How to reduce chronic absenteeism: what actually works.

How big is the problem now?

Better than at the peak, nowhere near done. About one in five students is still chronically absent, and no state is back to where it was before the pandemic.

• 22.6%

  of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, down from 28.3% in 2021-22. About 15% before the pandemic.

  AEI, 44 states and DC (2026)

• 10–15%

  fewer chronically absent students when letters told families their child’s real absence count.

  Randomized trials in Philadelphia and ten California districts (2018)

• 2.4–3.6 pts

  lower chronic absence, from an expected 20.5%, when schools texted parents through the year.

  Federal study, 108 elementary schools (2020)

Counts differ a little by source. AEI’s 22.6% covers 44 states and DC; a 31-state analysis by Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center found 21% for the same year. Early 2025-26 numbers, tracked by FutureEd, show rates improving in 25 of the 26 states that have reported. For the national picture, see chronic absenteeism: the numbers and what works.

What actually works to improve attendance?

Nine strategies, roughly in order of how strong and cheap the evidence is.

1. 1

   Tell families the real count. In a survey before the Philadelphia trial, parents of students with many absences guessed their child had missed 9.6 days; the real number was 17.8. Letters that gave the exact count cut chronic absence by about 10% there and about 15% in ten California districts, at roughly $6 to $11 per extra day of school. These trials ran before the pandemic; a newer federal trial found smaller effects, mostly because many families’ phone numbers and addresses were out of date.

   How to write the letter →

2. 2

   Text parents, and let staff answer. In a federal study of 108 elementary schools, weekly texts and same-day absence alerts, with the child’s name and total absences, reduced chronic absence by 2.4 to 3.6 percentage points, from an expected 20.5%, for about $7 to $8.50 per student. For students who kept missing school, the researchers found “texts from school staff were more effective in reducing chronic absences” than automated goal-setting texts.

3. 3

   Catch it early, in the first weeks. In Baltimore, students who missed 2 to 4 days in September were 5 times as likely to be chronically absent for the year as students who missed fewer than 2. Don’t wait for the 10% line. Flag students from the first absences and reach out while the pattern is new.

4. 4

   Run a weekly attendance team. Data alone changes nothing; someone has to act on it. A small team (an administrator, a counselor or social worker, an attendance lead, a community partner) looks at the list weekly, gives every flagged student one next step with an owner and a date, and checks last week’s steps. The Attendance Playbook lists actionable data and school teams as essential features.

5. 5

   Match support to need, in tiers. Positive messages for everyone, personal outreach for students missing around 10%, intensive case management for students missing 20% or more. Attendance Works describes these three tiers.

   The three tiers, step by step →

6. 6

   Give students a trusted adult. Mentors and home visits are Tier 2 strategies in the Attendance Playbook. In a study of more than 100,000 students in four urban districts, students whose families got at least one teacher home visit were 21% less likely to be chronically absent than other students.

7. 7

   Keep the message positive. Families respond to what their child gains by being in school: lessons, friends, teachers. The Ad Council Research Institute found that messages that chastise parents or only stress consequences no longer work; positive messages about the benefits of attendance resonated most.

8. 8

   Remove the barriers. Ask why the student is missing, then fix what you can: transportation and a safer walk to school, asthma and other health needs, mental health, housing, basic needs like meals and clean clothes. Each of these is a strategy in the Attendance Playbook. Community partners often hold the resources a school doesn’t.

9. 9

   Make school worth coming to. A welcoming climate, strong relationships with teachers and peers, greetings at the door and engaging classes are Tier 1 strategies in the Playbook. Students come to places where someone notices them.

Early, positive contact also shows up outside trials. In software data from 146 districts in eight states, reported by Education Week, districts that made early, frequent and positive contact with families of at-risk students in the first 60 days of school saw chronic absence in the first 90 days fall from 22.4% to about 19% between 2023-24 and 2025-26. It is not a controlled study, but it points the same way.

The evidence at a glance

What doesn’t work, or backfires?

• Punishment as the main response

  Fines, court referrals and suspensions don’t fix a broken-down bus or a sick parent. “A punitive approach does not solve barriers to attendance,” Attendance Works writes. Where the law requires a legal notice, send it, but lead with help.

• Perfect attendance awards

  In a randomized trial with 15,329 California students in grades 6 to 12, students who got a surprise award for past perfect attendance went on to miss 8.3% more days than students who got nothing. A promised award did no better than nothing.

  Incentives that work, and ones that don’t →

• Blame and consequences-only warnings

  Messages that chastise parents or stress the consequences of missing school no longer work, the Ad Council Research Institute found. Parents respond to how school develops their child beyond grades.

• Waiting for the 10% line

  By the time a student is officially chronically absent, the habit is set. Students who miss 2 to 4 days in September are far more likely to end the year chronically absent, so start in the first weeks.

What should a school do in the first 30 days?

A plan for a school starting now, at any point in the year. Days are school days.

1. 1

   Days 1–5: Get the list and the numbers right

   Pull every student’s absences so far, excused or not. Flag students already at 10% missed and students with 2 or more absences. Check that each family’s phone number, address and home language are current.

2. 2

   Days 1–5: Name the team and the meeting

   Pick the team, set one weekly meeting time, and agree on one rule: every flagged student leaves the meeting with a next step, an owner and a date.

3. 3

   Days 6–10: Tell every family the count

   Send a short, positive letter or text with the real number of days missed, in the family’s language, with a named contact and a direct line.

4. 4

   Days 6–20: Call before you write again

   Staff call or text each flagged family and ask what is getting in the way. Log every contact and the reason, so the team doesn’t guess.

5. 5

   Days 11–25: Act on the reasons

   Group the barriers you heard (rides, health, a conflict at school) and bring in the nurse, the counselor or a community partner. Assign a mentor or plan a home visit for students missing the most.

6. 6

   Day 30: Measure and adjust

   Compare your chronic absence rate and the number of flagged students who now have an owner against day one. Drop what isn’t working and keep going.

Community schools and partner organizations can carry much of this, from mentoring to home visits, if they can see the attendance of the students they serve. See sharing attendance data with partners.

How do you measure progress?

A student is chronically absent after missing 10% or more of the days they were enrolled, for any reason: excused, unexcused or suspension. In a 180-day year that is 18 days, about two a month. The rate is the outcome; the other measures tell you sooner whether the work is happening.

• Chronic absence rateShare of students who have missed 10% or more of the days they were enrolled, for any reason. Compare with the same point last year, not with the start of this year.
• Students newly at 10%How many crossed the line this week. A falling number means early outreach is working.
• Students with an ownerShare of flagged students with a named person and a next step. Aim for every one.
• Contact madeShare of flagged families reached in the last two weeks, and how many reasons for absence are known.
• Students who came backStudents below 10% again, or whose rate rose after outreach began.

Compare this month with the same month last year, not with September, so a month that is always harder doesn’t read as failure.

Common questions

Chronic absenteeism: the numbers, the rules and what works →

Sources

1. 1. Malkus, American Enterprise Institute, “From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition?” (June 2026): about 15% before the pandemic, 28.3% in 2021-22, 22.6% in 2024-25, across 44 states and DC; no state back to its pre-pandemic baseline.
2. 2. K-12 Dive, “1 in 5 students are still chronically absent” (June 4, 2026), on the 31-state analysis by Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center: 21% in 2024-25, 29% in 2021-22; definition counts excused and unexcused absences and suspensions.
3. 3. FutureEd, “Tracking State Trends in Chronic Absenteeism” (updated Nov. 10, 2026): rates improved in 25 of the 26 states reporting 2025-26 data.
4. 4. Rogers and Feller, “Reducing student absences at scale by targeting parents’ misbeliefs,” Nature Human Behaviour (2018): 28,080 students in Philadelphia; parents’ estimate of 9.6 days against 17.8 actual; chronic absence down about 10%; about $6 per extra day.
5. 5. Robinson, Lee, Dearing and Rogers, “Reducing student absenteeism in the early grades by targeting parental beliefs,” American Educational Research Journal (2018): 10,504 students in grades K to 5 in ten California districts; chronic absence down about 15%; about $10.69 per extra day.
6. 6. Heppen, Kurki and Brown, “Can Texting Parents Improve Attendance in Elementary School? A Test of an Adaptive Messaging Strategy” (NCEE 2020-006, IES, Sept. 2020): 108 elementary schools in four urban districts; expected chronic absence of 20.5% lowered by 2.4 to 3.6 percentage points; school staff texting parents worked better than automated goal-setting texts for students with high prior absences.
7. 7. American Institutes for Research, “New Federal Study Finds that Text Messages to Parents Can Reduce Chronic School Absences in Elementary School” (Sept. 15, 2020): $6.90 to $8.53 per student.
8. 8. Baltimore Education Research Consortium, “The Importance of September Attendance.”
9. 9. Education Week, “Schools Made Steady Progress Boosting Attendance With This Strategy Change” (Mar. 25, 2026): early, frequent, positive family contact in 146 districts in eight states using one attendance software product; the districts are not nationally representative.
10. 10. FutureEd, “Visiting Families at Home Leads to Better Attendance at School” (Jan. 2019), on Steven Sheldon’s Johns Hopkins study of Parent Teacher Home Visits: more than 100,000 K-8 students in four urban districts, 2016-17; 21% less likely to be chronically absent.
11. 11. FutureEd and Attendance Works, Attendance Playbook (2026 edition): more than 30 strategies from a review of more than 150 studies, organized as essential features and three tiers.
12. 12. Attendance Works, “3 Tiers of Intervention.”
13. 13. Ad Council Research Institute, “Chronic Student Absenteeism”: messaging that chastises parents or stresses the consequences of missing school does not work post-COVID; positive messages about in-person learning do.
14. 14. Attendance Works, Policy: “A punitive approach does not solve barriers to attendance.”
15. 15. Robinson, Gallus, Lee and Rogers, “The demotivating effect (and unintended message) of awards,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (2021): 15,329 students in grades 6 to 12 in California; retrospective awards led to 8.3% more days missed.