Chronic Absenteeism Calculation

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.