Chronic Absenteeism Calculation
Methodology for measuring performance on Chronic Absenteeism.This measure is based on the number of students who were chronically absent. Students are considered chronically absent if they are absent at least 10 percent of the instructional days that they were enrolled to attend in a school. A distinguishing feature of this measure is that the goal is reversed. For most of the other measures, the desired outcome is a high number or percent in the current year and an increase from the prior year. For this measure, however, the desired outcome is a low chronic absenteeism rate, which means a low percent in the current year and a decline from the prior year rate.
Calculations
In the 2019 Dashboard, performance on this measure is determined by (1) the percent of students in a school or district or student group who were absent for 10 percent or more of instructional days they were enrolled to attend, and (2) whether results (i.e., the chronic absenteeism rate) increased or declined between the prior year and the current one.
Current Year Chronic Absenteeism Formula
Number of Students Absent for 10 Percent or More of Instructional Days
divided by
Enrollment
Difference from the Prior Year Chronic Absenteeism Formula
Current Year Chronic Absenteeism Rate minus Prior Year Chronic Absenteeism Rate
Determining a Performance Level
Based on the current year and prior year data, a performance level (or color) will be given for this measure. The performance level is determined by using a five-by-five colored grid.
Example: Temple Middle School has the following chronic absenteeism data:
- In the current year, its chronic absenteeism rate was 7.0 percent (i.e., 7 percent of its students were absent at least 10 percent of the instructional days)
- From the prior year to the current one, the chronic absenteeism rate increased by 3 percent
Using the five-by-five grid for Chronic Absenteeism, we see that a chronic absenteeism rate of 7 percent is considered "Medium" (see left column). At the same time, an increase of 3 percentage points from the prior year is significant (see top row). On the grid, "Medium" and "Increased Significantly" intersect at the Orange performance level.
Performance Level | Increased Significantly from Prior Year (by 3.0% or more) |
Increased from Prior Year (by 0.5% to less than 3.0%) |
Maintained from Prior Year (declined or increased by less than 0.5%) |
Declined from Prior Year (by 0.5% to less than 3.0%) |
Declined Significantly from Prior Year (by 3.0% or more) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Very Low 2.5% or less in Current Year |
Yellow |
Green |
Blue |
Blue |
Blue |
Low More than 2.5% to 5.0% in Current Year |
Orange | Yellow | Green | Green | Blue |
Medium More than 5.0% to 10.0% in Current Year |
Orange Temple Middle School |
Orange |
Yellow | Green |
Green |
High More than 10.0% to 20.0% in Current Year |
Red | Orange |
Orange |
Yellow | Yellow |
Very High More than 20.0% in Current Year |
Red | Red |
Red |
Orange |
Yellow |