Nationwide, an estimated one in 10 students are chronically absent. While California does not know the precise number of chronically absent students in middle and high school, a 2014 analysis by the California Attorney General’s office found that an estimated 250,000 elementary students are chronically absent. The highest levels were in kindergarten.

Whether excused or not, absences add up. The resulting loss of instructional time can be substantial and, for many students, the academic consequences are decidedly negative. Children who are chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are much less likely to read proficiently by the end of third grade and are more likely to have poor attendance in later grades. By middle and high school, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign that a student will drop out. This is especially true for those students living in poverty, who need school the most and are sometimes getting the least.

The good news is that chronic absence is a problem we can solve. Attendance improves when schools and communities work with families to monitor absences and to identify and address barriers that re keeping students from getting to class. While everyone can help students show up every day, principals are uniquely positioned to ensure their schools adopt a comprehensive, tiered approach to improving attendance that fits with their overall approach to promoting academic achievement. Such a tiered approach is easily incorporated into existing reforms that can be expanded to include specific attention to chronic absence data and support to cultivate good attendance.