Indiana schools get real-time data to tackle absenteeism crisis

Indiana schools have new, real-time data on student absences that state officials hope will help local districts tackle the attendance crisis.

The Indiana Department of Education unveiled a new school attendance dashboard at the Indiana State Board of Education on Wednesday. It aims to give districts detailed information on what groups of students are missing lots of days and help schools find ways to improve attendance.

The dashboard will include local data on excused and unexcused absences broken down by grade and demographic information, like race and family income. A version for schools is already available, and the department plans to release a public website in the coming weeks.

“The focus on this has been to try and get to as granular a picture as possible,” said John Keller, the department’s chief information officer. “We're just trying to hold up that mirror and give a very sharp reflection of the data.”

Keller said that because there are varied reasons why students miss lots of days, the data will help schools decide how to respond.

“We don't know why your sixth graders are on the struggle bus, but maybe you do,” Keller said.

Indiana schools are already making some progress in improving school attendance. For the second year in a row, fewer Indiana students were chronically absent last academic year.

Last school year, almost 18 percent of Indiana students were considered chronically absent. That means they missed 10 percent of the school year, that’s around 18 days, even if those absences are excused.

“We need everyone working together to make sure students are in school and we continue to improve those numbers,” said Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.

The number of students missing significant amounts of school got the attention of state lawmakers last legislative session. Under the new law, Indiana schools are now required to intervene earlier when elementary students miss school without an excuse.

Missing school without an excuse is called truancy, and it’s illegal in Indiana. If students miss 10 days without an excuse, parents and students can be referred to the local prosecutor.

Contact WFYI education reporter Dylan Peers McCoy at dmccoy@wfyi.org.