Kidsdata.org offers the following measures:

• Truant students: The number and rate of K-12 public school students who miss more than 30 minutes of instruction without an excuse three or more times during a school year
• Truant students (student reported): The percentage of students in grades 7, 9, 11, and non-traditional students, reporting the number of times they skipped school or cut class in the past 12 months, by grade level, gender and grade level, race/ethnicity, and level of connectedness to school*
• Staff reports of the extent to which truancy or cutting class is a problem at school
• Suspensions from school: The unduplicated number and rate of suspensions among K-12 public school students
• Expulsions from school: The unduplicated number and rate of expulsions among K-12 public school students

Regular school attendance is a predictor of academic success (1). Frequent absences (excused or unexcused) are linked to negative school outcomes, including lower test scores and higher dropout rates, which can have lifelong effects on employment and earning potential (1, 2). A child might miss school for many reasons, including health problems or other excused absences, unexcused absences (truancy), and exclusionary punishments (suspensions and expulsions).

A growing body of research shows that students who are suspended or expelled are more likely to have academic problems, drop out of school, and enter the juvenile justice system (3, 4). In 2011-12, nearly 3.5 million K-12 public school students were suspended from school at least once in the U.S., resulting in a significant loss of classroom instruction time (4). Suspensions and expulsions disproportionately affect students of color (particularly African American boys), students with disabilities, and sexual minority youth (3, 4).

In 2015, more than 2 million public school students in California, almost one-third of all public school students, were truant (i.e., they missed more than 30 minutes of instruction without an excuse three or more times during the school year). More than 243,000 students were suspended (3.8 per 100 students) and nearly 5,700 students were expelled (0.1 per 100 students) in California in 2015.

In 2011-13, 19% of 7th graders, 31% of 9th graders, and 47% of 11th graders in California reported that they had skipped school or cut class at least once in the past year, but most reported only skipping a few times; about 7% of 11th graders, 1 in 14, reported skipping once a week or more. Among California public middle school staff, 16% reported that skipping school or cutting class was a moderate or severe problem at their school, while that percentage was almost half (47%) among high school staff. Students who felt less connected to their schools more often reported skipping school or cutting class.

Frequent use of disciplinary removal from school is associated with higher student dropout and delinquency rates (1, 2). In fact, students who regularly miss school for any reason—unexcused or excused—are at increased risk for academic failure and dropping out (3). While disciplinary removal may be necessary at times, students often are removed for minor disruptions, and suspensions and expulsions do not result in safer schools, better student behavior, or improved academic performance (1, 4, 5). In addition, research has documented disparate disciplinary treatment of youth of color, students with disabilities, sexual minority youth, and other vulnerable groups (2, 6). In 2014, the U.S. government issued formal guidance urging school leaders to take immediate action to address school discipline disparities, and state and federal law now require use of alternatives to exclusionary discipline (5, 6).

While California has made progress in reducing suspensions and expulsions in recent years, much more work is needed to ensure that all schools, from preschool to high school, implement effective, equitable discipline policies and that all students have healthy learning environments (5, 7). In accordance with state and federal guidelines, many districts are turning to evidence-based strategies that focus on creating a positive school climate and providing students with the support they need to succeed (1, 5, 7). In addition, policies that help schools document absenteeism and truancy early, and intervene in non-punitive ways, can help reduce student absences and improve academic performance (1, 3, 8).

Policy options that could reduce truancy and excessive or disproportionate suspensions and expulsions include:

• Ensuring that schools engage families and community partners to create positive school climates, which can help prevent problematic student behavior; such efforts should involve staff training, programs to build student social-emotional and conflict resolution skills, and systems to address student behavioral health or other needs, including early screening for disabilities (4, 5)
• Uncovering and flagging chronic absenteeism—both unexcused and excused—early in elementary and middle school by tracking individual student attendance in real-time and by collecting and publicly reporting absence data at the district, school, grade, and student subgroup levels (3, 8)
• Ensuring that schools and community partners use attendance data to reach out to parents early, before absences become chronic, to offer support and promote good attendance; also, creating formal collaborations (e.g., School Attendance Review Boards) among local agencies and service providers to engage hard-to-reach families and address underlying causes of absences (3, 8)
• Collecting, reporting, and using data at the school and district levels on the prevalence of suspensions and expulsions by student race/ethnicity, gender, disability, English Learner status, and LGBT identification, including cross-tabulations of these factors (e.g., African American boys with disabilities) (1, 5, 7)
• Implementing and training staff on non-punitive school discipline policies that are clear, fair, consistent, and promote a positive learning environment; such policies should be based on a tiered system of appropriate responses to misconduct that keep students in school when possible, and they should include clear, equitable classroom behavior management practices (4, 5, 7)
• Setting clear goals for reducing suspensions/expulsions and the disparate use of such discipline, and continuously evaluating the impact of discipline policies on all students, as directed by federal guidelines (4, 5, 7)
• Addressing discriminatory discipline policies through administrative or legal enforcement (5, 6, 7)