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State news
We’re delighted to share new data showing real improvements in states participating in the 50% Challenge to reduce chronic absence! The states are seeing chronic absence reductions across nearly every grade level and student group, and improvements in student academic performance. Read below for more details from CO, CT, GA, MD, NV and RI.
New data from the Colorado Department of Education show chronic absence declines across every grade level during the 2025–26 school year. The statewide chronic absence rate fell to 27.5%, its lowest level in four years, with improvement across student groups and racial and ethnic groups.
In Connecticut, chronic absence declined for the fourth consecutive year from a high of 23.7% in 2021–22 to 16.4% in 2025–26. This metric improved in nearly every grade in 2025–26 and for the majority of student groups. The largest improvements were in grade 9.
Georgia continues to make progress. During the 2025–2026 school year, the state's chronic absence rate dropped from 19.5% to 17.7%—its lowest post-pandemic level and the fifth consecutive year of improvement.
The Maryland State Department of Education announced a four-year decline in chronic absence statewide, with a 22.8% chronic absence rate for the 2025-26 school year, down from 30.9 % in 2021-22.
The Nevada Department of Education’s accountability portal shows that chronic absence continued its downward trend, hitting 25.5% in 2025-26, down from 36% in 2021-222.
Year-end data for 2025-26 in Rhode Island indicate a statewide chronic absence rate of 19.7%, which is a 14.4% decrease in chronic absence since the height of the pandemic, and marks the fourth consecutive year of a statewide decline in chronic absence.
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