Chronic absenteeism in Oakland schools | The Education Report

Chronic absenteeism in Oakland schools | The Education Report

Chronic absenteeism in Oakland schools

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 at 5:50 pm in achievement gap, elementary schools,enrollment, families, initiatives, students.

Last school year, 14.3 percent of Oakland’s public schoolchildren were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 18 days of school — excused or unexcused. As you can see from this map, created by (and posted with the permission of) the Oakland-based Urban Strategies Council, the most serious attendance problems are concentrated in West Oakland.

The Oakland school district recently began collecting data of all of its students who were absent — not just those with unexcused absences. Now, principals regularly