Oregon Releases Attendance Data Showing Progress for Third Year in a Row

Salem, OR - Today, Governor Tina Kotek shared early data from the 2025-2026 school year, showing that 2,655 more students than last year attended school regularly in Oregon, marking a third year of year-over-year improvement across the state, a 4.6% increase since the Governor took office.

"The work of making sure families and educators can help their students get to school is part of improving educational outcomes for our students, from improving reading and math skills to increasing graduation rates," said Governor Kotek. "When students aren't in class, they're not getting the education they deserve. Let's keep working together to do more to improve student attendance."

Regular attendance, meaning students attending school 90% or more of their enrolled days in school, means a higher likelihood of future success. Students in kindergarten through third grade who attend regularly are more likely to read at their grade level. By sixth grade, absenteeism is one of three indicators a student may drop out of high school. By ninth grade, attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than eighth-grade test scores.

In the 2024-2025 school year, there were 3,111 more students attending regularly than the previous year.

Chronic absenteeism is often driven by economic issues like transportation challenges, limited access to health care, and housing instability. Schools cannot address these issues alone and rely on partnerships between families, educators, and community members to target the root causes of absenteeism.

House Bill 4154, passed in the 2026 legislative session, now requires the state to do quarterly reporting of attendance to further identify barriers to attending class so absenteeism can be tracked more in real time. The Governor signed the bill into law earlier this year.

The Oregon Department of Education provides schools with tools to build relationships with families and help families establish routines from day one. Resources include:

• A monthly virtual learning series for educators, community partners, and state leaders.
• A yearlong planning guide for district and school leaders.
• An attendance tracker that families can customize and print to monitor attendance throughout the year.
• External resources to connect families with needed support.

For a full list of resources, visit every-day-matters.org.

Governor Kotek proclaimed September as Student Attendance Awareness Month, calling on parents and educators across the state to work together to improve school attendance. The full text of the proclamation can be found here.