The Colorado Department of Education has released data for the 2024-25 school year, indicating that student attendance and chronic absenteeism rates have changed little compared to the previous year. The statewide average daily attendance rate fell by 0.1% to 91.4%, while chronic absenteeism increased by 0.7% to reach 28.4%.
Despite these flat overall trends, 60% of school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) saw improvements in attendance, and 59% experienced declines in chronic absenteeism.
Education Commissioner Susana Córdova stated: “Good attendance is a critical component for school and life success. We are concerned to see attendance and chronic absenteeism rates moving in the wrong direction, particularly for our students of color.”
The data show that students of color have chronic absenteeism rates between 6.2% and 30.1% higher than their white peers. Latino students had a chronic absenteeism rate of 38.4%, which is about 10 percentage points above the state average.
Córdova added: “In 2024-25, Colorado added 3,500 more chronically absent students compared to the year prior. These are more than data points. These are young people who are disengaged, disconnected, and missing out on the critical learning experiences that they need to be successful.
“This is a call to action for every single Coloradan: the future of our great state is created in our schools and classrooms today. We need everyone – students, parents, teachers, community partners, civic leaders – focused on keeping students engaged in learning and attending school regularly.”
Some improvement was noted among younger students; kindergarten through second grade saw small decreases in chronic absenteeism ranging from 0.2% to 0.6%. However, all other grade levels from third through twelfth experienced increases.
More than one out of four Colorado students were chronically absent during the past year—a factor associated with ongoing learning loss and a higher risk of falling behind or dropping out before graduation. The total number of chronically absent students reached 244,622 for the year, making it the third-highest since tracking began in 2016.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted regular schooling patterns, Colorado’s average daily attendance rate was higher at 92.3%, with a lower chronic absenteeism rate of 22.5% during the 2018-19 academic year.
In response to rising concerns over student engagement post-pandemic, CDE launched its “Every School Day Matters!” campaign in 2024 with an aim to cut chronic absenteeism rates by half from their peak during the pandemic period. According to Commissioner Córdova, “the department’s goal is to support students, families, and educators in reducing chronic absenteeism to 17.8% by the 2026-27 school year.” So far, forty-five schools and districts have joined this initiative and are receiving resources intended to improve attendance outcomes.
Information on attendance initiatives as well as detailed data on state-, district-, and school-level attendance and truancy rates can be found at www.cdeinfo.org/attendance or on the official CDE website.
