Research has demonstrated that regular school attendance is necessary for acceptable academic performance and the development of desirable social skills and behaviors. One in seven students in the United States struggles with chronic absenteeism, and 36 states use accountability metrics that are designed to assess attendance rates as part of…

The public narrative surrounding efforts to improve low-performing K-12 schools in the United States has been notably gloomy. But what is known empirically about whether school improvement works, which policies are most effective, which contexts respond best to intervention, and how long it takes? We meta-analyze 141 estimates from 67 studies of…