Chronic Absenteeism Improvement Indicator

Description

It is important for every student in Ohio to attend school every day. Missing too much school has long-term, negative effects on students, such as lower achievement and graduation rates. When students are not at school, they cannot benefit from the instructional resources and supports schools provide. Students miss school for many different reasons, such as chronic health issues, family commitments, lack of social and emotional support, or safety issues. Whether excused or unexcused, missing too much school has detrimental effects on a student’s learning trajectory. This indicator is key to helping districts and schools identify trends to assist in directing supports geared toward students’ needs. 

In Ohio’s approved Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan, chronic absenteeism was identified as the additional measure of school quality or student success because there is a significant body of research around the impact of chronic absenteeism on academic performance. Research supports that chronic absenteeism, defined as missing at least 10 percent of the instructional time for any reason – excused or unexcused absences – is one of the primary causes of low academic achievement. The Chronic Absenteeism Improvement Indicator contributes to the Indicators Met measure within the Achievement component. 

Technical Fact

Districts and schools will meet the indicator if they meet the established threshold or show improvement from the previous year by: 

  1. Meeting or exceeding the annual goal (12.6% for 2018-19 and 11.5% for 2019-20); or 
  2. Meeting an improvement standard relative to the starting point of each district or school. 

Baseline Chronic Absenteeism

Improvement Standard
36.7% or higher 1.1 percentage point
Lower than 36.7% 3%


The two improvement standards allow for attainable improvement for all districts and schools – regardless of their baselines or prior-year rates. The emphasis is to highlight the data and provide crucial supports to students in an effort to increase achievement. 

Last Modified: 9/13/2019 9:21:39 AM