Youngest learners fall behind due to chronic absences

One in ten students in grades K-1 misses a month of school a year, according to Attendance Counts, a new organization formed to combat chronic absences. Absences are often excused for the youngest children, so no one notices until it's too late and the student has fallen behind. Chronic absences can be particularly problematic for low-income students, who are already at risk in school. Attendance Counts founder and director Hedy Chang offers some suggestions for how districts can deal with this problem in an interview with The Hechinger Report's
Sarah Garland. Read the interview and hear Chang's remarks at The Report's website.