Two-thirds of states used chronic absenteeism as a metric for school evaluation in recently submitted federal plans.
The indicator can be used to predict student performance and evaluate how schools are doing overall. But North Carolina chose not to include absenteeism as a factor when measuring schools, an omission that is likely due to a lack of awareness, according to Tracy Zimmerman, executive director of the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation. She says requirements to collect this data are new and educators and superintendents don’t always realize what the problem is, and more importantly, that there are opportunities to do something about it.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Tracy Zimmerman about chronic absenteeism and what schools can do to reduce it.
This is a rebroadcast. This story originally aired on October 11, 2017.
