Disparities in ‘unexcused’ absences deepen education inequities

Some school districts in California are reporting chronic absenteeism rates of 30% or more.

Alison Yin for EdSource

Imagine this scenario: Two students are sick. Both miss five days of school. One student has a family physician, and their parents are familiar with school policies. This student returns to school with a doctor’s note, and their five absences are excused. The other student’s family cannot afford to see a doctor. This second student returns to school without a doctor’s note, and their five absences are unexcused. The family receives a letter stating that their child is truant and they may be taken to court if the absenteeism continues.

Any absence is concerning because it represents lost learning opportunities, but when an absence is labeled unexcused, it also affects how a student and their family are treated. Our new report, “Disparities in Unexcused Absences Across California Schools,” shows how overuse of the “unexcused” label for student absences for some groups could be deepening education inequities and interfering with efforts to improve attendance.

Although students don’t face punitive consequences for excused absences, unexcused absences can lead to students being denied credit for missed work, excluded from extracurricular activities, and eventually taken to court and fined. As absences accumulate, responses generally become more punitive. Yet punitive responses are unlikely to improve attendance when absences occur for reasons beyond the control of a student and their family, such as transportation challenges or lack of access to health care. Rather, overuse of the unexcused absence label could undermine efforts to partner with students and families to identify the underlying challenges that cause students to miss school.

In California, absences are typically only considered excused if they fall under the reasons considered valid under state law: illness, quarantine, funeral services for immediate family, medical appointments and time spent with a family member on leave from active military service.  Recently, this law was amended to expand to also excuse absences for mental or behavioral health needs and cultural ceremonies or events. If absences lack proper documentation from a parent or occur for other reasons, students are likely to have their absence marked unexcused.  It is important, however, to note that since 2013, state law has also given school administrators discretion to excuse absences for reasons not included by state law, based on their assessment of a student’s individual circumstances.

Analyzing data available through DataQuest, we found significant disparities in whose absences are labeled unexcused.  Socioeconomically disadvantaged students are much more likely to have their absences labeled unexcused. This is also true for Black, Native American, Latino and Pacific Islander students relative to white, Asian American and Filipino students. Black students experience the largest disparity. These disparities cannot be fully explained by poverty since they remained across differences in socioeconomic status.

In addition, preliminary research suggests that schools serving more socioeconomically disadvantaged students communicate more punitive approaches. The handbooks and websites of schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities were more likely to warn that these punitive actions would be taken for truancy: suspend driver’s license; take away school privileges like extracurricular activities; require in-school detention (or Saturday school); and take students and families to court.

Despite these disparities, there is some good news: Some schools are “bright spots,” with high attendance rates, less frequent use of the unexcused-absence label, and fewer racial and ethnic disparities in labeling absences as unexcused. More research is needed to find out how these schools are achieving these positive results.

California is the first state in the country to make absenteeism data publicly available broken down by excused and unexcused absences. The data can be further disaggregated by student subgroups, grade and school.  It allows educators and other stakeholders to easily examine where disparities in unexcused absences exist in their schools or districts and determine if more work is needed to support a more preventive, problem-solving and equitable response to poor attendance.

We recommend these five actions:

• Use data to learn about where disparities are most problematic and identify bright-spot schools or districts which have better attendance and fewer differences in the labeling of unexcused absences.
• Invest in better practices and data systems for monitoring and understanding reasons for both excused and unexcused absences.
• Review and update local and state policies related to unexcused absences.
• Assess and improve how attendance practices and policies are communicated to students and families.
• Invest in professional development to improve attendance and truancy practice.

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Hedy Chang is the executive director of Attendance Works, a national and state initiative aimed at advancing student success by addressing chronic absence. Clea McNeely is a research professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee. Kevin Gee is an associate professor at the UC Davis School of Education and a faculty research affiliate with the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research. 

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