It is well known that a most important key to children's academic success is having them attend school on a regular basis. To emphasize this, the federal government made attendance an "additional indicator" for elementary and middle schools to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)² of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (2002). Four states in the Pacific Northwest—Alaska, Montana, Oregon, and Washington—are using attendance as an indicator. Under NCLB, each state can set its own target rate to meet AYP for each year. Oregon's target is 92 percent attendance. Alaska set its target at 85 percent attendance, explaining that "attendance below this level represents too much school missed to learn the reading, writing, and mathematics standards at proficient level" (U.S. Department of Education, 2003, p. 62). Washington's target is an unexcused absence rate of 1 percent, and Montana has not yet decided their target rate. NCLB also requires, for the first time, that districts report unexcused absences to the state.

Although the AYP indicator used for high schools is based on student dropout rates, rather than attendance, attendance is, of course, just as important for high school students as it is for younger children. Statistics show that absenteeism due to reasons other than illness and cutting individual classes increases with each grade level, starting in the eighth grade (National Center for Education Statistics, 2002). Poor attendance is a major indicator of gradual alienation and disengagement, and may lead to a student dropping out permanently (Lan & Lanthier, 2003; Schargel & Smink, 2001; Schwartz, 1995).

States and districts are also responding to the growing concern about chronic absenteeism. In 1995, Washington State passed the Becca Law that created a mandatory process for schools to inform parents of truancy, required districts to file truancy petitions if a student had a certain number of absences, and gave power to the juvenile courts to issue sanctions against students and parents (Aos, 2002). The law also required districts to report to the state unexcused absences at the end of the school year, and provide data on what programs or schools have been developed to serve students who have excessive unexcused absences. A recent study that analyzed whether the Becca Law had an effect on keeping children in school (Aos, 2002) reported that truancy provisions appeared to result in a statistically significant increase in high school enrollment. To provide additional support and information for districts, the Washington State Becca Taskforce convened its first truancy conference in 2004 to present research-based strategies, showcase promising truancy prevention programs, and to bring together educators, court officers, and community members to work together on truancy.

Although academic achievement is certainly a driving force for developing these policies, it is not the only concern. The budgets for most school districts are based on average daily attendance, and high absenteeism can result in the loss of funds (Ford & Sutphen, 1996). More important though, is that decades of research indicate that children who have chronically unexcused absences are at risk for having more serious behavioral issues such as substance abuse, involvement in criminal activity, and incarceration (Baker, Sigmon, & Nugent, 2001). Of course, not all students who are truant become criminals, but it is safe to say that school truancy is a predictor for more serious criminal activity.

Particular attention is being paid to increasing attendance and lowering the dropout rate of culturally and linguistically diverse students, and students from low-income homes, who historically have had higher dropout rates than middle class white students. In Oregon, for example, the 2002–2003 Hispanic dropout rate was 9.1 percent, the highest of all groups, with African American dropout rate at 9 percent, American Indian/Alaska Native at 6.3 percent, and white students the lowest at 3.6 percent. The good news is that dropout rates have declined five years in a row for Hispanics, faster than the rate of dropouts as a whole. Dropout rates for African Americans and American Indians have also declined in the past few years. In spite of improvement, it is not enough. It is more necessary than ever for schools to create a culture of high expectations that rewards effort, that is supportive, welcoming, and respectful for all their students (Brandt, 1992; ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, 2000; Wimberly, 2002).

²For the full text of this provision, see NCLB Title I, Part A Sec 1111 (b) 2 C www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg2.html#sec1111