Chronic Absenteeism
Data on chronic absenteeism are provided by the Virginia Department of Education (DOE) through their Chronic Absenteeism dataset. Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of the school year. School districts across Virginia collect and report on the number of chronically absent students within each school by subgroup.
To generate the rate of chronic absenteeism, Omni gathered student population data from the DOE's Enrollment & Demographics datasets. Each school year, the DOE collects school population data for students in each grade (ranging from Preschool to 12th grade). Schools report these totals directly to the DOE, but private schools are not required to report this information. Instead, the data is provided as a missing value. Additionally, the DOE suppresses chronic absenteeism data at the subgroup level in any instance where the total student population of that subgroup is less than 11. This, along with the missing population values for private schools, means that the chronic absenteeism rates presented on the dashboard are slightly skewed, but they still give a close estimate of chronic absenteeism per 1,000 students at the locality, CSB, and region levels.
Filtering Data
Hovering over a locality, CSB, or region on the map, or over a data point on a graph will highlight exact data values. Select a locality, CSB, or region using the dropdown menu to filter the data to that location. Don't want to see everything? Use filters to select data from certain years and demographic subgroups.
Downloading Data
The download button at the bottom right of each dashboard allows you to download a PDF or image of the current dashboard view. At the top of each tab, you will also see an information icon. Hover over the icon to read more about the data sources and links to access the raw data, if available.
Data Considerations
Data suppression criteria follows the criteria provided by the data source. Suppression criteria may vary across data sources and is used to maintain confidentiality.
Many data tabs include the option to view data as a count and as a rate. Count data is useful in looking at the total quantity of an event but may be influenced by the size of the underlying population. A rate means that the data was standardized to a common denominator and can be compared across geographic or demographic groups.