Today, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) launched a new public Attendance Dashboard to help families, educators, community members, and policymakers better understand student attendance trends and respond earlier when students are missing too much school. The dashboard will be updated monthly and shows chronic absenteeism and chronic truancy rates for District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and public charter schools.
Student attendance remains a serious challenge in the District and nationwide. A student is chronically absent if they miss 10 percent or more of the school year for any reason—excused or unexcused—including days when they attend less than 60 percent of the day. Chronic truancy refers to 10 or more unexcused full-day absences.
The District’s chronic absenteeism rate was 39.5 percent and chronic truancy was 36.8 percent, according to OSSE’s 2024-25 Attendance Report. Rates were highest among high school students, with 57.6 percent chronically absent and 50.1 percent chronically truant. Nationally, chronic absenteeism was approximately 23.5 percent in school year 2023-24 and remains above pre-pandemic levels—increasing the need for timely, transparent data and early intervention.
“Students cannot learn if they are not in school,” said State Superintendent Dr. Antoinette S. Mitchell. “This dashboard gives schools, families, and the District another practical tool to spot attendance trends earlier, ask better questions, and respond faster. But attendance is about more than counting absences. Students are more likely to come to school consistently when they feel safe, supported, challenged, and connected to adults who know them and care about them.”
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The District is also investing in what keeps students engaged. The Mayor’s proposed FY27 Grow DC budget expands access to high-impact tutoring, which is one of the most effective interventions for accelerating learning and re‑connecting students who have missed significant instructional time. Research from the National Student Support Accelerator has shown that middle school students receiving tutoring were 11.4% less likely to be absent on days they had scheduled tutoring sessions (equivalent of 3.1 more days of school). The budget also increases funding through a 2.55 percent boost to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula and continues modernization of school facilities and expansion of career and technical education opportunities.
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