Students walk to their school buses in this file photo.Nearly 10 percent of Georgia students are missing more than 15 school days each year — just one alarming trend highlighted in a recent state study that educators hope to change.
The Georgia Department of Education examined the causes and effects of absences across the state’s public schools. The study found that students who missed more days of school — no matter the reason — did worse on state assessments and were less likely to graduate. In some cases, attendance rates are more important than test scores when predicting long-term success.
“There frankly hasn’t been that much research. So we did it on our own,” said Garry McGiboney, Georgia’s associate superintendent for policy. “The results were just shocking to everybody.”
During the last school year, 180,995 Georgia K-12 students, or about 10 percent, missed more than 15 days of school. Numbers were even higher for eighth-graders, 12.3 percent of whom missed more than 15 days last year. A traditional school calendar includes 180 instruction days.
School leaders admit that the link between attendance and student achievement isn’t new.