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Attendance, Belonging & Engagement

Every Day Matters logo with an orange pencil with black text that reads "School + You = Success" September is Attendance Awareness Month! 

Governor Kotek has proclaimed September as Attendance Awareness month in Oregon. Read all about it in the Governor's Office Newsroom. Use this month to set up structures and practices that support student belonging and engagement all year long!


Every Day Matters and Attendance SupportsA venn diagram with four circles: the top circle has an outline of an apple with text

Every Day Matters seeks to expand systemic support and advocacy to address barriers to attendance and examine and remove the root causes of chronic absenteeism, especially for focal student groups, through collaboration across systems both within ODE and with partners across the state. This contributes to higher levels of student engagement and belonging, increased student achievement, and greater preparation for students to create meaningful futures for themselves and their communities.

For more information, see specific pages on:



​Each student adds a unique presence to the learning community, and the learning journey is richer and deeper when classroom peers learn together. Students with regular attendance are much more likely to do well in school and beyond.

1. Attendance and Success: Good attendance is closely linked to doing well in school. When students are in school every day, they have more opportunities to learn and grow. On the flip side, if students are often absent, it's harder for them to stay on track.

     A. Elementary: Students who attend regularly in grades K-3 are more likely to read on grade level.

     B. Middle School: By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school.

     C. High School: By 9th grade, attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.

​​2. Absences Add Up: Every day of school counts towards your child's journey of growth and discovery. Chronic absence is defined as 18 days a year—or just 2 days a month – even if those absences are excused! Missing this much school in kindergarten can lower achievement in 1st grade and, for some students, through 5th grade.

3. Building Confidence: Being present when information is delivered is critical. When your child misses one day or one lesson, that means when they return to school, they may have missed something critical to their understanding of the next several days of instruction. Consistently attending school helps students stay on track and feel confident in their progress. When students are present and they're actively engaged in their learning journey, this boosts their motivation and eagerness to return to school each day.

4. Addressing Barriers: It's important to figure out what's keeping your child away from school and address it as soon as possible. Keep in mind complaints of a stomachache or headache can be a sign of anxiety and not a reason to stay home. Frequent absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with schoolwork, dealing with bullying or facing some other difficulty. Whether it's transportation issues, health problems, or something else, contact the school to support and help find solutions that can make a big difference in your child's attendance and success.

According to research conducted by Dr. Robert Balfanz, director of the Everyone Graduates Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Education, there are four main categories that are drivers of absenteeism: Barriers, Aversions, Disengagement and Misconceptions. A recent White House Summit on Chronic Absenteeism,​ presented by Dr. Robert Balfanz, Everyone Graduates Center, Johns Hopkins Univ. Hedy Chang, Attendance Works, highlighted the following continuing factors, as well as factors that have increased as a result of or since the pandemic:

Barriers (“Keeping you out of school”)

Increased by the Pandemic:

  • Family responsibilities—sibling, eldercare, etc.
  • High school students with jobs to support themselves and family.
  • Trauma and mental health

Continuing Fac​​​​tors: 

  • Chronic and acute illness.
  • Poor transportation.
  • Housing and food insecurity.
  • Lack of access to health care, eyeglasses, dentistry.
  • System involvement.
  • Community violence.

Aversions (“I do not want to go​​ to school”)

Increased by the Pandemic:

  • Social anxiety.
  • Peer challenges, including drama, teasing, or bullying.
  • Struggling academically and/or behaviorally.
  • Unwelcoming school climate. (E.g. unpredictable or feel excluded.)

Continuing Fac​tors: 

  • Biased disciplinary and suspension practices.
  • Undiagnosed disability and/or lack of disability accommodations.
  • Caregivers had negative educational experiences

Disengagement (“What is the point?”)

Increased by the Pandemic:

  • Lack of school connectedness—no meaningful relationships to adults and peers in the school.
  • Don’t see the connection between regular school attendance and important outcomes.

Continuin​​g Factors: 

  • Lack of challenging, culturally responsive instruction and enrichment opportunities. (I.g. bored.)
  • Doing poorly in classes. (E.g. lack of academic and behavioral support.)

Misconceptions (“I did not realize”)

Increased by the Pandemic:

  • Assume students must stay home for any symptom of illness.
  • Don’t have to be in school to succeed in school. (Can do assignments online.)

Continuing Fac​tors:

  • Absences are only a problem if they are unexcused.
  • Lose track and underestimate total absences.
  • Attendance only matters in the older grades.
  • Suspensions don’t count as absence.

Tackling the root causes of chronic absenteeism involves the whole education system. Partnerships between school districts, students and caregivers, community-based organizations, and ESDs are the pathways that center students’ sense of self, belonging, and well-being both within schools and the larger community. 

Every Day Matters logo with an orange pencil with black text that reads "School + You = Success"
EDM elevates partnerships and root cause understanding through multiple routes: 
  • EDM provides funding to all 19 Education Service Districts (ESDs) for technical assistance, coaching, and additional support for school districts and charter schools, specifically focusing on student attendance, belonging, and engagement. 
  • In the 2023-25 biennium, EDM is awarding grants to support community-centered approaches​ to addressing the root causes of chronic absenteeism. This grant aims to address chronic absenteeism in ways that create relational conditions that build trust and partnership between families, communities, districts, and ESDs to collectively address the barriers to student belonging, engagement and attendance in school.  
  • EDM's focus on relationships and engagement is scaled up through investments in High School Success, Career and Technical Education and the Student Investment Account. In March 2023, districts and charter schools submitted their Integrated Applications and Budgets. Applications required districts to reflect on disaggregated student data, to engage focal students and families, and apply an equity lens to their decision-making. Many districts centered student engagement through investments outlined in their Integrated plans. ODE staff support the alignment of coaching, technical assistance and additional support offered to districts working on student belonging and engagement, which were key components in the co-development of district Longitudinal Performance Growth Targets (LPGTs).  


Tribal Attendance Promising Practices TAPP logo
Tribal Attendance Promising Practices​ awards $1.9 million to support ten school districts in addressing the root causes of chronic absenteeism in American Indian/Alaska Native+ students. Oftentimes, the reporting out on state outcomes for American Indian/Alaska Native attendance does not reflect the true impact TAPP is making on our American Indian/Alaska Native+ students, families, and tribal communities, or on the districts receiving the grant. Because of this, in the 2022-23 school year, all ten TAPP districts analyzed their TAPP efforts monthly, using the three fundamental premises from the Coalition of Communities of Color: what community driven needs, challenges, and strengths do TAPP efforts make visible; in what ways do TAPP efforts represent the American Indian/Alaska Native community; and in what ways are TAPP efforts used to promote community self-determination? These questions allow for a more culturally responsive approach to data analysis, because it regularly centers the lived experience of American Indian/Alaska Native+ students, families, and communities in a TAPP site’s honest reflection on to what extent they are fulfilling their obligations to meet the needs of their American Indian/Alaska Native+ students, families, and tribal communities in order to address the root causes of chronic absenteeism.

The 2015 Oregon Legislature enacted House Bill (HB) 4002 which directed the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Chief Education Office (CEdO) to develop a joint statewide education plan​ to address chronic absences of students. HB 4002 also specified elements of the plan and directed the two agencies to collaborate with representatives of the Department of Human Services, Oregon Health Authority, Early Learning Division and community and education stakeholders. 

In the 2015-16 school year, nearly 102,000 students in Oregon - more than one in six children - were chronically absent from school. Nationally, Oregon’s chronic absenteeism rate consistently ranks within the bottom 20 percent of states. Chronic absenteeism in Oregon has a disproportionate impact on specific populations: Oregon’s American Indian and Alaska Native students, students with disabilities, students of color, students experiencing economic disadvantage and students who have received at least one out-of-school suspension. 

Chronic absenteeism is a concern for students in every grade, with higher rates in kindergarten and 1st grade and then again across all high school grades. These high absenteeism rates lead to devastating outcomes such as students dropping out, low graduation rates and even juvenile justice contacts. Chronic absenteeism is a complex issue that requires a thoughtful and complex response. Schools and students cannot fix this problem alone. 

Cross-sector partn​erships with local and state health agencies, community based organizations, community and business members and families must be leveraged to provide essential wraparound support to address the root causes of chronic absenteeism for all students. Creating these partnerships and welcoming school environments can impact absenteeism rates, high school graduation rates, school discipline and academic performance. Best and promising practices are most successful when they are systematically applied with knowledge of the local context.​​​​

​If you are interested in understanding chronic absenteeism and its impact on a child's success, you might appreciate the following reports:

If you have questions or are looking for specific information related to attendance, please contact us at ODE.EII@ode.oregon.gov.