Michigan School Attendance Improves for Third Consecutive Year

LANSING – Statewide school attendance improved last year, the third consecutive year of gains, according to numbers released today by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

“We are pleased that the statewide school attendance rate and the chronic absenteeism rate have improved significantly for the third year in a row,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “School staff, students, parents, grandparents, and community members have been working hard to improve school attendance. Students cannot learn if they are not in school.”

The Center for Educational Performance and Information has posted statewide results on MI School Data (mischooldata.org), Michigan’s official education data portal. Statewide data and data for specific local schools can be found on the MI School Data Student Attendance page.

Over the last three years, attendance rates have increased each year, from 88.8% in 2021-22 to 91.3% in 2024-25, an increase of 2.5 percentage points, with an increase from 90.8% to 91.3% in the last year. Over the last three years, chronic absenteeism rates have declined each year, from 38.5% in 2021-22 to 27.9% in 2024-25, a decline of 10.6 percentage points, with a decline from 29.5% in 2023-24 to 27.9% in 2024-25. The decline from 2021-22 to 2022-23 was previously reported as the largest in the nation. Michigan defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% or more days of school. This has been the definition since 2017, when Michigan adopted the U.S. Department of Education definition.

“While we have made very substantial progress in the last three years, our attendance has not returned to the levels before the pandemic, so it’s important for communities to continue to collaborate to emphasize the importance of good attendance and assist children most in need of attendance support,” Dr. Rice said.

While chronic absenteeism decreased across all groups of students, it remains concerning that economically disadvantaged students are far more likely to be chronically absent than the rest of the student population. That’s why it is important for schools and communities to continue to collaborate, to the absolute extent possible, to remove barriers to children going to school, such as lack of transportation, older children needing to care for younger siblings, health issues, homelessness or inconsistent housing, and clothing needs.

While 38.6% of economically disadvantaged students were chronically absent last school year, that percentage represents a 1.5 percentage point decrease from 40.1% in the previous school year. The statewide chronic absenteeism average for all students was 27.9% last school year.

Local school districts have improved student attendance with actions such as making calls to parents, holding conferences with families, mental health interventions, and door-to-door outreach to visit students’ homes.

MDE has assisted local districts with their attendance, including with the following:

• Using research-based strategies to meet the individual needs of the whole child at all achievement levels through what’s called Michigan’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports. These strategies interconnect the education, health, and human services systems to support successful learners, schools, centers, and community outcomes.
• Implementing an early intervention dropout prevention program called the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System that MDE provides to schools. This system is a seven-step process of examining data and making decisions about supports and interventions to help students get back on track for graduation and success. MDE trains and certifies coaches who provide intervention and monitoring training across the state.
• Participating in Attendance Works’ national project to support local districts in addressing chronic absenteeism using action research.

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