Indiana Developing Online Dashboard to Boost K-12 Attendance

During the previous academic year, Indiana’s chronic absenteeism rate for K-12 students was 19.3 percent, meaning nearly 1 in 5 students missed about three and a half weeks of school. That rate is 8 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to the state’s Department of Education. Moreover, 84 districts have reported chronic absenteeism rates as high as 50 percent. Grade 12 has the highest rate in the state, at 33 percent, and grade nine was at 21 percent. And for all grades, only 64 percent of students have an attendance rate of 94 percent or higher. For state education leaders, those figures suggested an urgent need for a digital tool to help districts identify students who are at risk of not graduating from high school and provide educators with appropriate resources to improve attendance rates.

Now an early warning dashboard is in the development phase, with delivery to all districts planned for the start of the 2024-2025 academic year. Some districts will have the opportunity to pilot the tool in the weeks and months ahead, according to a news release last week.

On the day of the announcement, Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) representatives gave an information session on why the early warning dashboard is needed and what they hope it can do.

“Schools across the country are facing similar challenges when it comes to declining student attendance, including Indiana,” Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said in a public statement. “We know the positive impact that a high-quality educator can make, but that impact is only possible when students come to school ... making attendance particularly important as we work together to help students recover from the academic impacts of the pandemic, as well as ensure all students have foundational knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the future. Indiana’s chronic absenteeism rate also underscores the urgency behind the state’s ongoing work to rethink the high school experience and, ultimately, ensure more parents and students see the value in education. It has never been more important for parents, educators and community leaders to work together to ensure students are attending school, thus providing them the best possible chance for long-term success.”

According to the news release, the dashboard will identify at-risk students as those who have less than an 80 percent chance of graduating from high school on time. Attendance will be among several indicators for identifying students in that category. After the tool identifies who is at risk and why, it will be expected to narrow in on all of the areas of difficulty for the at-risk student, whether attendance, academic performance, disciplinary records or other factors, and provide educators guidance for discussions with families.

“This information is intended to be shared directly with parents and families to provide support in the home as well as at school,” department spokeswoman Molly Williams wrote in an email. “Educators will also be able to export individual indicators and profiles to guide increased discussion and engagement with families.”

The Oct. 4 presentation, which is available on the IDOE website, also noted the following:

• Students who struggle in math and English language arts also had greater rates of chronic absenteeism.
• Statewide rates indicated racial and income disparity in chronic absenteeism in the 2022-2023 school year, with African American students at 30.7 percent, followed by Hispanic students at 24.4 percent. Students who are still learning English were at 20.5 percent, and those eligible for free and reduced lunch were at 25.9 percent.
• Nationally, about a quarter of all students qualified as chronically absent in the 2021-2022 academic year.

Nationwide data on chronic absenteeism among K-12 students from the most recent academic year is not yet available.