Figure 3.1. Percentage distribution of 8th-grade students, by number of days absent from school in the preceding month and race/ethnicity: 2003

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2003 Reading Assessment.

Children with high rates of absenteeism do not have the same amount of learning opportunities as children who attend school regularly. In 2003, some 66 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native 8th-grade students reported they were absent in the preceding month. American Indian/Alaska Native students were more likely to be absent at least once a month than students of any other race/ethnicity. In 2003, some 56 percent of Black students, 58 percent of Hispanic students, and 57 percent of White students, and 37 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students reported that they were absent at least once from school in the preceding month.

View Table 3.1