Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for Education Next, Phyllis W. Jordan discusses the troubles associated with chronic student absenteeism, how ESSA is holding schools accountable, and how to boost better overall attendance. 

· How does attendance relate to academic success? What are some causes of students' chronic absenteeism?

· Learn more about preventing chronic absenteeism. 

As many as 8 million U.S. public school students struggle academically simply because they miss too much school. Recognizing this, 36 states and the District of Columbia have begun holding schools accountable for chronic student absenteeism under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

That leaves school and district leaders scrambling for proven practices to keep students coming to school every day. One smart, simple, and inexpensive strategy is using “nudges,” an approach that aims to alert parents and caregivers when attendance becomes problematic.

Todd Rogers, a Harvard University researcher, describes nudges as “unobtrusive interventions to promote desired behavior.” That means there’s no mandate to do anything and no penalty assigned—just a reminder enhanced, in some cases, with a little personal information. Richard Thaler, the University of Chicago professor who won the 2017 Nobel prize in economics for his work on nudge theory, framed it like this in his 2008 book on the concept: “Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.”

Nudges have been effective at getting voters to the polls and getting homeowners to reduce energy usage. And they seem to work for improving school attendance, especially when schools tell parents how many absences their students have accrued.

Read the full article about attendance by Phyllis W. Jordan at Education Next.