State officials are convening a new council to study why Iowa kids are missing school. The advisory group is to come up with a plan of action by November to try to combat the problem in kindergarten through third grade. Iowa Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says nearly seven percent of ALL Iowa students were “chronically absent” during the 2014/2015 school year.
Recent research links school attendance to reading proficiency. Reynolds says the Iowa Child and Family Policy Center tracked attendance from kindergarten through third grade.
The report also found chronically absent kindergarteners were one-and-a-half times less likely to be reading well by the end of third grade.
The state’s new Chronic Absenteeism Advisory Council will hold its first meeting in August.
