SAN FRANCISCO, February 2, 2021 – Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, one out of 6, or 8 million students experienced some level of chronic absenteeism in the U.S., according to an analysis of the most recent federal data. Those with the most absences are also in the groups hardest hit during the pandemic by poor health, economic hardship and unequal access to schooling.

The Using Chronic Absence to Map Interrupted Schooling, Instructional Loss and Educational Inequity: Insights from School Year 2017-18 Data report, released today by Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center, shows how chronic absence data reported prior to the pandemic can help guide strategies to address the learning loss that has been further exacerbated by Covid-19.