School Absenteeism: Missed Days & Missed Opportunities
Published October 22, 2025
One in four U.S. public-school students is now chronically absent, missing at least ten percent of the school year. This surge in school absenteeism widens learning gaps, limits opportunity, and weakens civic readiness. Confronting the problem requires targeted action—tracking attendance data in real time, diagnosing local causes, engaging parents, and restoring community norms around daily attendance. Each missed day compounds into missed skills and missed opportunities. Reversing this trend is vital to preparing the next generation to sustain America’s prosperity and civic life.
Check out more from Thomas Dee:
- Read "School Absenteeism Remains Stubbornly High in US: 1 in 4 Chronically Absent" by Thomas Dee here.
- Read "Understanding the Promise and Reality of Continuous Improvement in US Public Schools" by Thomas Dee here.
- Read "Learning from the Past: School Accountability before ESSA" by Thomas Dee here.
Learn more about Thomas Dee here.
__________
The opinions expressed in this video are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.
© 2025 by the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University.
America faces a nationwide educational crisis - school absenteeism. One in four public school students is now chronically absent, missing at least 10% of the school year. Missed classroom time widens learning gaps, blocks access to higher education, and weakens civic readiness, undermining America's long-term economic strength. Before 2020, about 15% of public school students were chronically absent. By 2023, it was 28% with an additional 6.5 million students missing 18 school days or more. The causes differ by community, ranging from mental health challenges, transportation barriers, a lack of engaging instruction, and school safety concerns. But one significant change seems broadly relevant. The expectation that students attend school every day has faded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Restoring that expectation is imperative. Simple. Well-timed communications to parents, texts, and postcards. Brief reminders have shown exceptional promise, reducing absenteeism by up to 20%. Furthermore, these interventions are low-cost and usually easy to implement at scale. State-level efforts to publicize real-time attendance data can similarly promote needed awareness of the importance of school attendance. Local school districts can also contribute by diagnosing the underlying attendance barrier specific to their communities, whether it's transportation, safety, instructional quality, or disengagement, and tailoring initiatives accordingly missed days become missed skills. Missed skills become missed. Opportunities. School attendance must be treated as a national priority. It will determine whether the next generation of students will be equipped to lead America effectively.