While this report is labeled Chronic Absenteeism, it is not directly related to the Chronic Absenteeism calculations that are part of the Iowa School Performance Profile. This Chronic Absenteeism Dashboard is intended to help leaders track and respond to absenteeism trends, which will impact the outcomes in the ISPP calculations at the end of the year. It provides both district-wide and school-level views, allowing you to monitor trends over time, compare absenteeism rates year-to-year, and see where attendance programs are working or need improvement.
The Chronic Absenteeism Dashboard is available on the District and School tabs. Iowa users with a Statewide, District or Building User roles can access this dashboard.
Chronic Absenteeism Dashboard Overview
The Chronic Absenteeism Dashboard is organized into three main sections: current metrics, changes over time, and disaggregated data. Use Filters to view the data across each section of the dashboard and customize the report to identify trends. For example, by filtering by grade level, an administrator can pinpoint which grades have the highest absenteeism rates and discuss with their team how to provide targeted support to those groups of students.
What are our current metrics?
(Figure 1.)
Chronically Absent Rate:
This represents the percentage of students who have missed 10% or more of school days so far in the current school year based on whole day/half day attendance data from the district Student Information System (SIS).
- For example: Figure 1, shows 10% of all students are chronically absent.
- Click the View students button to see a list of students flagged as chronically absent within the Chronically Absent Students Report.
Missing Attendance Plan Rate:
This metric shows the percentage of chronically absent students who do not have an attendance plan in place.
- Missing attendance plan rate = Number of chronically absent students who do not have an attendance plan out of the total number of chronically absent students.
- For example: In Figure 1, 91% of chronically absent students lack a documented plan, indicating a need for intervention and support for these students.
- Click View report to access the list of students without attendance plans and prioritize support efforts within the Chronic Absenteeism Intervention Gaps Report.
How is our chronically absent rate changing over time?
(Figure 2.)
10-Day Moving Average:
What is a 10-day moving average? This metric tracks the average chronically absent rate over the past 10 school days, helping smooth out daily fluctuations and giving a more stable view of absenteeism trends.
Why do we use a 10-day moving average? Chronic absenteeism is always calculated in terms of the full school year, and the 10-day moving average answers the question, "within this 10-day period, how many students were chronically absent based on their full year of attendance"?
Using a 10-day moving average reduces the impact of day-to-day changes, such as individual student absences, helping educators focus on broader trends rather than isolated events. For example: In Figure 2, the moving average is around 10%, is two percent higher than the previous month, and 16% lower than this time last year (which may be due to changes in data entry and coding from the prior year).
Monthly Comparison:
The monthly comparison compares the current chronically absent rate to the previous month, helping administrators understand if absenteeism is improving or worsening month-over-month.
This comparison is shown as a change in percentage points, making it easy to track shifts in absenteeism (Figures 3a and 3b show examples).
(Figure 3a.) (Figure 3b.)
Yearly Comparison:
This metric allows administrators to see how the absenteeism rate compares to the same time last year (Figure 4a. and 4b.). You will see N/A if there is no year-over-year data to compare to yet. Be aware that changes across years may be due to differences in data entry and coding of attendance.
(Figure 4a.) (Figure 4b.)
10-Day Moving Average Of Chronically Absent Rate Over Time Chart:
This line graph displays the changes in the 10-day moving average over time, allowing you to see trends as they evolve (Figure 5.).
- X-axis: Represents time, showing the chronically absent rate over several months of the school year.
- Y-axis: Represents the percentage of chronically absent students, ranging from 0% to 100%.
- Dots and line: The dots represent the 10-day average rate at different points in time.
- For example: In Figure 5, at a glance, this chart shows that the chronically absent rate remained fairly consistent over time, with small changes throughout the school year.
(Figure 5.)
Using the 10-day moving average chart:
- Once your mouse is over the chart, scroll up once with your mouse roller ball or trackpad to make the scrolling bar appear below the chart.
- Use the white scrollbar to move left or right, adjusting the date range you want to view.
- Scroll up or down with your mouse to zoom in or out, allowing you to expand or condense the date range for a more detailed view.
What Trends Exist Within the Disaggregated Data?
Yearly Change in Chronically Absent Rate by School:
This bar chart shows how absenteeism rates have changed at each school compared to the previous year.
(Figure 6.)
Understanding the chart:
Schools with bars to the right indicate rising absenteeism rates, while those with bars to the left reflect a reduction in absenteeism rates compared to the previous school year.
- Example 1: In Figure 6, Lincoln Middle School shows the biggest improvement, with a -83.58 percentage point drop in absenteeism, meaning a large reduction in the number of chronically absent students.
- Example 2: In Figure 6, Hilltop Elementary School shows the largest increase in absenteeism, with a +91.76 percentage point rise, indicating more students are chronically absent this year compared to last year. Lakeview Elementary School also has a notable increase, with a +21.78 percentage point rise in absenteeism.
(Figure 7a.)
- By School: In Figure 7a, district users can see a detailed breakdown of absenteeism by school, including the number of students, chronically absent rate, 10-day moving average, monthly and yearly changes (in percentage points). You can explore each school’s data to identify where additional support or interventions may be needed.
Example: Bayside Elementary School has a chronically absent rate of 4%, which is below the district average of 10%.
(Figure 7b.)
- You can view the Chronic Absenteeism Trends Report by clicking on View full report (Figure 7b.). On the Chronic Absenteeism Trends Report page, this will display the “All Schools” data in the top row of the data table (Figure 7c.).
(Figure 7c.)
Yearly Change in Chronically Absent Rate by Grade Level:
This bar chart shows how absenteeism rates have changed by grade level compared to the previous year. This enables you to pinpoint which grades have the most noticeable changes in absenteeism.
Understanding the chart:
Grade levels with bars to the right indicate rising absenteeism rates, while those with bars to the left reflect a reduction in absenteeism rates compared to the previous school year.
- Example 1: In Figure 8, 6th grade is at -72.82 percentage points, indicating a significant decrease in chronic absenteeism compared to the previous year.
- Example 2: In Figure 8, 1st grade is at +72.22 percentage points, showing a large increase in chronic absenteeism compared to the previous year.
(Figure 9.)
By Grade Level:
- Figure 9 breaks down absenteeism by grade level, including the number of students, chronically absent rate, 10-day moving average, and monthly/yearly changes to address absenteeism patterns by grade. You can explore each grade level’s data to identify where additional support or interventions may be needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is the data updated?
Period and/or daily attendance data (absences only) which are entered in your district’s student information system (SIS) are imported each day into Student Success. Due to the timing of updates, daily and period attendance should be up to date as of the last 24-48 hours, depending on the timing of the data flow.
It’s important to understand that the data driving these reports comes from the raw daily attendance data as entered in your student information system. It is intended as a tool for looking at potential attendance issues and is not directly connected to any other attendance reporting or accountability. Because this is based on raw, next-day data, the data reported may not match up exactly with other data summaries.
What is the time frame for the yearly comparison data?
The yearly change is comparing the current data (year-to-date chronic absenteeism) to the same time period last year (e.g. October 2024 vs. October 2023).
For grade-level yearly change comparisons, who is being compared?
The reports provide a Grade-to-Grade Comparison: In other words, comparing the performance of students at the same grade level from year to year. For example, it compares this year’s 2nd graders to last year’s 2nd graders.
Why do we use a 10-day moving average instead of daily data?
A student is considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of school days. This means:
- After 10 school days, a student missing 1 day is marked as chronically absent.
- After 20 days, a student missing 2 days is marked as chronically absent.
This can make it seem like there are big swings in absenteeism as time passes. To avoid these swings and ensure fair comparisons, we use a 10-day moving average. This smooths out the data so that trends can be analyzed in a consistent way.
What does N/A percentage points mean in the monthly or yearly comparison?
You will see N/A if there is no historic data to compare to yet. This may occur if attendance data for the district and/or building began populating in Panorama more recently than the comparison timeline. For example, a new school building will not have previous year attendance data associated with that building.
How can I get help if I have questions about the data?
If you find discrepancies, use the drill-through features of this report to explore attendance data for the individual students. Comparing absences noted on the student’s profile page against the daily absences entered in your SIS will help identify the cause. The best way to understand potential issues with a report is to find examples in the source data.
Need additional help? Please use the Iowa Panorama Student Success ticket system (available under Help in the upper right hand corner) to report the issue. Provide details of at least one specific student example and include the district, building, student name, and the specific absences in question. It helps to provide a screenshot of the absence entries as shown in your SIS. Also, provide any details about the specific information in the dashboard reports that you question.