A quarter of school-aged children don’t think missing three weeks of the school year is a problem, according to a new survey.
The results come as districts enter a new school year determined to drive down chronic absenteeism rates that shot up as school buildings reopened after pandemic closures and have remained elevated. It’s a complex problem that’s difficult to tackle without buy-in from parents, families, and students themselves.
While it’s true that about 75% of the students surveyed did think missing so much class time was a problem, that a quarter didn’t is still “really concerning,” said Melissa Kay Diliberti, an associate policy researcher at RAND who worked on the survey of about 1,300 students between March and May.
In their report, researchers estimated about 22% of students across the United States were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year, an increase from the prior year, when they estimated about 19% of American students were chronically absent—defined as missing at least 10% of school days for excused or unexcused reasons. Those totals are significantly higher than the estimated 15% of students who were chronically absent prior to the pandemic.
The most common reason kids identified for missing school in the RAND survey was illness (67%). Other reasons included feeling down or anxious (10%), oversleeping (9%), and being uninterested in attending (7%). About 4% said they missed school to care for a family member, 3% lacked transportation to school, and 1% reported work conflicts.
Diliberti and her team at RAND offered three ways districts can engage with parents and students to communicate the importance of being in class as often as possible.
Make sure parents are on the same page about the importance of attending school
Much of districts’ work to communicate the importance of not missing school focuses on engaging parents and caregivers. And rightfully so, Diliberti said.
“Kids probably adopt, to some degree, the attitudes that they are feeling from their parents or what they’re feeling at home,” Diliberti said. “So by convincing families the importance of being in school, you’re probably also convincing kids. You can attack the problem from multiple sides.”
Some districts have found success in modifying absence notification systems (like automated text messages and emails) to use more “parent-friendly language” and focusing more on how a student’s absences compare with their peers’, rather than citing legal codes or possible punishments for additional absences, according to the report.
Some also said parents responded well when districts highlighted what students miss when they’re absent—like interaction with their peers, live instruction, and the change to receive real-time help.
Create strong attendance habits early and give students a reason to attend
Students of different ages respond better to different approaches, the researchers said.
It’s important to create strong attendance habits for young students to avoid long-term problems, they said.
“If we let a kindergarten parent create bad habits for their child and think it’s all right for them not to come to school, then we’re going to be battling that forever,” one unnamed district leader said in the report.
So, some districts have focused on making sure the families of their youngest students understand why being in school is so important and when it’s appropriate to keep kids home if they are sick. They’ve also rewarded consistent attendance.
“The idea is, if you can get parent buy-in early and attack the problem at its base, you’re hopefully setting kids up for long-term success,” Diliberti said. You’re banking on the fact that’s going to carry through as your kid gets older.”
Older students might respond better to approaches that make their classes feel more relevant to their future goals, the researchers said.
Some district leaders they interviewed added career-connected learning opportunities and extracurricular activities. Some discussed developing a work-based learning program to give students opportunities in school to pursue their post-high school career plans. That gave kids a reason to attend school, they said.
“As kids get older and maybe have more choice about whether or not they themselves want to come to school, then it’s really about engagement and making kids feel like school is relevant for them and for their lives, and that they need to be here to set themselves up for their futures,” Diliberti said.
Partner with community organizations so families can get help they need
Sometimes, kids and families need more help than what schools themselves can provide. That’s where community organizations come in, Diliberti said.
Some district leaders found that partnering with local nonprofits, health care providers, universities, and government agencies to connect students with mental health care, medical services, and support to find housing helped address some of the challenges families have cited when explaining why their kids can’t always get to class, the report said.
