蜜桃影视

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter

This story is part of our SPOTLIGHT series focusing on the state of education in Oklahoma. Read more here.

鈥淭aylor dropped a new album.鈥�

鈥淩esting up from my vacay.鈥�

鈥淣etflix binge last night.鈥�

Those were among the 鈥渓ame excuses鈥� for missing school that Oklahoma鈥檚 Union Public Schools featured during the 2024-25 school year, part of a humorous campaign intended to reduce chronic absenteeism.

Behind the comical posters, however, leaders were troubled by the data. During the 2022-23 school year, 29% of students missed at least 10% of the school year. At Union High School, the rate soared to 43%.

鈥淚 think there have been huge changes in behavior since COVID,鈥� said Chris Payne, spokesman for the Tulsa-area district. He echoed what policy experts and school leaders nationwide have been saying since rates skyrocketed after schools fully reopened. 鈥淚 think people reprioritized and decided, 鈥榊ou know, I’ve got things I need to take care of.鈥� 鈥�

In addition to the attendance campaign, staff met with parents and visited students鈥� homes to find out why they were missing school. But starting in 2027, Oklahoma schools will no longer be judged on whether those chronic absenteeism rates go up or down. The legislature voted last year to remove the indicator from the state鈥檚 education accountability system as a factor that contributes to a school鈥檚 overall grade and can determine whether a school is labeled in need of improvement. 

Among , teachers and administrators, there鈥檚 a sense of relief.

鈥淚’m not sure that it’s fair to evaluate schools based on something that we cannot control,鈥� said Mike Simpson, superintendent of the Guthrie Public Schools, north of Oklahoma City. Originally in favor of making chronic absenteeism a factor in schools鈥� A-F grades, he no longer thinks it鈥檚 a good way to assess schools.

Oklahoma鈥檚 most , for 2024-25, gives the state a D for the percentage of students with good attendance. Its chronic absenteeism rate of 19% is far from the worst in the nation, but it鈥檚 still 5 percentage points above the state鈥檚 pre-pandemic level of 14%. Data from shows the rate stands at about 21%. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just an Oklahoma thing,鈥� Simpson said. 鈥淚’ve got colleagues and friends all over the country, and they’re fighting some of the same challenges.鈥�

Oklahoma isn鈥檛 the first state to remove chronic absenteeism from its accountability system. Arkansas took it out in 2024 as part of . Illinois officials have recommended replacing chronic absenteeism with , and now reports broader attendance data rather than just chronic absenteeism.

鈥楽tates already had the data鈥�

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires state accountability systems, and the report cards available to the public include indicators of academic performance, graduation rates, progress in learning English and an additional measure of student success. For that last metric, 38 states chose chronic absenteeism.

The U.S. Department of Education confirmed that it鈥檚 currently considering the state鈥檚 request to replace chronic absenteeism with a new measure, but so far, state officials haven鈥檛 said what that鈥檚 going to be. The challenge will be landing on a K-12 data point that is comparable across Oklahoma鈥檚 more than 500 districts, said Paige Kowalski, executive vice president for the Data Quality Campaign. The nonprofit has published reviews of state report cards since 2016.

Chronic absenteeism 鈥渨as an inexpensive indicator to implement because states already had the data,鈥� she said. Adopting a new measure, she said, could require districts to pay for changes to their student information systems and spend time training staff to collect and input the data. In addition, she said, it takes two years to ensure data is reliable enough to use in decisions about school ratings.

But the connections between chronic absenteeism and student achievement are backed by years of research. , for example, showed that a 1% increase in attendance was linked to a 1.5% jump in third graders passing the state reading test. showed that students who were chronically absent in middle school had lower math scores and were less likely to graduate on time than those who didn鈥檛 miss as much school. 

Kowalski said there鈥檚 plenty schools can do to improve attendance. Reducing bullying, increasing teacher retention and challenges, she said, can address some of the reasons students miss school.

Transportation surfaced as a barrier when the Union district surveyed parents, teachers and students on the issue. But teachers were far less likely than parents to say that reliable transportation would improve attendance 鈥� 25% compared to 47%. There were also stark differences between parents and students. Twenty-three percent of students said mental health reasons kept them home, while 12% of parents said that was a common explanation. 

Tulsa makes progress

Some communities in Oklahoma have adopted a tough posture toward parents whose children are frequently absent. Erik Johnson, a Republican district attorney in the southeastern part of the state, has prosecuted and jailed parents to force compliance with the law. 

Prior to the pandemic, Guthrie allowing police to fine parents for their kids鈥� truancy, but Simpson, the superintendent, said those measures didn鈥檛 鈥渕ove the needle.鈥�

In Tulsa, the state鈥檚 largest district, Board Member Stacey Woolley said she鈥檚 glad chronic absenteeism is no longer part of the grading formula because the indicator lowered schools鈥� scores.聽

鈥淎t the same time, we have to continue to make it a priority,鈥� she said. When leaders examine student data, they find that students who struggle are chronically absent, regardless of their socioeconomic status. 

The district鈥檚 work shows that reductions are possible. The rate has declined over the past two years from 44% to 37%, and have seen drops of at least 10% compared to last school year. 

Such efforts won鈥檛 go completely unrewarded. Under the to the Education Department, schools that lower chronic absenteeism could still score 鈥渂onus points鈥� toward their grade but the indicator won鈥檛 be used in determining which schools are identified as needing improvement. 

By the end of the Union district鈥檚 campaign, chronic absenteeism had dropped by about 1.4%, well below the goal of 7%. Still, Payne said, the progress equated to 200 fewer chronically absent students. 

Leaders also realized something else: Students in the district鈥檚 career-tech programs, like aerospace and construction, had lower absenteeism rates than those in the general student population. Now, in response to local workforce shortages, the district has launched a healthcare career pathway as well. 

鈥淚 had students that didn鈥檛 really have a direction,鈥� said Jason McMullen, who teaches aviation courses at the district鈥檚 Innovation Lab. 鈥淭hen they see a helicopter land and that lightbulb goes off.鈥�

On a recent Wednesday morning, some students at the lab learned how to secure safety wire to the nuts and bolts that hold planes together, while others patched holes in sheetrock. 

The change to the state鈥檚 accountability system, 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 mean we’re going to quit working on it,鈥� said Payne, the district鈥檚 spokesman. 鈥淭he reality remains that if students are not present, they’re not going to perform and have success in school and life.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 蜜桃影视鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.