Student Attendance

School attendance is required by law and is critical to students’ success in school and life.

Research shows that children who miss 20 or more days of school in a given school  year are less likely to graduate from high school.  Missing even two days a month adds up to 20 days a year.

We want to help ensure that every student has strong attendance every year. 

Families are encouraged to use two tools to stay informed about their students’ attendance:

• Use ARIS Parent Link to review your child’s attendance and performance records. You need to get a password from your child’s school to access this site.
  
• Every Student, Every Day Electronic Help Center has information about neighborhood services to help your child get to school on time every day.
  

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Families and communities, schools and networks can follow these links to explore more ways to promote and maintain high student attendance.

	Families will find more sources of support here.  Community partners that work with families can also see how they can be part of improving student attendance.
	Schools collect, report, and track student attendance every day.  Schools also set policies and practices to encourage good attendance and reduce absenteeism.
	Networks and Attendance Teachers provide support to schools.  They help with descriptive data reports, share best practices, and identify local resources for schools to address attendance issues faced by families.

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National Studies Demonstrate the Importance of Attendance

A study of NYC data finds changes in attendance in middle grades are as predictive as test scores for being on-track in high school.   (Read more about it.)

Data from multiple states have consistently found chronic absenteeism to be among the strongest predictors of dropping out of high school. 
(Read more about it.)

Children from low-income families chronically absent in kindergarten had the lowest levels of achievement in fifth grade.  (Read more about it.)

Visit AttendanceWorks.org