Attendance Recovery and Data - Legislative Report

California Department of Education
Report to the Chairs of Legislative Budget Committees, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Executive Director of the State Board of Education, and the Director of the Department of Finance: Attendance Recovery: Absences Reporting and Recommendations for Chronic Absenteeism

Executive Summary

Pursuant to Senate Bill 153 (Chapter 38, Statutes of 2024), California Education Code (EC) Section 46211(i), the California Department of Education (CDE) is required to provide this report.

The report is required to include research on local pupil information systems to identify opportunities for local educational agencies (LEAs) to collect and report to the state more nuanced data (than is currently collected by the state) about the reasons for pupil absences; investigate opportunities to use and improve existing LEA student information systems (SISs) to more accurately track pupil absences and the reasons for pupil absences based on EC sections 41422 and 46392; and provide recommendations, based on the research, to amend existing laws, regulations, guidance, and processes to collect aggregated and disaggregated absenteeism data from LEAs to provide additional clarity on the causes of pupil absenteeism across the state (by student subgroup) and steps to calculate an adjusted chronic absenteeism rate that does not include absences due to emergencies pursuant to EC Section 46392.

The CDE conducted research as required by EC Section 46211 to evaluate opportunities for LEAs to improve the collection and reporting of student absence data, particularly regarding absences due to emergencies. This report reviewed current data collection practices, relevant statutes, and the potential impact of collecting more detailed absence information.

Full Report

Attendance Recovery: Absences Reporting and Recommendations for Chronic Absenteeism (DOCX)