A program that puts caseworkers in schools where students struggle to regularly attend is apparently working in Michigan: The chronic absenteeism rate dropped by 8%.
Chronic absenteeism, or missing 10% or more school days, in K-12 schools is surging nationwide. Michigan is among the hardest-hit states.
A new University of Michigan analysis, which was federally funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, finds that a Michigan-based intervention, Pathways to Potential, helped reduce chronic absenteeism.