by Kim Shaw and Sarah McKenzie
This week, OEP sent every Arkansas superintendent a report on chronic absenteeism (CA). The reports include both statewide trends and district-specific data from the past two years.
If you’ve been following education news, you know chronic absenteeism has surged since the pandemic—and it hasn’t gone away. Chronic / means missing 10% or more of the school year, for any reason. And the consequences are serious: students who are chronically absent are more likely to fall behind academically, struggle socially and emotionally, and even drop out. You can learn more about chronic absenteeism in Arkansas in OEP’s recent report. We have posted data files including CA rates for all districts in the state for 2023-24 and 2024-25.
In Arkansas, we’re seeing increases across all grade levels, but the numbers are especially high in early elementary and high school (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Arkansas K-12 Public School Students: Chronically Absent Rate by Grade Level and Time Period
Values represent the average annual rate from 2017-2019 (Pre-pandemic), 2020-21(Pandemic), and 2022-2025 (Post-pandemic)
The impact isn’t the same for everyone—students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, receiving English Language or special education services have seen some of the largest post-pandemic increases in CA rates (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Arkansas K-12 Public School Students: Chronically Absent Rate by Programmatic Characteristics and Time Period
And it’s not just certain pockets of the state—every region has been affected (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Arkansas K-12 Public School Students: Chronically Absent Rate by Arkansas Regional Educational Service Cooperative and Time Period
So, what’s driving these increases in chronic absenteeism? Unfortunately, we don’t really know. Challenges like transportation, family responsibilities, or feeling disconnected from school can all play a role. That’s why we believe schools need to hear directly from students about what’s keeping them from attending.
To support that, OEP has developed a free survey for students in grades 7–12. The survey asks about school experiences, relationships, and outside factors that may affect attendance (you can see the questions here). Districts can give the survey at no cost this fall (we suggest at least a whole grade level), and we’ll provide a personalized report of the results.
Even better, OEP can link student survey responses to actual student attendance data! This keeps us from chasing ideas that aren’t really associated with CA, and identifies which factors are most strongly tied to chronic absenteeism for your students. This information can help you target interventions that are most likely to work.
If your district wants to take advantage of this free opportunity, and reduce CA in your district, just reach out to us at oep@uark.edu. If you want to know more about CA (and a bunch of other interesting topics) join us at our upcoming conference in Little Rock on November 12. We would love to have you and there is no cost to attend, but spaces are limited. You can find out more and how to register here.