Addressing Attendance to Increase Graduation Rates
Missing just 10% of school (2 days per month) can drastically affect a teen’s academic success and reduce graduation outcomes. “Students with disabilities are among those most frequently absent from school at every grade level,” (Civil Rights Data Collection 2013-2014). In fact, students with disabilities' chronic absence rate is 1.5 times higher than their non-disabled peers nationally.
The graphs below demonstrate the percent of students who demonstrate chronic absenteeism in Wisconsin, comparing both students with disabilities to their non-disabled peers as well as a comparison of students by race. In Wisconsin during the 2018-2019 school year chronic absenteeism is double for students with disabilities when compared to their non-disabled peers. Wisconsin sees disproportionate numbers of chronic absenteeism relating to race, making it imperative to utilize culturally responsive practices to support the increase of attendance with students of diverse cultural backgrounds.