Welcome to Our Research Archive
Search and filter by content type, issue area, author, and keyword
June 12, 2025
Lingering Absence in Public Schools: Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2024
Key Points Chronic absenteeism spiked during the pandemic and remains a serious problem. In 2024, rates were 57 percent higher than they were pre-pandemic and only 2 percentage points lower…
May 15, 2025
The Pandemic Is Over. It’s Time for Schools to Get the Message.
More than five years after the covid-19 pandemic began, the havoc it wreaked on American students and schools is alarmingly clear by nearly every measure. But there is one glaring…
May 14, 2025
Graduation in the Time of COVID: The Weakened Relationship with Chronic Absenteeism
…and graduation rates weakened by half during the pandemic. That is, a district’s chronic absenteeism rate seems to matter less to its graduation rate than it did before the pandemic,…
January 24, 2025
Testing Theories of Why: Four Keys to Interpreting US Student Achievement Trends
…assessments gauge reading and math for ages nine and 13 from 1978 to 2022. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses science and math for grades four…
January 24, 2025
Testing Theories of Why: Four Keys to Interpreting US Student Achievement Trends
…assessments gauge reading and math for ages nine and 13 from 1978 to 2022. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses science and math for grades four…
December 11, 2024
US Students Best Other Nations—in Achievement Gap Growth
US scores on the 2023 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are another sign not only that American students are losing ground in math and science, but that the…
December 9, 2024
TIMSS Shows the Bottom Is Falling Out for US Test Scores
Last week’s release of 2023 scores from the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)—an international assessment measuring fourth and eighth graders in math and science—offers a fresh look at…
September 6, 2024
The Latest Chronic Absenteeism Numbers
A new school year is beginning, and students are returning to school, but the question this year is how many will return to attending consistently. Chronic absenteeism, the percentage of…
July 17, 2024
Coming Together on Chronic Absenteeism: Schools’ Top Priority This Year
Event Summary On July 17, AEI’s Nat Malkus was joined by Education Trust’s Denise Forte and Attendance Works’ Hedy Chang to discuss chronic absenteeism. Dr. Malkus presented chronic absenteeism data…
July 15, 2024
It Is Time to Set Goals for Cutting Chronic Absenteeism
Believe it or not, the 2024–25 school year will begin in some parts of the country in less than a month, and students will return to school. Whether they return…