Ed Source – Jane Meredith Adams
“California will begin its first statewide collection of data on students who are chronically absent, a key indicator of academic trouble, the California Department of Education said Thursday. The need for a statewide pool of absenteeism data long has been disputed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who in 2014 vetoed two attendance-collection bills and wrote, “Keeping children in school and learning is a priority, but collecting more data is not the primary solution.” The change is the result of the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed by President Barack Obama in December, which requires states to collect and report data on chronic absenteeism. Keric Ashley, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said in an interview that the state will begin collecting the data from districts in late spring 2017, based on attendance for the 2016-17 school year, and will use its current definition of chronic absenteeism as a student who is absent more than 10 percent of the days in a school year.”(more)