Over the past few years, OSI-Baltimore has made school attendance a major focus of our Education and Youth Development Program. Last week, City Schools released data that proves what we already know: attendance is a top factor in determining whether our kids are successful.
Eighty-seven percent of students who were not chronically absent graduated high school after four years, while only 53 percent of students who were chronically absent graduated after four years. Also, the dropout rate of chronically absent students was three times higher than that of higher attending students.
Graduation rates are the highest they’ve been. Fewer students are dropping out. Suspensions and expulsions have dropped dramatically in the past several years. All of this points to one thing—we are on the right track, and our work is making a real difference. But we can’t let up. We must keep our focus on increasing regular school attendance so all of our children succeed.
Join us in creating change.
