PAIS & Cooley in Context
Cooley and PAIS consistently have high rates of chronic absenteeism and low attendance rates when compared to other high schools in the state.
The chart on the right shows chronic absenteeism rates for all public high schools in the state. The chart on the left shows attendance rates. As you can see, Cooley and PAIS both have exceptionally high rates of chronic absence compared to other high schools, and therefore make good schools to examine absenteeism. It is also evident that attendance rates often mask high rates of absenteeism.
For the purpose of this story, we will be examining absenteeism in three categories:
Low = 0% to 5%,
Moderate = 5% to 10%, and
Chronic = 10% or more.
Note: Because students with very short enrollment periods may skew chronic absenteeism statistics unfairly, the percentages will be based on students with a minimum enrollment of 30 days or more throughout this story.
