Oregon’s Short School Years Worsen Effects of Chronic Absenteeism

A Stand for Children Oregon analysis finds the state’s short elementary school year makes chronic absenteeism more consequential for its students than others nationwide.

The analysis by the education advocacy nonprofit uses National Center for Education Statistics data from 2020 that outlines the minimum number of instructional hours each state requires. While the average minimum instructional hours in the U.S. is 975 a year (calculated to account for elementary-level minimum hours), that number for Oregon students in elementary school is about 900. That means Oregon students automatically lose about 75 hours of instructional time each year compared with students nationwide.

Simultaneously, Oregon’s chronic absenteeism rate (defined as students who miss 10% or more of instructional days) is 11 percentage points above the national average. In the 2023–24 school year, 34.3% of students were chronically absent in Oregon, compared with 23% nationwide.

Jessica Cobian, Stand Oregon’s policy and government affairs manager, says these two problems amplify each other. Four years into elementary school, a student with perfect attendance would have attended school for 3,900 hours if following the national minimum instructional hours, or 3,601 hours following Oregon’s minimum requirements. But a student who is chronically absent would attend for no more than 3,510 hours or 3,241 hours, respectively.

Those numbers show two things.

First, Oregon’s short minimum requirements mean a student considered chronically absent by the national average would be about 91 hours short of an Oregon elementary schooler with perfect attendance, highlighting just how short Oregon school years are.

Second, an Oregon student who is chronically absent by the minimum standard starting in first grade will have missed at least 659 hours of school compared with the average U.S. student with perfect attendance by the end of fourth grade. That’s nearly 75% of an Oregon school year.

“Chronic absenteeism is a serious problem on its own—but when it’s compounded by Oregon’s shorter school year, the impact on young students becomes devastating,” Cobian wrote in an email to WW. “We’re not just losing days; we’re losing critical opportunities to build a foundation for reading, learning, and long-term success.”

Absenteeism can have serious consequences for student learning. Stand Oregon’s analysis notes kindergarten absenteeism can indicate later struggles in third-grade reading proficiency and high school graduation. (Oregon increased regular elementary attendees to 70.9% this year, up 6.7 percentage points from the year before.)

This legislative session, House Bill 3199, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Hoa Nguyen (D-East Portland) and Sen. Suzanne Weber (R-Tillamook) asks for a state-commissioned study on attendance initiatives that would help inform a new statewide policy to improve attendance. It has not yet passed either chamber, but passed out of the House Committee on Education.

“This analysis is meant to sound the alarm: Oregon students are being set up with less time to learn,” Cobian says, “and we can—and must—do better.”