Percentage of chronically absent students increases again, according to report

The percentage of Oregon students who are chronically absent went up again last school year, according to data released Thursday.

Nearly 20 percent of students were chronically absent in 2016-17, according to the Oregon Department of Education’s Regular Attenders Report. The rate was 19 percent the previous year, and 15 percent were chronically absent in 2013-14, according to the reports.

ODE defines chronically absent as missing more than 10 percent of school days in a calendar year. The report includes data for every district, as well as sorting it by grade and student groups.

“There is a direct link between high instances of chronic absenteeism and low graduation rates,” Acting Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Colt Gill said in a statement. 

Efforts to combat absenteeism include ODE’s statewide chronic absenteeism plan; Measure 98, which includes dropout prevention and creating classes that engage students; and the Tribal Attendance Pilot Project. American Indians/Alaska Natives have the highest rate of chronic absenteeism in Oregon, and TAPP is a collaboration with tribes to improve attendance. 

- Jake Arnold, OSBA
jarnold@osba.org