Danielle Burnett, a truancy prevention social worker in Albuquerque Public Schools, spends her days figuring out why students miss school. Her job is to identify the underlying reasons and help families change course.

Some students don’t show up because their parents can’t afford school uniforms. Burnett can get these students vouchers for free pants and tops.

Many parents keep their children home for minor colds or stomachaches. Burnett encourages them to send kids to class unless they have a fever or are throwing up, and she reminds them that the school nurse can help with health decisions.

Sometimes it’s simply a matter of educating parents about the importance of attendance. In the early grades, parents can be lulled into thinking class time isn’t that important — even though these grades lay the foundation for students’ literacy and math skills for the rest of their lives.

“It’s really hard to achieve your mission as a school district to educate children if they’re not there.”

“The culture of attendance is huge,” Burnett said. “If parents weren’t taught that it’s important, then their kids are not going to be taught that.”

Burnett spends half her time at Alamosa Elementary School, where about one in four students have missed more than 10 percent of school days so far this school year, according to attendance data Burnett tracks. Researchers say that hitting this threshold triggers a cascade of negative effects. Missing that much school — roughly two days per month — hurts a student’s chances of reading on grade level, passing classes and graduating.

Read more on attendance and school performance by Tara Garcia Mathewson at The Hechinger Report.