In the 2020-2021 school year—the most recent year for which federal data is available—14.7 million students nationwide were chronically absent, nearly doubling pre-pandemic rates. Studies have shown that students who are chronically absent—missing more than fifteen days of school a year—face serious risk of falling farther behind. Encouragingly, we know that taking a data-driven, comprehensive approach that engages students and their families can help solve this problem.

The Partnership for Student Success is highlighting promising strategies that are parts of the comprehensive approaches used by school districts around the country to address chronic absence.