Posted on: 01/22/2025

Still Missing Too Much School

Still Missing Too Much School

A Follow-Up Analysis of Arizona Chronic Absence Trends in Grades 1–8

Reducing chronic absence rates requires the entire community united in the effort - families and caregivers, schools, districts, and the state. When students miss too much school, they lose out on critical opportunities to learn, grow and succeed. Consistent school attendance is critical to unlocking a student's potential.

Students across the country and in Arizona continue to miss too much school. After chronic absence rates spiked nationally during the pandemic, they have been slow to improve and remain well above pre-pandemic levels. This is true even though schooling has normalized, and the severe and widespread disruptions that we saw during the pandemic have largely disappeared.

In Arizona, new research by Helios Education Foundation and WestEd reveals that 29% of public school students in grades 1-8 were chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year. That’s an improvement from the 34% spike in 2021-22 but still more than double that of pre-pandemic levels.  

Students are considered chronically absent in Arizona if they miss at least 10% of the school year. However, the state’s chronic absence definition does not fully account for students who change schools mid-year – those students have some of the highest chronic absence rates. For example, the chronic absence rate among mobile 8th graders reached a staggering 55% in 2022-23.

These high rates of chronic absence in Arizona have significant consequences for teaching, learning, and student achievement. Chronic absence is associated with poor learning outcomes, patterns of subsequent absence in later grades, higher school dropout rates, and harmful impacts on school culture. 

The data behind Arizona's chronic absence issue
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Download the "Still Missing Too Much School" Report

Explore Helios Education Foundation and WestEd's findings

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Chronic absence rates in the 2022-23 school year were more than twice as high as they were pre-pandemic. This was the case for nearly every grade and for all student groups. 

Students who changed schools during the school year were especially likely to experience chronic absence. Those enrolled in the Arizona Online Instruction program also had higher chronic absence rates compared to students in traditional, in-person schools. 

The post-pandemic student cohort had the highest rates of chronic absence. A cohort analysis comparing chronic absence rates across pre-, mid-, and post-pandemic student groups reveals that students in the post-pandemic cohort who started 5th grade in 2020 had higher levels of chronic absence in 9th grade in 2023 than the other two cohorts.

This pattern continued into high school, indicating that the learning disruptions caused by the pandemic may have had a lasting impact on students’ attendance patterns. 

The gaps in chronic absence rates between vulnerable student groups and their peers have not closed, but they also did not continue to widen post-pandemic.

Even still, chronic absence rates remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. This is particularly true for Native Americans, English Language Learners, Latinos and economically disadvantaged students. 

Key findings from "Still Missing Too Much School"

About the data

Helios Education Foundation, in partnership with WestEd, has been analyzing chronic absence in Arizona since the pandemic. Our latest research brief, "Still Missing Too Much School," provides insights into chronic absence trends among Arizona public school students in grades 1–8 using data provided by the Arizona Department of Education. This study is a follow-up to a previous analysis published in 2022. 

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