Chronic Absence in Hawaii Chronic Absence in Hawaii: How many students are chronically absent in Hawaii’s schools? How does Hawaii compare to other states?

Chronic Absence a Huge National Problem Nationwide, over 6 million students missed 15 or more days of school in 2013-14. That’s 13 % of the student population or 1 in 8 students. Source: U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection

Among secondary schools, three million students (18 percent) were chronically absent. Among elementary schools, chronic absence affected a greater number, 3.5 million students. In this heat map, the darker the color, the higher the level of chronic absence. Chronic absence affects 89% of all districts in the U.S. However, it is highly concentrated in particular districts and schools. Half of all chronically absent students live in communities served by 4% of the districts in the country. [Source: http://www.attendanceworks.org/research/preventing-missed-opportunity/] http://www2.ed.gov/datastory/chronicabsenteeism.html

How does Hawaii compare to the national average How does Hawaii compare to the national average? According to OCR 2013-14 data, 20% or 1 in 5 of Hawaii’s students missed 15 days or more of the school year. Hawaii’s chronic absence rate is higher than the national average of 13%.

Reflecting the impact that chronic absenteeism has on student performance, Hawaii has extended its use of chronic absenteeism as an indicator in its Strive HI Index from elementary schools to middle/intermediate schools and high schools in SY 2015-16. http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/StriveHI/StriveHI141516update.pdf Impact of ESSA: http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/VisionForSuccess/AdvancingEducation/StriveHIPerformanceSystem/Pages/ESSA.aspx#account http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/StriveHI/StriveHI141516update.pdf Additional measures 

http://www. hawaiipublicschools http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/StriveHI/StriveHI141516update.pdf These additional measures were originally going to be added as “bonus points” for the school. However, the impending transition to a revised accountability system in SY 2017-2018 that complies with the new federal law (ESSA) has led to the decision that the SY 2016-2017 will be a transition year in which points are not awarded and schools will maintain their classification from the previous school year. Instead, data on these additional measures will further serve to inform schools rather than be used to calculate an accountability score. Please refer to the March 3, 2016 “Impact of Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”) Transition on Revisions to Strive HI Performance System for 2015-2016 School Year” memo for further information. http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/StriveHI/StriveHI141516update.pdf

Hawaii DOE: Definition of Chronic Absence In addition to an end-of-year accountability measure, Hawaii DOE is using chronic absence as part of its early warning system. School leaders can see with the traffic-lighted reports whether students are on-track—missing less that 5% of the year to date, approaching off-track—missing 5%-8.5% of days or off-track, missing more than 8.5% of days.

Chronic Absence in Hawaii: Trends Since Hawaii Public Schools began tracking its chronic absence rates, it has seen a small decline from 21.8% in 2010.

Chronic absenteeism is correlated with lower test scores and growth for students… This training is part of the effort to reduce chronic absence rates as chronic absence has been correlated with lower test scores in reading and math for Hawaii’s students.

There is a significant negative relationship between chronic absenteeism and Hawaii’s students’ course marks Effect of Chronic Absenteeism on Annual GPA Being chronically absent is associated with a half-point decline in one's GPA. Similarly, chronic absenteeism is associated with lower GPA.

Past chronic absenteeism, even from several years ago is one of the best predictors of chronic absenteeism today. Increased Likelihood of Being Chronically Absent Based on Chronic Absenteeism Status in Previous Years Past chronic absenteeism, even from several years ago is one of the best predictors of chronic absenteeism today. *compares students with similar disadvantages and similar test scores