Solving chronic absenteeism in Arizona schools, 1 field trip at a time

PHOENIX – Around a third of Arizona’s K-12 students are absent more than 10% of the school year, leading educators to use tactics like field trips to turn those numbers around.

In Arizona, a student who misses 18 of the 180 days in a school year is considered chronically absent.

According to research from the Helios Education Foundation, 34% of Arizona high schoolers were chronically absent in the 2023-24 and 29% of students in grades 1-8 fell into that category in 2022-23.

AstroCamp field trip helps reduce absenteeism at Glendale school

Bailey Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Glendale’s Legend Springs Elementary School in the Deer Valley Unified School District, said her students are motivated to stay in school because of one event: a year-end field trip to AstroCamp in California.

“When we send out the interest form for AstroCamp at the beginning of the year, parents and students have to agree to having good behavior, good grades and good attendance in order to go in. And it is scheduled at the end of the year,” she explained.

Williams said some students who have struggled with being absent in younger grades make more of an effort to be present in fifth grade due to the field trip. She added that the motivation may not be enough, so she reaches out to help parents of students struggling with absenteeism, as well.

Williams said chronic absenteeism causes her to rearrange group projects to make sure all students have present teammates.

“It does impact their understanding, especially in math, because it builds so much. From one day to the next if they’re consistently missing, those gaps are just getting bigger. And it gets harder and harder for me to fill them in,” she said.

Other local educators are trying other ways to reduce chronic absenteeism rates. For example, Chandler High School has been expanding its attendance office, giving parents access to attendance data and removing potentially confusing schedule elements like split-lunch periods. The school saw its chronic absenteeism rate drop from 31.9% in 2023-24 to 26.6% in 2024-25.

Deer Valley Unified School District it tackling the issue with its Every Day Counts initiative, which provides resources for parents to keep their students on track and in class.

Understanding root causes of chronic absenteeism

Paul Perrault, a researcher with the Helios Education Foundation, said understanding the root cause of why a student might be chronically absent is key to addressing the issue.

“Is it, number one, that they’re having a transportation issue? Number two, are they having issues where they might have to help work or watch other kids?” he said.

He added that students from low-income households or minority groups are more likely to be chronically absent. Identifying these factors can provide opportunities for the school to help while reducing students’ absence rates.

“A lot of students struggle with hunger and school lunch and other things. So, that’s really where the key part of it is: What’s the motivation factor? Now I think … you have to have those multiple avenues and motivation for students to really get them to school,” he said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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