Attendance isn't just about showing up. It's the foundation of student success.
When I talk with school leaders across Wisconsin, the conversation inevitably turns to a challenge that keeps them up at night: chronic absenteeism. The numbers tell a sobering story. In the 2023-24 school year, 134,597 Wisconsin students (17.7% of all students) were chronically absent, missing 10% or more of enrolled school days. That's nearly one in five students missing the equivalent of 18 days or more of instruction.
But here's what those numbers don't tell you: the story behind each absence, the cascade of consequences that follow, and most importantly, the proven strategies that can turn this trend around.
Let's be clear about what's at stake. By 9th grade, a student's chance of graduating from high school drops by 20% for every week they miss. Low-income students face a particularly steep challenge: they're three times more likely to be chronically absent due to transportation issues, chronic health conditions, and financial barriers.
Yet there's another side to this story that often gets overlooked. In 2023-24, 91.1% of Wisconsin's high school students graduated on time. Students identified as "Career Ready" demonstrate strong attendance as one of their key benchmarks. This tells us something crucial: when the conditions are right, students want to be in school.
The traditional approach to absenteeism has been reactive: track the absences, send the letters, involve the truancy officer. But what if we're asking the wrong questions?
Instead of asking "How do we get students back in their seats?" we need to start with "Why aren't they here in the first place?"
This shift in thinking (from compliance to understanding) is where real change begins. Through root cause analysis, successful schools are uncovering critical insights:
What's pushing students away?
What's pulling students in?
Success cause analysis flips the script entirely. Rather than only studying what's broken, high-performing schools examine what's working. What factors, supports, or practices drive high engagement for students who attend regularly? What patterns exist in your data that show students want to be there?
After working with dozens of districts, we've developed a problem-solving framework that moves schools from awareness to action. It's built on four connected elements:
Clearly define the problem through both root cause and success cause analysis. Challenge assumptions in your data. For example, 11% of kindergarten and first-grade students are chronically absent, often driven by factors like family mobility, living with a single parent, mental health problems, parental unemployment, and lack of understanding about school policies.
Define measurable, positive outcomes:
This is where your Student Services Team becomes essential: school counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and mental health navigators working together to strengthen student well-being and address barriers. The key is implementing a tiered approach:
Universal Supports (ALL students):
Targeted Supports (SOME students):
Intensive Supports (FEW students):
This framework only works if everyone understands the "why" behind the effort:
Attendance Works, a national leader in this space, reminds us that sustainable change requires foundational supports that promote positive conditions for learning. When these conditions are in place, attendance naturally improves because students are motivated to attend and engaged when they're there.
Four interconnected elements create this foundation:
Between 2022 and 2024, multiple districts in CESA 6 successfully reduced their chronic absenteeism rates. What did they do differently? They focused on their attendance data, examined their practices over time, and asked one critical question: "What does your school report card say about your district's 3-year trend?"
The answer to that question drives everything that follows.
Chronic absenteeism isn't just a data point on a report card. It's a call to action. It's an opportunity to examine our systems, challenge our assumptions, and recommit to the fundamental truth that every school day matters.
The students who aren't showing up aren't giving up on school. Often, they're waiting for school to show up for them differently. When we create conditions where students feel physically safe, emotionally connected, academically challenged, and genuinely supported, attendance stops being something we have to enforce and becomes something students choose.
Because when school is a place where students belong, they show up. And when they show up, everything else becomes possible.
Ready to tackle chronic absenteeism in your district? Start by examining your data through the IF-THEN-BY-SO THAT framework. What story is your attendance data telling? More importantly, what story could it tell three years from now?
For tools and resources mentioned in this post, including the Root Causes Worksheet from Attendance Works and Success Cause Analysis from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, visit www.attendanceworks.org