What does this measure?
The share of students in a school or district missing 10% or more of days in a school year due to absence.
Why is this important?
School attendance is critical to a student's education. Elementary children who do not regularly attend school will miss out on developing key skills, such as reading and arithmetic, critical to future success in school and life. Secondary school children who do not regularly attend school are at higher risk of failing and dropping out, exhibiting delinquent behavior, and engaging in various forms of risky behaviors. School attendance is linked to success in academic and social outcomes both during school years and later in life.
How is our region doing?
In 2017, 10% of students were chronically absent in MetroWest, below the state rate (14%) and flat since 2009. Rates were above 10% in Milford, Framingham and Marlborough (all at 14%), Bellingham (13%), Waltham and Hudson (both at 12%), Dedham and Concord-Carlisle (both at 11%). Rates were less than 5% in Lexington (3%), Dover, Westwood, Sudbury, Dover-Sherborn, Concord, Carlisle, Medfield and Southborough (all at 4%).
Rates in local charter schools ranged from 7-11%, with Francis W. Parker Charter Essential at the high end of the range and Innovation Academy Charter at the low end.
Chronic absence rates decreased the most since 2009 in Waltham (down 5 percentage points) and Ashland (down 4 points). The Harvard School District experienced the largest increase (up 4 points), followed by Concord-Carlisle, Milford and Wellesley (all up 3 points).
Notes about the data
Chronic absence is a different way of looking at school attendance from the more traditional measure of average daily attendance. Increasingly, educators and policymakers are tracking chronic absence as a more telling and insightful indicator. In any school or district, average daily attendance can be seemingly high (90% or higher) even though a small or moderate share of students are missing a lot of school.
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 14% | 14% | 13% | 13% | 13% | 12% | 13% | 12% | 14% |
| Region | 11% | 11% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 10% |
| Middlesex | 11% | 11% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 10% |
| Norfolk | 9% | 10% | 9% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 9% |
| Worcester | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 13% |
| Acton School District | 5% | 8% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | |||
| Acton-Boxborough School District | 8% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% |
| Ashland School District | 10% | 10% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 6% |
| Bedford School District | 10% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| Bellingham School District | 15% | 13% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 13% |
| Boxborough School District | 3% | 5% | 5% | 7% | 6% | 4% | |||
| Carlisle School District | 5% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Christa McAuliffe Charter Public (District) | 10% | 10% | 9% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 8% |
| Concord School District | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| Concord-Carlisle School District | 8% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 11% |
| Dedham School District | 11% | 14% | 10% | 9% | 12% | 12% | 10% | 9% | 11% |
| Dover School District | 6% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Dover-Sherborn School District | 5% | 6% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 4% |
| Framingham School District | 15% | 13% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 14% |
| Francis W. Parker Charter Essential | 11% | 17% | 15% | 12% | 13% | 11% | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| Franklin School District | 6% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
| Harvard School District | 5% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 9% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 8% |
| Holliston School District | 6% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| Hopkinton School District | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Hudson School District | 11% | 10% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 10% | 12% | 10% | 12% |
| Innovation Academy Charter | 8% | 7% | 8% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% |
| Lexington School District | 5% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Lincoln School District | 7% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 11% | 11% | 9% | 9% | 9% |
| Lincoln-Sudbury School District | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Littleton School District | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 7% |
| Marlborough School District | 12% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 12% | 15% | 13% | 12% | 14% |
| Maynard School District | 9% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 8% | 9% |
| Medfield School District | 6% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 4% |
| Medway School District | 8% | 8% | 7% | 4% | 6% | 10% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
| Milford School District | 11% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 11% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 14% |
| Millis School District | 8% | 7% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| Nashoba School District | 7% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| Natick School District | 8% | 9% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Needham School District | 3% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Sherborn School District | 3% | 1% | 1% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 5% |
| Southborough School District | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Sudbury School District | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Walpole School District | 7% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 6% |
| Waltham School District | 17% | 16% | 14% | 14% | 15% | 14% | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| Wayland School District | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% |
| Wellesley School District | 6% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 8% | 6% | 9% | 10% | 9% |
| Westborough School District | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% |
| Westford School District | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% |
| Weston School District | 3% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 7% | 9% | 7% | 6% |
| Westwood School District | 6% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 132,330 | 133,030 | 128,045 | 119,171 | 121,256 | 117,556 | 123,304 | 117,272 | 128,756 |
| Region | 47,533 | 46,977 | 45,579 | 42,466 | 42,971 | 42,429 | 44,061 | 40,599 | 44,910 |
| Middlesex | 23,023 | 22,645 | 21,975 | 20,361 | 20,976 | 20,747 | 20,855 | 18,941 | 21,218 |
| Norfolk | 9,240 | 9,381 | 8,664 | 8,086 | 8,733 | 8,295 | 8,803 | 7,999 | 8,558 |
| Worcester | 15,270 | 14,950 | 14,940 | 14,019 | 13,262 | 13,387 | 14,403 | 13,659 | 15,134 |
| Acton School District | 115 | 212 | 108 | 88 | 100 | 116 | |||
| Acton-Boxborough School District | 237 | 147 | 127 | 131 | 134 | 145 | 306 | 292 | 313 |
| Ashland School District | 260 | 253 | 152 | 132 | 131 | 132 | 143 | 146 | 149 |
| Bedford School District | 235 | 197 | 174 | 156 | 186 | 185 | 154 | 185 | 175 |
| Bellingham School District | 409 | 350 | 290 | 287 | 295 | 264 | 283 | 275 | 296 |
| Boxborough School District | 16 | 23 | 23 | 32 | 28 | 18 | |||
| Carlisle School District | 32 | 27 | 33 | 30 | 33 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 25 |
| Christa McAuliffe Charter Public (District) | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 33 | 32 |
| Concord School District | 83 | 70 | 66 | 58 | 94 | 81 | 76 | 84 | 86 |
| Concord-Carlisle School District | 99 | 134 | 132 | 122 | 110 | 113 | 112 | 115 | 139 |
| Dedham School District | 311 | 396 | 297 | 266 | 348 | 338 | 272 | 258 | 307 |
| Dover School District | 32 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 17 |
| Dover-Sherborn School District | 58 | 70 | 75 | 54 | 48 | 37 | 59 | 47 | 48 |
| Framingham School District | 1,248 | 1,060 | 1,047 | 997 | 927 | 952 | 987 | 1,017 | 1,205 |
| Francis W. Parker Charter Essential | 43 | 67 | 60 | 48 | 52 | 43 | 39 | 43 | 43 |
| Franklin School District | 382 | 398 | 362 | 369 | 399 | 444 | 456 | 358 | 411 |
| Harvard School District | 60 | 98 | 108 | 130 | 111 | 92 | 99 | 108 | 93 |
| Holliston School District | 165 | 160 | 181 | 139 | 175 | 175 | 175 | 165 | 182 |
| Hopkinton School District | 138 | 148 | 131 | 119 | 164 | 149 | 142 | 184 | 163 |
| Hudson School District | 337 | 319 | 263 | 251 | 249 | 283 | 339 | 290 | 312 |
| Innovation Academy Charter | 30 | 37 | 50 | 31 | 38 | 51 | 61 | 55 | 55 |
| Lexington School District | 318 | 260 | 274 | 205 | 234 | 225 | 237 | 215 | 226 |
| Lincoln School District | 80 | 87 | 97 | 92 | 134 | 139 | 117 | 107 | 110 |
| Lincoln-Sudbury School District | 88 | 76 | 63 | 74 | 71 | 72 | 61 | 72 | 83 |
| Littleton School District | 107 | 122 | 109 | 105 | 107 | 92 | 96 | 101 | 112 |
| Marlborough School District | 525 | 527 | 480 | 464 | 532 | 658 | 586 | 552 | 629 |
| Maynard School District | 121 | 102 | 94 | 98 | 120 | 145 | 135 | 111 | 131 |
| Medfield School District | 168 | 139 | 115 | 100 | 84 | 96 | 129 | 99 | 115 |
| Medway School District | 223 | 218 | 182 | 110 | 149 | 250 | 184 | 175 | 178 |
| Milford School District | 465 | 503 | 456 | 415 | 450 | 452 | 509 | 459 | 590 |
| Millis School District | 110 | 105 | 79 | 67 | 80 | 57 | 72 | 86 | 81 |
| Nashoba School District | 245 | 257 | 231 | 207 | 187 | 168 | 215 | 237 | 242 |
| Natick School District | 382 | 402 | 362 | 341 | 339 | 333 | 365 | 342 | 306 |
| Needham School District | 169 | 250 | 252 | 297 | 268 | 260 | 281 | 251 | 279 |
| Sherborn School District | 15 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 22 |
| Southborough School District | 78 | 72 | 78 | 56 | 70 | 62 | 49 | 63 | 49 |
| Sudbury School District | 152 | 142 | 145 | 120 | 141 | 105 | 89 | 119 | 107 |
| Walpole School District | 255 | 221 | 214 | 205 | 225 | 224 | 241 | 211 | 224 |
| Waltham School District | 803 | 753 | 662 | 704 | 744 | 722 | 646 | 586 | 666 |
| Wayland School District | 144 | 145 | 137 | 118 | 114 | 121 | 133 | 101 | 127 |
| Wellesley School District | 294 | 248 | 176 | 234 | 386 | 322 | 461 | 482 | 447 |
| Westborough School District | 181 | 190 | 172 | 158 | 179 | 194 | 188 | 176 | 236 |
| Westford School District | 244 | 211 | 190 | 227 | 247 | 218 | 211 | 221 | 276 |
| Weston School District | 82 | 79 | 109 | 97 | 123 | 170 | 192 | 148 | 123 |
| Westwood School District | 175 | 140 | 129 | 115 | 146 | 112 | 115 | 113 | 117 |
| INDICATORS | TREND |
|---|---|
| Prekindergarten Participation | Increasing |
| Student Performance on Grade 3 English, by Student Group | Not Applicable |
| Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group | Not Applicable |
| Chronically Absent Students | Decreasing |
| High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group | Increasing |
| Education Levels of Adults | Not Applicable |
| Education Levels of Adults, by Race/Ethnicity | Not Applicable |
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