Nebraska Department of Education Homepage

Chronic Absenteeism

In Nebraska, a student who misses 10% of the school year—or about two days of school per month—for any reason is chronically absent. What’s more, students who are chronically absent each year throughout their K-12 education will miss a full year of instruction due to these collective absences1. Chronic absence disproportionately affects students with disabilities, students of color, and economically disadvantaged students and has a significant impact on students in Kindergarten as well as high school students.

There are many reasons for chronic absenteeism, which may be organized into three primary categories: barriers, aversion, and disengagement. Barriers include adult responsibilities, disciplinary issues, health, housing instability, involvement in child welfare, and transportation issues (including neighborhood safety). Aversion includes low academic performance, mental health reasons, receiving special education, and school climate. Disengagement includes low connectedness, negative peer influence, and substance use.2

Explore more about chronic absenteeism rates in your school district or school by viewing this map or data available through the Nebraska Educational Profiles to learn more.

  1. Merod, Anna. “Students Miss Over 200M More School Days Annually Since COVID.” K-12 Dive, https://www.k12dive.com/news/students-miss-over-200m-more-school-days-annually-since-covid/827471/. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

  2.  Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism, 2023.

Improvements Throughout Nebraska

The good news is that many Nebraska schools are working hard to reduce chronic absence and have seen improved attendance rates, highlighting that improving school attendance is a solvable problem. What works is taking a data-driven, comprehensive approach that begins with engaging students and families as well as preventing absences from adding up before they fall behind academically. The key is using chronic absence data as a diagnostic tool to identify where prevention and early intervention are needed. Research has shown us that schools that successfully reduce chronic absenteeism have created a school-wide culture of attendance that involves everyone in the building. Learn how school culture affects chronic absenteeism:

September is Attendance Awareness Month!

Use this guide to support your Attendance Awareness Month efforts in September to kick off communication with families about the importance of regular attendance. Use the planning tools and resources in the guide beyond September to support local attendance efforts all year long.  The Communication Guide  provides plug and play messages schools can personalize about the benefits of regular attendance on school success and social support offered when youth are in school. Messages can be shared through social media, newsletters, or regular email communications.

Use the templates below as a way to share your district’s goals for improving chronic absenteeism early in the school year:

Key Resources to Support Chronic Absenteeism Reduction

Everyday Counts!

When our students miss school, they miss out on so much more than their classes. They miss out on developing skills like communication and teamwork; they miss time with their friends, and chances to discover and develop their talents that only being in school provides. Every day in school counts toward their future success. We want to work together with parents and families to improve school attendance because we believe that every student deserves the chance to reach their full potential.

Here’s how you can help:

  1. Make school attendance a priority for your family.
  2. Establish regular bedtime and morning routines.
  3. Schedule medical appointments and vacations when school is not in session.
  4. Talk to your student about why going to school every day is important.
  5. Stay in touch with your student’s teachers (email is just fine) and attend events at school when you can.
  6. Reach out to your school if you need services or support to make attending school possible or find statewide resources through the Nebraska Network of Care.
  7. Connect with the school counselor or mental health providers if issues such as anxiety, bullying or other challenges cause your student to want to avoid school.

 

Family and Caregiver Resources Description
Supporting Regular School Attendance for My Child You want your child to do well in school but may not understand how chronic absence affects your student’s academic achievement. These tools can help you set regular habits, explain the importance of being at school, and put strategies in place to support regular attendance.
Anxiety and School Absences

Worry vs. Anxiety

 The psychological burden of missing school can be heavy for students. Chronically absent students see their entire routines and social support systems disrupted; all their friends or teachers are either cut off or their communication changes significantly. This can cause negative mental health outcomes such as developmental regression, extreme boredom, and disruptive sleep schedules

It’s normal for children to feel worried, afraid or stressed sometimes. These feelings can come and go and are part of growing up. Anxiety happens when worry or fear feels really strong. Anxiety can be a normal response to stress or uncertainty. Use this resource to understand when it becomes a problem that needs extra support from professionals.
Health Guidance for Going to School

 Avoid keeping children at home unless they are too sick to participate. Children may also avoid school due to anxiety (symptoms may include decreased appetite, feeling tired, stomachache, headache, etc). If you are worried that your child may be suffering from anxiety, talk with your teacher, the school nurse, social worker or other school staff to discuss the challenge and identify what can help your child stay in school.
Keep Your Child Healthy and In School

 A regular attendance routine is important for your child’s well-being, learning, and long-term success. This resource provides tips to keep your child healthy and avoid unnecessary absences from school.
Managing Chronic Health Conditions

 If your child has a chronic health issue such as asthma, diabetes or allergies, or is dealing with a developmental disability such as ADHD or autism, this resource provides you with tips on how to work with school staff and health-care providers to keep students healthy and attending school regularly.
Mind and Body Connection for Pre-K-Elementary

Mind and Body Connection for Tweens and Teens

 This resource from Children’s Nebraska helps to explain the way that our mind and bodies are connected. Our bodies give us clues about how we feel. Just like our body tells us when we’re hungry or tired, it also reacts to feelings. Feelings in the body are real and important. They are ways our body lets us know we may need comfort, rest or support
When is sick too sick for school?

 Just over 5% of school absences are attributed to illness. A regular attendance routine is important for your child’s well being and learning. This tipsheet can help you decide when to keep your child home when they don’t feel well.
School Staff Resources Description
Assessment Tools: School & District tools Use these tools to gain a deeper understanding of what is and could be happening to improve attendance at a school or district. They are also excellent tools for laying the foundation for a team of key stakeholders to begin working together to reduce student absences.
Building an Effective School Attendance Team (Attendance Works) School leaders and educators know from experience and common sense what research confirms: showing up for class matters. Students can’t benefit from investments in high-quality instruction and engaging curriculum unless they are present and engaged. This tool provides a starting place to aid schools in adopting a comprehensive, tiered approach to improving attendance that fits with their overall goal of promoting academic achievement.
Classroom Attendance Calculator (Attendance Works) Use chronic absence data as a diagnostic tool to identify where prevention and early intervention are needed.
Conditions for Learning Assessment Tool: Understanding the root causes for student absenteeism (Attendance Works) This assessment tool can be used by School Attendance teams to help identify the likely causes of absenteeism. Understanding why students are missing too much school can help determine the best course of action.
EMR Framework (ESU 5) Highlights how to establish relationships and trust with youth, maintain positive interactions, and finally how to restore connections with youth that have been absent.
Establishing Schoolwide Attendance Recognition (Attendance Works)

Recognition Resources (ESU 5)

 The evidence suggests that a recognition or incentive program for improved attendance (not perfect attendance) can be instrumental in improving the number of days that students come to school.
Nebraska Chronic Absenteeism Data **Getting a description of a use case from Matthew.
Parent-Teacher Conference Tips (Attendance Works) Parent-Teacher Conferences can provide a foundation for a trusting relationship and help both you and families learn how to partner together to best support their child/youth. While your conferences will cover multiple topics, integrating the topic of attendance into your conversations at parent-teacher conferences is a great way to educate families about the benefits of showing up regularly to school and discuss absences in a non-threatening setting.
Resource Hub (Attendance Works) Attendance Works has developed a variety of approaches, strategies and tools to help educators address chronic absence. Choose from the list below to find out what you can do to ensure all students succeed in school and in life.
Student Attendance Plans (Attendance Works) Success plans are designed to help parents track their children’s attendance and work with teachers to set appropriate goals. Each Student Attendance Success Plan includes a calendar for the current school year and a Help Bank to encourage families to think about their backup plans for getting to school even when challenges come up. Educators should consider distributing this plan to families.
Three Tiers of Interventions (Attendance Works)

MTSS Tiered Approaches (ESU 5)

 Best practices to reducing chronic absenteeism recommend a tiered approach that starts with foundational supports for the whole school. These foundational supports are followed by prevention-oriented supports for attendance (Tier1), more personalized outreach or early intervention (Tier 2), and intensive intervention (Tier 3).
Community Resources Description
10-Steps-Communities-Can-Take-to-Reduce-Chronic-Absence (Attendance Works) School attendance has a direct bearing on student achievement. But too often we think of reducing absences as the job of parents or school clerks in the front office. Communities across the country have started to help schools address chronic attendance and these tips can help you start.
Establishing Schoolwide Attendance Recognition (Attendance Works) The evidence suggests that a recognition or incentive program for improved attendance (not perfect attendance) can be instrumental in improving the number of days that students come to school.
ESU 5: Chronic Absenteeism Toolkit Access a variety of tools and resources to learn more about Chronic Absenteeism
ESU 13: Regional Support-Scheduling for Stronger Attendance To help reduce missed class time, school calendars from all 21 ESU 13 school districts were compiled into one easy-to-access tool. Families, healthcare providers, and community agencies can use QR codes to quickly view district calendars and schedule appointments on days when school is not in session
NSWERS (Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System Nebraska absenteeism data is collected via K-12 attendance records, which classify absences into one of nine categories: tardy, early departure, disciplinary action, illness or medical leave, a recognized noninstructional activity, unavailable transportation, any other excused absence, skipping school, and any other unexcused absence.
Nebraska Probation, Juvenile Services Division Resource The purpose of this guide is to provide clear processes and forms for Nebraska Public Schools to utilize when supporting students in reducing chronic absenteeism. The guide will support schools in exhaustive efforts prior to court involvement by utilizing best-practice supervision, programs, and services to ensure students and families receive programming focused directly on the reason for the chronic absenteeism.
Millard Public Schools: MPS Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Attendance Millard provides a set of tiered interventions for students at all levels. This tool provides strategies at the three tiers that can aid in the development of a plan in your building or district.

Building Practices that Support Positive Conditions for Learning

Factors such as illness, lack of healthcare, vision and dental care, mental health challenges, unsafe routes to school, transportation issues, lack of belonging and support at school, and involvement with child welfare or the juvenile justice systems can further complicate attendance.

This issue impacts not only the students, but also our entire community. Schools with high absentee rates suffer from lower academic performance, which can affect our overall economic growth. Use the resources below to support foundational, whole-school approaches that promote positive learning conditions for all students and families:

Visit the Attendance Works website for more resources to assist school staff in identifying potential root causes, strategies, and evidence-based interventions to address chronic absenteeism in your school community.

Tiered Practices to Support the Reduction of Chronic Absence

Tiered support for reducing chronic absenteeism.

MTSS tiered pyramid

Early interventions are key in reducing chronic absenteeism.  Utilizing a tiered approach can aid school districts in maximizing efforts to meet families where they are. Research and experience show that attendance improves when a school community offers a warm and welcoming environment that engages students and families and provides enriching learning opportunities.

Students are more likely to come to school when they feel safe, know that someone at the school cares about them, and when there are exciting and relevant lessons. Families are more likely to make sure their children are in class every day when they know school staff is looking out for their children’s best interests and when they understand the potentially adverse impact of absences, even just two days a month, on academic success.

Tier 1: universal supports available to all students should include:

Tier 2: early intervention supports, to support those students who are moderately chronically absent (students missing 10-19% of school), include:

  • Common community and school barriers identified and addressed
  • Individualized student success plan that includes attention to attendance
  • Family visits
  • Staff and peer mentors
  • Restorative alternatives to discipline and suspension

Tier 3: intensive interventions, recommended for those students who are severely chronically absent (students missing 20% or more of school) include:

  • Educational support champions/advocates
  • Interagency case management
  • Student attendance review board
  • Individualized learning and success plan leading to graduation
  • Legal Intervention (as a last resort)

Don’t wait until student absences have advanced to tier 3!

Invest in foundational supports and universal prevention strategies

  • Monitor attendance data
  • Intervene early
  • Initiate personalized outreach to the student and family before the absences add up

Nebraska Resources

Updated September 4, 2026 10:13am