How Often Should School Leaders Review Attendance Data?

As a school leader, you’re constantly balancing the day-to-day with the long-term health of your school. One of the most powerful indicators of student success—and school culture—is attendance.

But how often should you really be checking your school’s attendance data?

The short answer: more often than you think, but not all at once.

Below is a practical rhythm to help you monitor attendance effectively, identify early signs of chronic absenteeism, and intervene before small problems become big ones.

🔹 Daily: Monitor the Pulse

Who: Attendance clerk, APs, student support staff

Why: Early detection of trends or patterns

Look at:

• Students who are absent today (especially Tier 2 and Tier 3 students)

• Any spikes in a particular grade or homeroom

• Patterns in unexcused vs. excused absences

Use this for:

• Same-day outreach to families

• Connecting absences with behavior or academic data

• Spotting sudden drops in attendance due to health, transportation, or safety issues

🔹 Weekly: Spot Early Patterns

Who: Admin team, counselors, MTSS team

Why: To intervene with students before they hit chronic absentee thresholds

Look at:

• Students with 2+ absences this week

• Patterns by grade level or subgroup

• Teachers with low daily attendance submission rates

Use this for:

• Check-ins or attendance support plans for students trending toward chronic

• Re-engagement strategies

• Teacher coaching on accurate and timely entry

🔹 Monthly: Dig Into Chronic Absenteeism

Who: Admin, attendance teams, equity leads

Why: To track progress, allocate resources, and adjust supports

Look at:

• Students with 10% or more absences year-to-date

• Disparities by race, ELL, SPED, or economic status

• Schoolwide chronic absentee rate trends

Use this for:

• Strategic family engagement

• Referral to attendance teams or wraparound supports

• Reporting to district/state

• Planning Tier 1 re-engagement campaigns

🔹 Quarterly: Share the Story

Who: Staff, families, school board

Why: To build shared ownership and celebrate growth

Look at:

• Progress toward annual attendance goals

• Changes in chronic absenteeism rate

• Students who moved from chronic to on-track

Use this for:

• Parent communications

• Attendance incentives and celebrations

• Aligning interventions with academic and SEL priorities

Attendance isn't just a compliance issue—it's a window into student engagement and school culture. Building regular review habits will help you shift from being reactive to being proactive.

Whether you're reviewing attendance in your SIS dashboard, Excel, or a custom tool—consistency is key. A little attention each day and week can prevent major gaps later.

Attendance Works has a great self-assessment tool to help understand the quality of your systems for attendance data collection, analysis, and action planning.