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Washington State Institute for Public Policy

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Publications

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Chronic Absenteeism in Washington's K–12 Schools: What Schools Are Doing to Reduce Absenteeism
Open Publication PDF

Julia Cramer - July 2025


WSIPP receives funding from the legislature to conduct research on K–12 education topics. This report focuses on chronic absenteeism in Washington K–12 schools. A student is considered chronically absent when they miss 10% or more days in a school year. Chronic absenteeism is associated with poor academic and non-academic outcomes across all grades.

For this report, we interviewed staff working on attendance and reengagement efforts in eight out of nine Educational Service Districts (ESDs). We summarize their perspectives on why students are chronically absent, what schools are doing to improve attendance, and the challenges they face.

ESD staff reported that students miss school mostly because of illness or mental health issues. Often, students experience situations outside of their control that require them to stay home. Lack of belonging, falling behind in schoolwork, and changing schools are other common reasons.

We learned that schools are most commonly using data to inform attendance efforts, creating attendance teams with dedicated staff focused on attendance initiatives, using communication strategies to educate students and families about the importance of attendance, building relationships with students so they feel welcome at school, and sometimes implementing competitions and incentives to encourage better attendance.

Schools have limited staffing, sometimes prioritize other things besides attendance, struggle to collect and analyze data, and face shifting mindsets about attendance from students and families after the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which challenge their ability to reduce absenteeism.

This is the first report on chronic absenteeism. In June 2026, we will report on the evidence base for interventions on attendance on student outcomes.

Download:   Report    Executive Summary  
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