Larry Abramsom began his latest NPR report, "Detroit Schools' No. 1 Mission: Getting Kids to Class," with a truism: "You can't teach kids who don't come to class." Abramson adds that the average Detroit high school student missed at least 28 days of school last year. He concludes with the observation that, "sometimes educating parents about the importance of attendance seems more difficult than reaching students who are already in class." I would add that educating policy makers on the need to systemically address attendance seems to be just as difficult. A decade after NCLB, we are now just starting to tackle the logical first step in
