District Spotlight
York City's 27-Point Recovery From 63% Chronic Absence
York City SD dropped from 63.4% chronic absence to 36.8% in two years, the second-largest improvement in Pennsylvania. The recovery crossed every subgroup.
Pennsylvania Education News & Data
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Equity
PA's Black-White Absence Gap Widened 3.7 Points Since COVID
The Black-white chronic absence gap in Pennsylvania grew from 8.2 to 11.9 percentage points. English learners are the only group that closed their gap.
District Spotlight
Chester-Upland: Never Below 50% Chronic Absence
Chester-Upland SD in Delaware County has never recorded a chronic absence rate below 50% in seven years of data, the only multi-school district in PA with that distinction.
School Choice
PA Cyber Charters: Absence Rising While Traditional Schools Improve
Pennsylvania's cyber charter schools saw chronic absence rise to 30% even as traditional schools improved to 20%. New state reforms add oversight.
Covid Impact
Only 12% of PA Districts Have Recovered to Pre-COVID Attendance
Of 733 Pennsylvania school districts, just 92 have returned to pre-pandemic chronic absence levels. 147 schools still have majority-absent student bodies.
District Spotlight
Coatesville's 37-Point Attendance Turnaround
Coatesville Area SD went from 50% chronic absence to 13% in three years, the largest such improvement among traditional Pennsylvania districts.
Equity
Philadelphia's Attendance Equity Gap Tripled Since COVID
42% of Black students in Philadelphia are chronically absent, compared to 27% of white students. The gap has tripled since pre-COVID.
Absence
One in Five PA Students Chronically Absent as Recovery Stalls
Pennsylvania's chronic absenteeism rate remains at 20.4%, still 6 percentage points above pre-COVID levels. Recovery is decelerating.
