City Reduces Chronic Absenteeism in Public Schools - NYTimes.com: ...Poverty and race are closely tied to chronic absenteeism, the study found. Among black and Hispanic children in the study, more than 90 percent of whom qualified for free or reduced-cost lunch, more than one in five were chronically absent. Asian-Americans had the lowest rate of chronic absenteeism, 4 percent, though 84 percent of them qualified for the lunch program; 12 percent of white students in the study were chronically absent, though they were economically better off.
The Campaign for Fiscal Equity’s researchers said the predicted improvement on tests from good attendance amounted to a fifth or a quarter of the achievement gap between black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian classmates.
At P.S. 309, where the students proudly wear their attendance tags around their necks, chronic absenteeism has fallen from one in four students to one in five over the last two years. This year, the principal, Emily Zucal, began an early-morning fitness program to help lure students, as well as monthly assemblies and pizza parties for those who do not miss a day.
