As students in metro Atlanta school districts return to class for the 2024-25 school year, some administrators are using new technology to address a growing problem in classrooms.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Georgia — and across the country — have dealt with increasing rates of chronic absenteeism, a term defined as missing 10% of the school year. In most Georgia districts, that means missing 17 days or more. State data show during the 2022-23 school year, the most recent year available, almost a quarter of Georgia students were chronically absent.
Research shows high rates of absenteeism can result in lower math and reading scores. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a set of tests administered to a random sample of students in grades 4, 8 and 12 in core subjects including reading, math, science and social studies. NAEP says a sharp drop in math and reading scores in grades 4 and 8 in 2022 was linked in large part to chronic absenteeism.
The chronically absent rate during the 2022-23 school year was between about 20% to nearly 30% in most of metro Atlanta’s largest school districts, according to state data. Atlanta Public Schools had the highest rate, 34.8%. It was 13.2% during the 2019-20 school year.
Atlanta Public Schools, DeKalb and Fulton have each purchased software from a company called EveryDay Labs to address the issue. It tracks students’ attendance and sends text messages and emails to parents of children who are absent. It includes a chat bot that asks parents if they need support to help get children to school.
If a student misses a day of school in Fulton County, parents get a reminder from the school district. The automated EveryDay Labs messages only kick in after several absences.
“A student that’s been enrolled through the entire school year … can have up to 17 absences before they’re chronically absent, so there’s plenty of room for illness and family emergencies and everything else that happens in between,” said Charity Trowbridge, Fulton’s director of attendance and improvement.
Fulton also allows students to take 10 “asynchronous” (remote learning) days per school year.
“That gives you 27 flex days,” Trowbridge said in an interview. “So there’s no reason anybody should be chronically absent.”
During a recent school board meeting, Atlanta Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Chelsea Montgomery urged members to approve a $285,000 request to purchase the technology from EveryDay Labs. The board voted in favor of the measure.
“Chronic absenteeism nationwide is really, really a struggle; we are no exception to that struggle,” she said.
Credit: Steve Schaefer /
Credit: Steve Schaefer /
The DeKalb school district purchased the technology in the previous school year for use in a portion of its schools for about $122,000. District officials are considering whether more schools could benefit. In about six weeks at the end of the school year, the system sent more than 11,000 mail nudges and 42,500 text nudges — and got 3,000 responses from families.
“Even though it was a short window of time, they did have an impact,” said Denise Revels, the district’s director of wrap around and support services. The vendor reported a 55% increase in attendance among those students who received the messaging. This year, the district is hoping to improve attendance rates overall by 2%.
Fulton, meanwhile, said it reduced chronic absenteeism during the 2023-24 school year by 3.7% compared to the previous year. Trowbridge said absenteeism is typically higher in Fulton’s lower-income areas, which matches national trends.
Trowbridge said Fulton has shifted its approach to absenteeism, using reminders and offering families’ support as opposed to reporting them to law enforcement.
“We really shifted from a truancy-focused attendance lens to a chronic absenteeism lens, and with chronic absenteeism it’s about re engagement, where truancy is about … threatening language and consequences,” she said.
“Truancy” typically focuses on unexcused absences or missing school without providing a reason, such as being out sick. Georgia law states a student who accrues more than five unexcused absences is truant. Those cases are often turned over to the court system and parents of truant students can face fines, jail time or community service.
Chronic absenteeism, though, focuses on all absences, excused and unexcused. School districts are concerned the stubbornly high rates of absenteeism since the pandemic have contributed to a slow academic recovery. However, some experts say the approach employed by APS, DeKalb and Fulton can be effective. Thomas S. Dee, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, said sending text messages and postcards to parents can motivate them to act.
“There’s some evidence that if you ... not only tell a parent their kid’s missing school, but compare them to their peers, that can be helpful,” Dee said in a call with reporters. “There’s also some evidence that quality of the language matters too. If it’s warm and inclusive and stresses shared purpose, that can be more impactful than language that is more legalistic or threatening.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Fulton County Superintendent Mike Looney referenced the problem during a recent school board meeting. The school year had been underway for about a week at the time.
“We’re still missing a few students,” Looney said. “So, students who have not (come to school) yet, we still have room for you.”
