Attendance is near the top of every district leader’s list, and for good reason. Chronic absenteeism rose sharply during the pandemic and remains well above pre-pandemic levels. The leaders of Attendance Works and the Afterschool Alliance, writing in FutureEd, recently made a point worth sitting with: reversing absenteeism is not only about getting students in the door, it is about keeping them engaged so they want to come back.
That reframe points to a lever that rarely makes the attendance conversation: out-of-school time.
Two ways to measure attendance
It helps to start with what the numbers actually track, because the two most common attendance measures describe different things. Chronic absenteeism counts students who miss 10 percent or more of the school year for any reason, or roughly 18 days. Average daily attendance (ADA) is a building-level average of how many students show up on a typical day. A school can post a healthy ADA while a meaningful share of its students quietly accumulate absences. The average looks fine while chronic absence compounds in the background.
That distinction matters because of how the numbers are used. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states report chronic absenteeism, and more than three dozen states and the District of Columbia use it as an accountability indicator. In some states, average daily attendance also shapes funding. Out-of-school time can support both.
Where out-of-school time fits, and what the research shows
Out-of-school time is often treated as separate from the attendance strategy. The evidence suggests it belongs inside it.
A meta-analysis of 68 afterschool studies, cited by the Afterschool Alliance, found that students in quality programs improved their school-day attendance. A U.S. Department of Education report on 21st Century Community Learning Centers found that about three in five participants who had been chronically absent the previous year improved their attendance the following year. And a 2021 evaluation of California’s After School Education and Safety programs found participants attended up to 1.5 percent more school days than students who did not take part.
The through-line across these findings is engagement. Programs give students a reason to be at school, which is exactly what a “get them in the door” approach alone cannot do.
Before the bell: getting the day started right
Most attendance conversations center on the full-day absence, but mornings matter too. Late arrivals and first-period absences add up, and for working families, the gap between when a parent leaves for work and when school opens is a real logistical problem.
Before-school programs close that gap. When families have a safe, reliable place to drop children early, students arrive on time and settle in before the first bell. This is the most direct attendance mechanism out-of-school time offers, and it is easy to overlook.
After the bell: a reason worth returning for
After-school programming supports attendance from the other direction. When a program is something students genuinely want to be part of, it becomes a reason to be at school today and to come back tomorrow.
The quality of the program is what makes the difference. Research consistently links a few ingredients to stronger attendance. Trusted relationships are near the top: studies of mentoring and caring-adult relationships find that students attend more when they have an adult who knows them well. Voice and choice keep students invested, so they take ownership of the experience. And an experience that evolves over the weeks gives students something new to look forward to.
Athletics, clubs, and other activities build this kind of belonging too. Out-of-school time extends it to students who may not be on a team or in a club, and across both ends of the day.
What a strong OST partner actually does on attendance
For district leaders, the practical question is not whether out-of-school time can help, but whether a given partner will do the work. A few things separate a partner who supports your attendance goals from one who simply runs a program.
They build daily relationships with families. Local teams who greet families every morning and afternoon see them more often than a classroom teacher does, which makes them a natural channel for reinforcing attendance habits and catching concerns early.
They track attendance and share what they see. A rigorous, name-to-face attendance process means a partner knows exactly who is showing up, and can bring that data to the table when your team is working to identify and support students at risk.
They align programming with your school-day goals. When out-of-school time reinforces what happens during the day rather than running parallel to it, the two strengthen each other, and attendance is one of the places that shows up.
Small reasons add up
Attendance is built one day at a time, through many small reasons to show up. A strong before- and after-school program, run by local teams who know your community and your goals, can be several of them, and the research increasingly bears that out.
If attendance is on your list this year, let’s talk about where out-of-school time might fit.
