Measures · 4 min read
Attendance: two numbers, two stories
Average daily attendance and chronic absence come from the same records, but they answer different questions. A Strategic Plan needs both.
Two numbers
Average daily attendance is the share of students in school on a typical day. It stays high even when a group of students misses a lot, because most students are there most days.
Chronic absence counts students, not days: the share who miss 10% or more of the school year for any reason, excused or not, including suspensions. That's about 18 days in a 180-day year, or two days a month. It points to the students who need help.
What it looks like
Northfield's daily attendance was 94.6% last year, up from 92.8%. On its own, that reads as done. Next to it, chronic absence shows the work left: 13% of students, down from 21%.
Northfield Public Schools is a fictional demo district. See it live (opens in a new tab).
Three tactics
Put chronic absence on the public page
Keep daily attendance if your board expects it, but make chronic absence the measure the goal is judged by.
Count every kind of absence
Excused, unexcused and suspensions all cost learning time. Counting only unexcused absences hides students who are sick or kept home often.
Check it monthly, report it yearly
A monthly count of students already past 10% is a leading measure. It tells schools who to call this week, long before the year-end number.
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