Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2008

NCES 2008-084
September 2008

Absenteeism

A larger percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native 8th-grade students reported absences from school in the preceding month than 8th-grade students of any other race/ethnicity in 2007.

Figure 3.1. Percentage distribution of 8th-grade students, by number of days absent from school in the preceding month and race/ethnicity: 2007

NOTE: Total includes race/ethnicity categories not separately shown. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2007 Reading Assessment. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/ on January 27, 2008.

Children with high rates of absenteeism do not have the same amount of learning opportunities as children who attend school regularly. In 2007, some 66 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native 8th-grade students reported that they were absent at least once in the preceding month. A larger percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native students reported being absent from school than did students of any other race/ethnicity. In 2007, some 55 percent of White students, 55 percent of Black students, 57 percent of Hispanic students, and 36 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students reported that they were absent from school at least once in the preceding month.

View Table 3.1