New York’s 2024–25 State Report Card shows that 24.6% of elementary/middle students and 31.3% of secondary students met the state’s chronic absenteeism criteria. The report lists 361,418 chronically absent students at the elementary/middle level and 251,882 at the secondary level.1 The secondary rate was 6.7 percentage points higher.
Chronic Absenteeism by Grade Band
NYSED’s January 2025 Attendance Matters presentation provides grade-band rates through 2022–23 and notes that no chronic absenteeism data were reported for 2019–20 because of COVID-19.2 The 2023–24 State Report Card extends the series one year.3 The 2024–25 report card adds the next grade-band results.1
School years with reported chronic absenteeism data, 2017–18 through 2024–25.
The chart omits 2019–20 because New York did not report chronic absenteeism data for that school year.
| School Year | Elementary/Middle | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | 15.0% | 23.2% |
| 2018–19 | 15.6% | 24.5% |
| 2019–20 | Not reported | Not reported |
| 2020–21 | 21.5% | 29.1% |
| 2021–22 | 29.8% | 37.8% |
| 2022–23 | 26.4% | 34.1% |
| 2023–24 | 25.1% | 31.5% |
| 2024–25 | 24.6% | 31.3% |
Rates have moved down from their 2021–22 peaks. By 2024–25, the elementary/middle rate was 5.2 percentage points below its 2021–22 level, while the secondary rate was 6.5 points lower. Both remained above 2018–19: by 9.0 points for elementary/middle students and 6.8 points for secondary students.
The 2023–24 and 2024–25 State Report Cards both state that data were not reported for one or more schools within New York and advise caution when interpreting the statewide results.31
2024–25 Rates Across Student Groups
The 2024–25 report card shows a higher secondary chronic absenteeism rate than elementary/middle rate for every student group listed in the state table. The largest grade-band gap among these groups is for English language learners: 28.8% at the elementary/middle level and 40.6% at the secondary level, a difference of 11.8 percentage points.
| Student Group | Elementary/Middle | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| All Students | 24.6% | 31.3% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 35.3% | 41.5% |
| Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander | 15.9% | 20.5% |
| Black or African American | 34.8% | 41.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 32.7% | 39.4% |
| Multiracial | 25.5% | 31.7% |
| White | 16.8% | 23.0% |
| English Language Learner | 28.8% | 40.6% |
| Students with Disabilities | 31.3% | 40.6% |
| Economically Disadvantaged | 33.2% | 40.4% |
How New York Counts Chronic Absenteeism
NYSED describes chronic absence as missing at least 10% of school days, typically about 18 days in a full school year.2 The calculation is based on the instructional days for which a student is enrolled, rather than a fixed statewide number of days for every student.4
For school years before 2025–26, the SIRS-107 reporting rules included students enrolled for at least 10 instructional days, in attendance for at least one day, and absent for at least 10% of enrolled instructional days. Beginning in 2025–26, the minimum enrollment requirement changes to 30 instructional days; the student must still have attended at least one day.4
The 2025–26 minimum-enrollment change affects which students enter the chronic absenteeism denominator. Trend comparisons that cross this change should therefore be read with the eligibility rule in mind.
New York’s Attendance Indicator
New York replaced Chronic Absenteeism with a new Attendance indicator for ESSA accountability beginning in the 2025–26 school year. Chronic absenteeism continues to appear on New York State Report Cards for informational reporting.54
The Attendance indicator includes students in grades 1–12 who are enrolled for at least 30 instructional days and attend at least one day. Each eligible student is assigned an attendance level based on the percentage of enrolled instructional days attended.5
| Attendance Level | Percent of Instructional Days Attended |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 85% or less |
| Level 2 | 85.1%–90.0% |
| Level 3 | 90.1%–95.0% |
| Level 4 | 95.1%–100.0% |
Those levels are combined into an Attendance Index: Level 2 students receive a weight of 1, Level 3 a weight of 2, and Level 4 a weight of 2.5; the weighted total is divided by the number of eligible students and multiplied by 100.5 The index is not an attendance percentage. Its theoretical range is 0 to 250.
For all students in the 2024–25 State Report Card, the Attendance Index was 186.0 at the elementary/middle level and 171.9 at the secondary level.1 This measure uses the full distribution of student attendance levels, while the chronic absenteeism rate identifies the share of eligible students who cross the 10% absence threshold.