Over 10 Percent of Students at Princeton Schools are Chronically Absent: Report

Kids who miss a lot of school can “suffer long-term problems that include reading problems, lower test scores, poor attendance in future school years and weaker social-emotional skills.”

That’s why attendance matters, and the Princeton School District is among the school districts in which 10 percent or more of the students are chronically absent, according to an Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) report released on Thursday.

A total of 438 children in the district are chronically absent, which translates to 13 percent of the total student population in the district.

This includes 5 percent of students in kindergarten through third grade, and 31 percent of juniors and seniors at Princeton High School.

According to the report, 177 school districts in New Jersey had 10 percent or more of their K-12 students qualify as “chronically absent” during 2013-14, meaning they missed 18 or more days of school.

“No matter the age, when students are missing too much school, their chances of academic success are dramatically reduced,” said Cecilia Zalkind, Executive Director of ACNJ.

The ACNJ report was compiled using data from the New Jersey Department of Education.

See the county-by-county list of the 177 school districts with “high absentee rates” here.

WHAT CAN SCHOOLS DO?

The report includes recommendations for school districts to improve their attendance rates:

• Send the message to parents early and often. Schools play an important role in promoting attendance by helping parents understand, particularly in the early ears, that coming to school every day is important for their child’s educational success.
• Identify problems at the beginning of the school year. In order for intervention to take place early, school districts should analyze absentee data from the first weeks of school.
• Contact parents immediately when children begin to show a pattern of too many absences. Making connections with family members as soon as a problem is identified is very important.
• Foster positive relationships with families. Improving student attendance can be linked to the relationships between school and family.
• Reward work for excellent or improved attendance. Make sure that good or improved attendance is celebrated. Positive reinforcements can include small prizes, certificates or pizza parties.