Every Day Counts

helping address Chronic Absence by Improving Data Access & Utilization IN K-12 SCHOOLS & DISTRICTS

The number of students who are chronically absent from school has increased significantly since 2020. While the peak of the crisis may have passed, the numbers remain alarmingly high. Being chronically absent—defined as missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason— can significantly and negatively impact academic outcomes. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Research and evidence-based strategies indicate that with the right information and data, educators and student support teams can better understand the challenge and engage with families and students to address a range of attendance barriers.

Accurate and timely data are critical as school districts nationwide work to understand the problem, address students' barriers to attending school, and provide tiered support.

The Every Day Counts initiative–a collaboration between Project Unicorn and the Partnership for Student Success–aims to leverage data interoperability and evidence-based strategies to support districts in addressing chronic absence in their communities

Background information

In response to feedback from school districts in the Partnership for Student Success’ Attendance Solutions Network –launched in the summer of 2024– and building upon the Ed-Fi Alliance Starter Kit for this use case, Every Day Counts built and has partners with edtech to deploy a model data schema–a set of attendance and intervention data elements–for inclusion in student information systems and edtech products that support schools in addressing absenteeism with the proper supports. This data can’t be a luxury or only available to those who can afford it. So the schema aims to create a lightweight layer for including this data in baseline student information system (SIS) subscriptions and other edtech tools, helping school and district leaders understand their attendance and chronic absence data and implement timely interventions to support students and families.

what’s next for the initiative?

Based on input from a working group and ongoing discussions with stakeholders from districts, education technology, and national nonprofits, the Every Day Counts Initiative plans to work on the following three strategic action items in 2026:

• The Partnership for Student Success will continue to work with the 200+ district-based practitioners in the Attendance Solutions Network to build knowledge, capacity, and expertise about implementing comprehensive solutions to address chronic absenteeism, including how to use data to implement relationship-based supports.

• Project Unicorn will develop a research agenda on AI, engagement, and personalization, and how instructional content can influence engagement.

• The initiative will build or partner with other organizations to develop a set of open-source dashboards or templates that allow schools to visualize early warnings for chronic absenteeism, patterns and trends, and identify groups of students with common root causes.

Learn more about how we are gathering input from key stakeholders and planning the future of this work in the convening proceedings report below from an October 2025 roundtable discussion.

If you are interested in getting involved, please email projectunicorn@innovateedunyc.org.

RESOURCES

Project Unicorn is grateful to our partners in Michigan and Virginia, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Student Data Privacy Consortium, and the National Academy of Public Administration for contributing the resources listed below. These resources offer valuable tools and guidance to help communities tackle common data-sharing challenges. They provide frameworks for establishing trust and governance, ensuring data security and privacy, and fostering stakeholder collaboration. By utilizing these resources, communities can promote responsible data-sharing practices, leading to more effective decision-making, improved resource allocation, and enhanced outcomes in various domains.  

Interested in learning more or have any questions? Email projectunicorn@innovateedunyc.org.