A RAND analysis of 2024–25 school year data from the American School District Panel and the American Youth Panel show rates of chronic absenteeism remain above pre-pandemic levels and are negatively impacting efforts to close achievement gaps exacerbated by COVID-19.
“Persistent high levels of absenteeism are slowing students’ academic recovery after the disruptions to schooling brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even several years after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened levels of chronic absenteeism continue to be one of district leaders’ top concerns,” the report states. “Four in 10 districts identified reducing chronic absenteeism in their schools among their top three most pressing challenges for their schools during the 2024–25 school year, including 8 percent who ranked this issue as their top challenge. Districts’ concern about chronic absenteeism is on par with their concern about raising math and reading achievement.”
Based on the survey results, researchers estimate that roughly 22 percent of K–12 students nationally (10.8 million students) were chronically absent in the 2024–25 school year — an increase from about 19 percent (or about 9.4 million students) during the 2023–24 school year. The pre-pandemic chronic absenteeism rate hovered around 15 percent.
Researchers noted that the severity of chronic absenteeism levels varied significantly across different types of districts. For example, nearly half of urban districts reported extreme levels of chronic absenteeism, meaning that 30 percent or more of students in urban districts were chronically absent. Urban districts were about five to six times more likely to report extreme chronic absenteeism levels than rural and suburban district leaders.
Key findings
District leaders reported using multiple strategies to address chronic absenteeism, including revising messaging to families — particularly those with young children — about the importance of attendance, and updating attendance notification systems to use more parent-friendly language and to highlight what students miss when they are absent.
Educators also tailored approaches based on students’ ages, with developing strong attendance habits emphasized among a district’s youngest learners and increasing engagement through career-connected learning opportunities and extracurricular activities for older students.
District leaders also described partnering with a wider array of local agencies, health and social service providers, nonprofit organizations and nearby universities to support students and families beyond what schools can offer alone.
“Although districts’ current approaches might be helping at least some students return to school, clearly there is room for continued improvement,” the report concludes. “Going forward, districts need help identifying what does and does not work for their specific student populations.”
While such efforts do appear to be helping combat chronic absenteeism to an extent, district leaders “suggested that addressing the full scope of chronic absenteeism remains difficult given limited capacity and external barriers,” including housing and transportation instabilities among families, mental health needs and food insecurity that may affect families’ ability to ensure that their children are in school, and more.
