Governor McKee and Commissioner Infante-Green Talk Attendance and Outcomes in 2025-26 Kick-Off to Attendance Matters RI Campaign

Governor McKee and Commissioner Infante-Green Talk Attendance and Outcomes in 2025-26 Kick-Off to Attendance Matters RI Campaign

Published on Tuesday, September 02, 2025

• 24-25 campaign results show 142,300+ fewer Absences
• Governor and Commissioner issue Attendance and Academic Achievement Guidance to support chronically absent students who are not achieving grade-level outcomes
• New interactive heatmap of daily student attendance launched
• State honors schools with the lowest and most improved chronic absenteeism rates

PROVIDENCE, RI - Governor Dan McKee and Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green today kicked off the Attendance Matters RI campaign for school year 2025-26 with a third consecutive year of decreased chronic absenteeism and released the Attendance and Academic Achievement Guidance prioritizing early identification, engagement, and support for students. They were joined by House Education Chair Representative Joseph M. McNamara, Providence Public Schools Acting Superintendent Dr. Paula Dillon, 2026 Rhode Island State Teacher of the Year Sarah Dully, and students, officials, parents, educators, and community leaders.

CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM RATE DROPS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR

Post-pandemic, Rhode Island has been recognized as a national leader for curbing chronic absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism (defined as missing 10% of school days in a year, about 2 days a month) during the 2024-2025 school year declined approximately 2.6 percentage points, bringing the statewide chronic absenteeism rate from 24.7% in school year 2023-2024 to 22.1%. This represents 142,360 fewer absences from the previous year. The State has experienced a 12-percentage point drop from the 2021-2022 school year, when chronic absenteeism peaked statewide with 34.1% of students being chronically absent. Through the reduction over the years, approximately 3.7 million learning hours were recovered. This is the third consecutive year of decreased chronic absenteeism statewide.

"Rhode Island's collective work to improve school attendance continues to deliver positive results that will help raise student academic achievement across the Ocean State," said Governor Dan McKee. "My Administration will continue to remind students, families, and educators that: Attendance Matters!"

"I'm incredibly proud that through the partnership of students, families, educators, and community members, Rhode Island continues to lead the way in reducing chronic absenteeism," said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. "As we kick off the campaign for the upcoming year, it's important we recognize our progress but also keep in mind that too many kids are still missing school too often."

Education leaders reinforced a need for continued focus on improving attendance. SurveyWorks, the state's school climate survey for students, families, and educators, shows higher awareness of the impact of missing school among families, educators, and administrators in recent years, but not among students.

According to 2025 survey results recently released, only 30% of students in Grades 6-12 thought that missing 18 days of school would have a significant impact on their chance of graduating high school, compared with 58% of families, 68% of educators, and 84% of administrators. In 2025, RIDE received nearly 132,500 responses to the survey, an increase of nearly 2,000 responses compared to the responses received in 2024. The most recent survey results can be found at the SurveyWorks Resource Center.

ATTENDANCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT GUIDANCE

The McKee Administration also released the Attendance and Academic Achievement Guidance for students who are chronically absent and who are not meeting proficiency in math and ELA achievement. The Guidance supports Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in better identifying, engaging, and supporting at-risk students in elementary and middle school.

The Guidance proposes to increase student support at the elementary and middle school levels and provides LEAs with a structured framework to identify students at risk of retention and implement interventions aligned with the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). As part of the Guidance, LEAs are advised to:

• Identify at-risk students early, including students in grades 3-8 who are chronically absent and are performing below grade level expectations in math and LEA.
• Engage and clearly communicate with students and families about the potential consequences of the issuance of a "Promotion in Doubt" letter.
• Implement data-driven decisions prioritizing support and collaboration with families that exhaust all available interventions before considering retention as a final option for the student.
• Review all evidence to support good cause exemptions such as a student's differently-abled or multilingual learner status; identification as a youth in care; medical issues; participation in programs or interventions that support academic recovery.
• If all interventions are exhausted, any student who is retained must receive intensive support with a personalized learning plan with targeted academic and attendance interventions.

"Every Rhode Island student deserves to learn in a supportive learning environment that helps them thrive," said Governor Dan McKee. "With this new Attendance and Academic Achievement Guidance, my Administration is ensuring students who are struggling receive support early before they fall too far behind in their academics."

"RIDE is committed to ensuring that no student falls through the cracks, and our latest Guidance aims to connect struggling students with the help and resources needed to succeed," said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. "By identifying these students early and prioritizing support for them, working together, we can prevent long-term consequences that may severely limit their potential in the classroom, college, and career."

The new Guidance was crafted in partnership with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Brown University, and education stakeholders, including Rhode Island's Chronic Absenteeism Working Group, which is comprised of education, business, and community leaders. RIDE also engaged with students, families, educators, administrators, and community leaders while preparing the Guidance.

Data shows chronic absenteeism has a deep impact on academic performance and student outcomes.

• There is a more than 20 percentage point achievement gap among chronically absent students and their peers.
• Chronic absenteeism is the single strongest predictor of dropping out before graduation and is linked to increased student suspensions, teen substance use, as well as poor health as adults.
• Recent graduation data show a nearly 40 percentage point gap in graduation rates among persistently chronically absent high school students compared to students who were not.
• Students who are chronically absent for multiple years between preschool and second grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the third grade, compounding challenges.

Education leaders highlighted the importance of intervening and providing continuous support in addressing root causes for attendance and academic challenges. This is even more critical in the wake of the pandemic as the State works to accelerate student learning after the deep disruption caused by COVID-19. Rhode Island was recently recognized by the Education Recovery Scorecard, which is a joint project of Harvard University, Stanford University, and Dartmouth College, for leading all New England states in academic recovery.

NEW ABSENCE-TRACKING HEATMAP

With a focus on transparency and raising the public's awareness, RIDE has several data dashboards available at AttendanceMattersRI.org/data that provide a comprehensive overview of attendance and absenteeism rates and feature real-time reporting capabilities and interactive visualizations.

Today, RIDE launched an interactive calendar heatmap which shows daily student attendance rates based on the school calendar. Rhode Island's new attendance heatmap, the first of its kind in the nation, allows the public to see exact timeframes when districts and schools see increased chronic absenteeism. Notably, heightened school absences can be seen around weekends and holiday breaks.

ATTENDANCE ALL-STARS

At the kick-off event, leaders announced that all Rhode Island public students will once again receive an Attendance Matters RI magnetic calendar that will help families track attendance. State leaders also recognized "Attendance All-Stars," the top schools at the elementary, middle, and high school level with the lowest and most improved chronic absenteeism rates.

Providence Public Schools (PPSD) experienced among the steepest declines in chronic absenteeism, impacting the greatest number of students over the last few years through enhanced student monitoring, family and community engagement, and intervention strategies. PPSD's chronic absenteeism rate declined by approximately 6.9 percentage points from the school year 2023-2024, from 36.2% to 29.3%. The latest data shows a 27.8 percentage point decline since school year 2021-2022, when PPSD saw its highest chronic absenteeism rate at 57.1%. The latest rate for PPSD is lower than pre-pandemic levels.

PPSD launched its own "Attendance Heroes" campaign; has formed attendance teams in every school, built a cutting-edge, internal student data dashboard that tracks attendance and academic performance; and established a family communication system that issues direct communication to families and guardians about student absences. PPSD's data dashboard helps to proactively identify and link at-risk students struggling with attendance and academics. District and school-based attendance teams work with families to provide support and address barriers that may affect attendance, such as transportation, housing instability, language or cultural obstacles, and mental and physical health concerns.

"Providence has been prioritizing the support and engagement of our students and their families, and we have successfully been reducing chronic absenteeism district-wide," said Acting Superintendent Dr. Paula Dillon. "Chronic absenteeism isn't just a statistic; it's a signal that a student needs deeper support. As leaders in this work, Providence will continue to use data to identify the needs of our students and take action to engage and support students who are most at risk."

MOST IMPROVED RATES

Elementary Schools

• Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy​ 
• Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School, East Providence 
• Warren A. Sherman​ Elementary School, Warwick 
• Achievement First Promesa​ Mayoral Academy​, Providence 
• Elizabeth Baldwin​ Elementary School, Pawtucket 

Middle Schools

• Roger Williams​ Middle School, Providence 
• Esek Hopkins​ Middle School, Providence 
• West Broadway​ Middle School, Providence 
• Governor Christopher DelSesto​ Middle School, Providence 
• Nathan Bishop​ Middle School, Providence

High Schools

• Beacon Charter School​, Woonsocket 
• E-Cubed Academy​, Providence 
• Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex, Providence 
• Dr. Jorge Alvarez​ High School, Providence 
• Village Green Virtual​ Charter School, Providence 

LOWEST RATES

Elementary Schools

• Sowams Elementary School, Barrington​ 
• Hampden Meadows Elementary School, Barrington 
• Nayatt Elementary School, Barrington ​ 
• Oak Lawn Elementary School, Cranston​ 
• Primrose Hill Elementary School, Barrington

Middle Schools

• Jamestown School - Lawn​ Middle School 
• Segue Institute for Learning​, Central Falls 
• Barrington Middle School​, Barrington
• Wilbur and MacMahon School, Little Compton
• Kingston Hill Academy, Kingston Hill Academy Charter

High Schools

• The Greene School Charter​, West Greenwich 
• Segue Institute for Learning Legacy High School, Segue Institute for Learning Charter
• East Greenwich High School​ 
• Barrington High School​ 
• North Smithfield High School​