(5) A report by the Everyone Graduates Center 
found that chronic absenteeism can stem from a 
wide range of often overlapping internal and exter-
nal factors. External factors include homelessness, 
family dysfunction, and transportation; while inter-
nal factors include health, fear of bullying, concern 
for safety, and not valuing daily school attendance. 
Therefore, it is critical to have cross-sector collabo-
rations and multifaceted strategies that incorporate 
parents, public-private partnerships, and community 
partners. 
(6) Students of color are disproportionately 
chronically absent compared to their White peers. 
Latino students are 11 percent more likely to be 
chronically absent, African-American students are 
36 percent more likely, and American Indian and 
Pacific Islander students are over 65 percent more 
likely according to the Department of Education’s 
Office of Civil Rights Data Collection. 
(7) Studies have shown that mentors can help 
reduce chronic absenteeism. Students who regularly 
meet with mentors are 52 percent less likely than 
their peers to skip a day of school and 37 percent 
less likely to skip a class. In one program, previously 
chronically absent students in 2012–13 with ‘‘Suc-
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cess Mentors’’ gained 51,562 additional days of 
school compared to previously chronically absent stu-
dents without mentors at comparison schools; and 
92,277 additional days compared to comparison 
school students without mentors during the 3-year 
initiative. 
(8) A report on the impact of one mentoring 
program found that it reduced school absenteeism by 
half. In another study, youth showed a gain of more 
than a week of class attendance. 
(9) Studies estimate that 9.4 million young peo-
ple who are at risk need a mentor. 
SEC. 3. INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS CHRONIC ABSENTEE-
ISM. 
Section 4108(5) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7118(5)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (H)(iii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(J) interventions for students who miss 
10 percent or more of school days (as deter-
mined at any time during a school year), which 
may include— 
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‘‘(i) implementing data collection sys-
tems that assist schools in collecting and 
tracking attendance data; 
‘‘(ii) creating data-sharing and con-
fidentiality agreements between schools 
and partner agencies or community organi-
zations working with students; 
‘‘(iii) partnering with local health, 
transportation, and service providers; 
‘‘(iv) integrating school personnel for 
mentoring; 
‘‘(v) carrying out mentoring programs 
that— 
‘‘(I) are structured, managed, 
and appropriately match students 
with screened and well-trained adult 
volunteers for group and one-on-one 
mentoring relationships; 
‘‘(II) encourage mentors and stu-
dents to meet frequently; 
‘‘(III) are intended to satisfy a 
student’s need for involvement with a 
caring and supportive adult who 
serves as a positive role model; 
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‘‘(IV) emphasize the importance 
of regular school attendance; and 
‘‘(V) provide and facilitate the 
necessary student support services; 
‘‘(vi) partnering with community orga-
nizations that offer mentoring services that 
consist of— 
‘‘(I) screening and training of 
adult volunteers; 
‘‘(II) 
matching 
children 
and 
youth with the appropriate adult vol-
unteer mentors; 
‘‘(III) support and oversight of 
the mentoring relationship; 
‘‘(IV) establishing goals and eval-
uation of outcomes for mentored chil-
dren; and 
‘‘(V) planned and ongoing coordi-
nation between mentors and school 
personnel to identify individual stu-
dent challenges causing chronic absen-
teeism in an effort to connect mentees 
to appropriate school personnel or re-
sources such as access to transpor-
tation or medical care; 
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‘‘(vii) cross-age peer mentoring pro-
grams under which an older youth serves a 
mentor for a younger student for the pur-
pose of guiding and supporting the stu-
dent’s academic, social, and emotional de-
velopment; 
‘‘(viii) school reorganization aimed at 
improving relationships between students 
and staff, including strategies for recog-
nizing and modeling good attendance, such 
as mentors greeting students each day and 
promptly contacting a parent or mentor if 
the student is absent; 
‘‘(ix) identifying issues that lead to 
school absences; 
‘‘(x) meeting with students and par-
ents to engage students and improve per-
formance; 
‘‘(xi) arranging for teacher home vis-
its to develop relationships among stu-
dents, parents and schools; 
‘‘(xii) connecting students to existing 
school resources and activities, including 
school counseling services and existing 
community-based organizations; 
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‘‘(xiii) using mentors to serve as a 
bridge between students, parents, and 
schools; 
‘‘(xiv) implementing evidence-based 
restorative justice strategies aimed at re-
ducing suspensions in order to keep stu-
dents in school; or 
‘‘(xv) providing personnel training to 
build positive school climates and promote 
social-emotional learning.’’. 
Æ 
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