Understanding how the nation’s school principals have responded to the rise in chronic absenteeism is crucial to understanding the mixed pace of improvement to date, as well as the actions which could accelerate declines in chronic absenteeism more broadly.
Three years of data show that schools implementing student success systems with GRAD Partnership support continue to achieve substantial progress in reducing chronic absenteeism and course failure rates — two strong predictors of high school graduation and postsecondary success.
This new analysis from researchers at the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University identifies how many districts experienced substantial pandemic-era increases in chronic absenteeism, which types of districts were most affected, and how many returned to close to pre-pandemic levels by the 2023–2024 or 2024–2025 school years. The report pays special attention to districts nationwide that had at least a 10 percentage point increase in chronic absenteeism from pre- to post-pandemic.
A Better Chicago: Addressing Chronic Absenteeism in Chicago (September, 2025) summarizes what is known about reducing chronic absenteeism, and notes that student success systems are an effective solution and a core part of any comprehensive intervention. Findings also highlight the critical role of school connectedness, and collaboration across an ecosystem of schools, partners, and communities working together to support students.
This joint effort from NCLD, the GRAD Partnership and WestEd highlights critical barriers facing students with learning disabilities (LD) and offers a roadmap and call to action for schools, districts, and policymakers to better support high school completion and postsecondary transitions.
Schools implementing student success systems with GRAD Partnership support continue to achieve substantial progress in reducing chronic absenteeism and course failure rates — two strong predictors of high school graduation and postsecondary success. After two years of implementation work, schools, on average, experienced a 32% decline in the percent of students failing one or more courses, and a 28% decline in chronically absent students.
On May 1, 2025, GRAD Partnership organizing partner, RISE Network, released a new study demonstrating the efficiency of the On-Track (Student Success) Coach strategy
A 20-year campaign to address America’s high school dropout crisis produced unprecedented gains in graduation rates nationwide. Can lessons from this campaign help the nation cross this elusive threshold and inspire action on other social issues?
May 2024 EdResearch for Action brief exploring evidence on strategies to build a sense of school connectedness and engagement among all students.
What does a doubling of the number of students who are missing a month or more of schooling in the school year mean? What do the numbers tell us about the challenges our schools and communities face, and what does the evidence base say about the types of solutions and responses that are needed to meet them?