Testimony Before the DC Council Committee of the Whole on Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy Oversight
By Nicole Travers, Senior Director of School Support & Program Data
Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Committee. My name is Nicole Travers, and I am the Senior Director of School Support & Program Data at the DC Charter School Alliance, the local non-profit that advocates on behalf of public charter schools, to ensure every student can choose high-quality public schools that prepare them for lifelong success.
The rates of chronic absenteeism in schools have been devastating in recent years. We know that missing valuable class time takes a toll on students’ learning and impacts their long-term success. Irregular attendance can be a predictor of high school dropout, which is linked to poor labor market prospects, diminished health, and involvement in the criminal justice system.
Nationally, chronic absenteeism rates surged to about 29% in the 2021-22 school year, then decreased to around 25% the following year. In our city’s schools, these numbers escalated even higher. In 2021-22, chronic absenteeism rates were 48%. They trended slightly down to 43% the next year and down again in 2023-24 to 39% (1). These rates are trending in the right direction, but are still incredibly high.
At the DC Charter School Alliance, we are laser-focused on steady improvement of chronic absenteeism in our schools, year over year. We’d like to thank the Chairman for continuing to make tackling school attendance issues a top priority; Councilmember Parker and members of the Council for their ongoing support in finding ways to address the challenges with chronic absenteeism; and the Deputy Mayor of Education and the Mayor for ensuring the contribution of the charter school voice to the Every Day Counts task force.
DC’s Charter Schools’ Bright Spots in Reducing Chronic Absenteeism
The DC Alliance supports our schools in improving attendance rates. For over a year, we have been leading monthly Student Support Leader Sessions for all types of school staff to connect, build networks, and forge partnerships across LEAs. More than 60% of charter LEAs have engaged in conversations on a variety of topics, from strategies for increasing attendance to supporting students with disabilities, to helping students get to school safely. LEAs also discussed their School Support Team (SST) structures and how they support at-risk students and families by connecting them with community resources and partners offering essential wraparound services for the most vulnerable students. This group provides support for student-facing leaders to collaborate on strategies and best practices to address barriers contributing to chronic absenteeism.
From school year 2021-22 through school year 2022-23, 19 charter LEAs made great strides in decreasing rates of chronic absenteeism by at least 10 percentage points. Similarly, 27% of charter schools increased their in-seat attendance rates from 2021-22 to 2023-24 by at least 5 percentage points. Among the LEAs at the top of the list was KIPP DC PCS with chronic absenteeism rates decreasing by 27 percentage points from 2021-22 to 2022-23. KIPP DC Valor also had high in-seat attendance growth from 2021-22 to 2023-24 of 14 percentage points. Similarly, Harmony DC PCS and Digital Pioneers Academy PCS had significant growth in their in-seat attendance rates from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
Many LEAs in the district have developed strategies to increase attendance rates and are seeing real results:
E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, for example, has incorporated social-emotional learning standards into its overall schoolwide culture, including everyday classroom environment & curriculum which has helped teachers build skills and develop strong relationships with their students and families. The work has yielded significant improvements in student attendance, reducing chronic absenteeism by 19 percentage points from 2021-22 to 2022-23. At the high school level, in seat attendance jumped from 78.1% in 2021-22 to 86.3% in 2023-24.
DC Scholars reduced their chronic absenteeism rate by 10 percentage points from SY 21-22 to SY22-23 by implementing data-driven practices, including the use of a new LEA data platform to inform schedule adjustments, analyze student attendance trends by day of the week, and develop attendance contracts. They’ve also seen steady growth in their in seat attendance rates from 81% in 2021-22 to 85% in 2023-24.
Barriers to Success in Tackling Chronic Absenteeism
For many chronically absent students, absenteeism is an expression of an unmet need:
Transportation and Safety: We continue to see challenges in students’ ability to access safe and efficient modes of transportation to and from school. While we appreciate programs like DC School Connect and the OSSE Department of Transportation (DOT) Monthly Parent Stipend Program that provide transportation resources and reimbursement for safe travel to and from school for students with disabilities, many families still face challenges with safe, efficient transportation, impacting student attendance. Johns Hopkins researchers found when violent crime doubles on a student’s commute to and from school, predicted attendance is expected to decrease by about 10%. Chronic absenteeism is intricately linked to public safety in DC.
Basic Needs: Many families face homelessness or housing instability, food insecurity and/or lack of child care - all of which are prioritized ahead of math and reading. These needs go beyond the scope of what a school can provide. Our schools report families frequently struggle to access benefits and secure support from a variety of programs for which they are eligible like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child care assistance, emergency shelter and other housing assistance. Many families are in desperate need of wraparound services and assistance navigating existing support programs.
Health: Undertreated chronic health conditions, lack of access to care, and anxiety or other mental health issues are one of the top reasons students miss so many days of school. For example, the epidemic of asthma, unaddressed for many children, contributes to high rates of excused absences.
Recommendations to Improve Rates of Chronic Absenteeism in DC
First, we urge the Council to consider expanding and adequately funding existing and effective intervention programs and initiatives in DC that suffer from capacity limitations. Several programs help connect students and families with the safety net they need to address the underlying causes of absenteeism. They include the Parent and Adolescent Support Services (PASS) Intensive Case Management program, the Alternatives to the Court Experience (ACE) Diversion Program, the Abating Truancy Through Engagement and Negotiated Dialogue (ATTEND) Mediation Program, and Family Strengthening Collaboratives in DC.
Our schools report strong success with ACE and ATTEND, but success with the PASS program has been more limited. While an LEA can refer a student to the PASS program, the parent must then accept the program assistance. Given the challenges with this model, we encourage the Council and the Administration to work together to strengthen the PASS program to further incentivize parental participation. We also recommend ensuring the Family Strengthening Collaboratives are well resourced with mental health clinicians, to support more families citywide and complement the existing work of school-based mental health clinicians so the needs of the whole family are addressed, allowing schools to focus on students’ educational needs.
Second, we need more frequent publicly available data on attendance to understand if efforts are successful in reducing absenteeism. We applaud OSSE for instituting mid-year attendance reports for the first time last year. We recommend the agency continue to release reports more frequently during the school year to allow LEAs to analyze how they’re progressing against their peers, share best practices, and learn from one another.
Finally, we encourage city leaders, elected officials, business leaders, and the faith community to come together with school leaders and advocates to align on a strategy that reframes the importance of coming to school regularly. A campaign using levers that resonate with students and families, like PSAs on the radio, advertising at bus stops, guidance from medical professionals, and incentives from businesses, can make meaningful behavior shifts.
These types of coordinated citywide interventions are yielding great reductions in chronic absenteeism, like in Providence, Rhode Island where rates have dropped by 20 percentage points from 57% to 37% from 2022 to 2024 and in Richmond, Virginia where chronic absenteeism rates have dropped by 15 percentage points from 2022 to 2024.
Moving Forward
Chronic absenteeism is a multi-faceted and critically urgent issue that requires a well-coordinated approach. Our school leaders care deeply about addressing the factors driving low attendance and urge the city to double down on its investments in mechanisms that drive attendance. The DC Alliance looks forward to continuing our partnership with the Council and the Administration to ensure students are safe and in classrooms to consistently engage in school.
Thank you for your time and attention, and I welcome your questions.
Citations
Estimated based on DCPS and PCSB overall SY23-24 chronic absenteeism rates.
