Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing at least 10 percent of school days in a given year, or about 18 days, which will affect the educational outcome of students.
Nearly 7.5 million students (K-12th grade) are chronically absent every school year - missing enough school to put them at severe risk of dropping out or failing to graduate, reveals a new initiative by the U.S. Army and the Ad Council.
The U.S. Army and the Ad Council are unveiling a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) to educate parents of 5th through 8th graders to recognize the crucial role regular attendance, even in the early years, plays in high school graduation. The advertisements are created pro-bono by advertising agency Publicis Kaplan Thaler.
It's found that every absence irrespective of grade can impact a child's academic achievement. Missing 18 or more days of school in a year, at as early as 6th grade, puts a child's high school graduation at-risk. Missing just two days every month of the school year can allow a child to fall behind, increasing the likelihood of dropping out, it said.
"The U.S. Army recognizes the immense importance of having an educated public and is deeply committed to programs that benefit America's youth," said Mark Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Marketing/Director, Army Marketing and Research Group.
Research shows that students who attend school regularly in their early school years are more likely to learn to read well by the critical third grade milestone, score higher on standardized tests, and graduate and go on to college than students who are chronically absent.
"We are proud to further our collaboration with the Ad Council to launch these new PSAs on behalf of the BoostUp campaign, continuing our efforts to raise awareness about the dropout crisis and motivate parents to take action on behalf of their children's education," Davis said.
The new English and Spanish-language PSAs ask parents to look at the influence they have over their children's attendance reminding them that every day missed, excused or not, even in middle school, puts their kids' graduation at risk. Another, community-targeted execution illustrates the staggering fact that 7,000 high school students drop out every school day by showing thousands of graduation caps falling from the sky.
"We hope this PSA campaign will shine a light on the problem of chronic absenteeism and educate parents about the importance of their children attending school every day in order for them to succeed academically and stay on the path toward high school graduation," Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council said.