams not only focus on data to inform their practices and identify students at risk, but also use data to explore the reasons behind those absences. Three core data-collection methods can get students back on track early on:

1. Identify students who are at risk. Look at the prior year’s attendance, early no-shows, monthly absences, and other patterns.
2. Track attendance within the first two weeks of the new school year.
3. Identify students with two or more absences in any month.

Using data-visualization tools, like eduCLIMBER, for example, is a big help in analyzing attendance data. They can provide snapshots of absenteeism rates, highlight patterns of absences, track the effectiveness of interventions, and compare current-year data with previous years for trend analysis, among others. The data allows for deeper insight into students beyond their attendance rates.

What Works? A Look at Effective Practices

Understanding barriers helps educators identify targeted interventions that address students’ needs most effectively. Here’s where the MTSS tiers come into play.

Tier 1 interventions are the starting point. These preventative practices serve all students and can significantly improve attendance rates. The measures are not only student-specific but call for community-wide efforts to establish a culture of reducing chronic absenteeism. Districts and schools can, for example:

• Update the attendance policy, with inclusive language and practices, to focus on chronic absenteeism
• Implement school- and district-wide attendance teams
• Offer professional learning about chronic absenteeism
• Improve communication with families
• Create “marketing” campaigns to promote attendance

Tier 2 interventions target specific students who need immediate support. These interventions should align with the cause of the absence and can include:

• Letters to families with misconceptions about school attendance and whose children are disengaged from school, to promote awareness as well as partnership to address student struggles
• Checking in and connecting with students who avoid or are disengaged from school to ensure they progress in their coursework, stay on track, and feel good about school
• Creating an attendance contract with mental health support for school-averse students
• Implementing student success plans for wraparound support, peer mentoring programs, group work to support attendance, and after-school programs

Tier 3 interventions focus on individualized student needs. Strategies can include creating individual plans that address a range of needs (from socio-emotional to academic), focusing on students’ strengths, and providing intentional support to students and their families.

Learn more about this edWeb broadcast, Prevent Chronic Absenteeism with Data-Driven MTSS Practices, sponsored by Renaissance.

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Article by Michele Israel, based on this edLeader Panel