“The Persistence of Chronic Absence Between Kindergarten and 1st Grade in California: Insights to Break the Cycle of Absenteeism” is a new research brief analyzing data from the California Department of Education authored by Hedy Chang, CEO of Attendance Works; Cecelia Leong, vice president of programs of Attendance Works; and Kevin Gee with the University of California, Davis, SPARC. The brief shows among other things that chronically absent kindergartners were 7.2 times more likely to be chronically absent in 1st grade versus non-chronically absent kindergartners, underscoring the need to tackle chronic absence early before negative impacts on learning and development accumulate.
