Chronic Absence | Chicago Public Schools

Chronic Absence

This provides data about how often students miss school, specifically those who have missed 10 percent or more of their school days. The district will share information about how many students are missing school at each school and how this compares to network and district averages.

Why This Is Measured

Regular attendance is crucial throughout a student’s academic journey because students who miss too much school tend to have lower grades, are less likely to graduate, and may struggle in college.

Research demonstrates chronic absenteeism in Pre-K in CPS is predictive of chronic absenteeism in Kindergarten through Second Grade in CPS. Tracking chronic absenteeism starting in Pre-K allows schools and the district to intervene early, and provide resources and support for CPS students and families.
For elementary students, missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read.
By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school.
By 9th grade, attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.
Missing 10%, or 2 days a month, over the course of the school year, can affect a student’s academic success.

By partnering with families and collaboratively engaging district, school, and community resources, schools aim to understand and address the underlying factors contributing to student absenteeism. The goal is to develop targeted support strategies that help remove attendance barriers and ensure students can fully participate in their education. For more information, see the Attendance and Truancy website.

What To Consider

Chronic Absence is not the same thing as Chronic Truancy. All absences are factored into Chronic Absence, including valid excused absences. Since high schools generally have higher chronic absence rates than elementary schools, a more appropriate comparison is from the school to the network and not the District.

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KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - ALL

	All Students
School	45.5% 146
Network	40.5% 4,109
District	41% 141,108

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - All Students

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Asian

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Asian/Pacific Islander*

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Black/African American

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Latinx

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Multiracial

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Native American

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - Not Listed

KING ES - Chronic Absence Rate - White