Chronic absenteeism has become one of the major challenges facing American schools. Students are missing more school than before the pandemic, when truancy was already labeled a national crisis.
The consequences are serious: lower grades, higher dropout rates and long-term economic and social damage.
Districts responded by spreading better messaging, expanding mental health services and working to remove logistical barriers. Yet the share of students missing 10 percent or more of the school year remains stubbornly high.
Part of the problem is that we don’t have detailed national data on Why students miss school. Until now. OUR Study Understanding America helps fill this gap.
In the survey, we asked parents and teens to report on every day missed during the 2024-25 school year, choosing from 23 specific reasons. In interviews, we discussed the contexts that led to absences and families’ attitudes towards absences in general – for example, when is it acceptable to miss school and why? Our results suggest that if we want to reduce absenteeism, we need to rethink which causes we target for intervention, and how. We need to understand — and intervene — the specific factors that cause student attendance problems.
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The disease is universal, but it does not represent the whole story. Almost all students miss school at least occasionally for physical health reasons – it’s simply the reality of school. But illness alone is not a major factor in chronic absenteeism.
When we look at students missing multiple days of school, it’s the less common reasons that contribute the most, such as suspensions, caring for family members, transportation barriers, mental health issues, and “not wanting to go.”
In some cases, these causes result in two to three times more days of absence per student than common illnesses. These are what we might call high impact, low prevalence factors. They affect a smaller number of students, but for these students, the absences accumulate.
We cannot ignore mental health either. Mental health issues are deeply linked to engagement, school climate, and family stress. Data shows that teens who report struggling with their emotional or psychological well-being miss an average of 12 more days than their peers who don’t. Behind these figures are students who, during our interviews, described mornings where presence seems impossible.
“Yeah, like really… like I don’t want to get out of bed. I’m just going to stay home because I don’t want to have a bad day trying to force myself out of it,” one teen told us.
Another described how anxiety develops before school: “There are times when it’s really hard for me to prepare, and I can already tell that I’m really anxious…and I know I wouldn’t be able to handle that if I went to school. »
Students are also clear about what could help them. “I think maybe they could offer more therapy or counseling, or more mental health days on campus… so students have a break,” one told us.
We cannot treat mental health as a marginal issue when it comes to solving the problem of absenteeism. Investments in counseling, calmer school environments, and proactive supports are not add-ons. These are strategies to improve attendance.
Perhaps the most striking finding of our survey is the extent to which student engagement is a predictor of attendance. Teenagers who say they care “a lot” about their performance in school miss about 10 fewer days per year than their peers who say they care less.
Students themselves recognize the role of motivation. “I feel like students just need to motivate themselves,” one teen said. “People just want to stay home and watch YouTube and do whatever they want, instead of going to school.”
But commitment is not just a matter of individual courage. Relationships matter.
“Sometimes it means a lot to know that a teacher cares about where you are or what’s going on in your life,” one student told us. Follow-up makes a big difference. “Teachers saying, ‘Hey, I saw you going through a tough time. Let me know if you need anything…’ to me, that makes me want to try harder.
Related: PROOF POINTS: The puzzle of chronic absenteeism
In other words, our survey and interview results tell us that students who feel seen and supported are more likely to show up. But to get there, schools need better data. Most current attendance systems focus on whether absences are “excused” or “unexcused.” This distinction may satisfy state or other reporting requirements, but it does not help illuminate root causes.
First, schools must gather systematic and specific information on Why students miss school, whether due to anxiety, caregiving responsibilities, transportation barriers, or disengagement, and they then direct policies and interventions toward what truly has the most impact.
Second, districts should target high-impact, low-prevalence causes with specific supports. A relatively small group of students may care for siblings, lack reliable transportation, or be repeatedly suspended. But for these students, these factors lead to chronic absence. Targeted interventions can produce outsized results.
Third, and most important, we need to reestablish engagement and expectations.
Improving engagement shouldn’t be an afterthought. Students who feel connected to school, who believe that adults care about them, who hear those adults talk about the importance of attending school, and who see the value in what they learn show dramatically better attendance patterns.
If we only focus on what is most common, we will miss what is most consequential. Our findings highlight the importance of tracking absences stemming from different root causes and the urgency of making school a place where students want and feel able to attend.
Amie Rapaport is co-director of the Center for Applied Research in Education at USC. Morgan Polikoff is a professor of education at the USC Rossier School of Education. Anna Saavedra, co-director of the Center for Applied Research in Education, contributed to this opinion article.
Contact the opinion editor at opinion@hechingerreport.org.
This story on chronic absenteeism was produced by The Hechinger reportan independent, nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Register with Hechingerweekly newsletter.
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