My high school students always had a litany of excuses to explain why they missed class.  As much as I might admire the creativity behind some of the excuses, I really did not care why they were absent.  Each day, no matter what the reason, was just one more day of lost learning for students who could ill afford it.

I can't say that view was shared by my school's administrators.  Their approach to truancy was passive at best, usually consisting of a recorded call to home phones that were usually disconnected.  With new evidence that attendance, motivation and other non-cognitive factors can predict future success more accurately than test scores, it's time for school districts to stop giving themselves an excused absence from the problem of truancy.

NAME ONE to THREE THINGS THEY SHOULD DO.