This originally was published as an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune. Read the article here.

Chronic absenteeism is the visible tip of a deeper crisis. England’s schools do not only have an attendance problem; we also face an engagement problem. 

Too many young people are voting with their feet because school does not feel designed for them. As the curriculum and assessment review reaches its final stages, this truth must be at its core: curriculum and assessment shape motivation as well as attainment...

Student perceptions and experiences inform a high school’s culture and climate and have a lasting impact on students’ ability to be successful after graduating. As more and more high schools seek to blur the lines between high school, postsecondary, and workforce, educators, administrators, and superintendents need information that captures how high schoolers feel and experience this transition and the support they receive.

This project will update the 2015 Consortium report, Foundations for Young Adult Success, with an updated framework. We will produce a new infographic, as well as a new Research Brief explaining the full revised framework and the research that supports it. These FYAS 2.0 publications will be released in spring 2026.

Ximena Valverde is a Research Assistant for the Learning & Development Group and has supported projects that aim to better understand student experiences and how schools can use the Cultivate tool to guide school improvement. She is currently a joint BA/MA student at the University of Chicago, where she plans to receive a BA in Public Policy with a minor in Education and Society, and an MA in Sociology. Her main research interests are urban education, immigration policies, student motivation, and adolescent development.

We are thrilled to welcome this year’s Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) conference to Chicago! 

Shanette Porter, Director of the Learning & Development Group and Research Assistant Professor at the UChicago Consortium on School Research, is co-chairing the conference with Francesca López from University of Wisconsin, Madison. 

Amelia Montagnino (she/her) is a Research Assistant at the UChicago Consortium, where she supports the Evidence to Action Initiative. She previously worked in Chicago Public Schools, contributing to data analysis, administrative efforts, restorative practices, and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) interventions. Amelia is passionate about integrating research, public health, and mental health to promote student well-being and thriving.

Thomasina Clarke has watched school after school close in her once thriving St. Louis neighborhood, which was hit by a tornado this spring and whose population has plummeted in recent decades. 

“It’s like a hole in the community,” Clarke said. She fears a new round of closure discussions could strip the historically Black community of a storm-damaged high school, whose alumni include Tina Turner and Chuck Berry...

Over a quarter of Ohio students regularly miss school — and education leaders say that's a problem. 

According to the 2024-2025 Ohio Department of Education and Workforce state report card, the statewide average for chronic absenteeism was 25.1%, a half of a percent improvement from 25.6% the previous year. Chronic absenteeism in Ohio is defined as a student missing 10% or more of a school year for any reason...

As students head back to school, chronic absence rates remain much higher than they were before COVID: Nearly 1 in 4 students nationwide miss more than 10% of school days. Low scores on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress underscore that high levels of absenteeism continue to contribute to the decline in student performance, and an analysis of past NAEP results shows that students who miss more school scored far lower than their peers who do not.