Beyond the Roll Call: Reducing Chronic Absence Through State Action
This brief is our sixth annual review examining the progress to date on state attendance data, policy and practice known to improve student attendance and outcomes. State leadership is crucial to reducing student chronic absence. States — particularly state education agencies, state policymakers and legislators — can ensure that attendance data is not just collected but also used to support ongoing early intervention and prevention-oriented responses. While districts are the cornerstone for sustainable change in schools and communities, states are essential to ensuring that effective practices for improving attendance are implemented at scale.
Based on an examination of websites for the 50 states and Washington, D.C., and a survey of state education departments completed in spring 2026, this year’s report focuses on building a robust, comparable attendance data system, ensuring localities can access data to drive solutions and recommendations for how states can accelerate progress.
Our review shows that a majority of U.S. states are promoting data-informed and prevention-oriented solutions to reduce student chronic absence in schools. These actions by states from different regions indicate a growing consensus on how to move forward on an issue that is having a detrimental impact on student well-being and achievement nationwide. Swift action from states to ensure attendance data is not just collected, but is used to support early, preventive action at the local level is crucial to turn around today’s persistent chronic absence.
The summary report offers highlights from our research, and the technical report offers an in-depth discussion of the findings. A table describes each state’s attendance policy and practice as well as the available chronic absence data.