High Incomes, Low Absenteeism

Here we looked at the average number of school absences in cities that contain Massachusetts' hungriest children. It is also important to note this average for students in high income communities. Below is the average number of school absences in some of the wealthiest communities in Massachusetts.

Weston	5.5
Dover	7.1
Carlisle	6.2
Sherborn	5.8
Sudbury	6.5
Wellesley	6.3
Wayland	6.4
Concord	6.4
Winchester	7
Lincoln	7.3
Boxford	6.6
Lexington	6.1
Marblehead	8.2
Newton	7.1
Swampscott	8.3
Brookline	7.5
Cohasset	7.5
Acton	7.3
Nahant	8.1
Andover	6.8
Harvard	7.6
Lynnfield	6.8
Belmont	7.2
Needham	6.6
Walpole	6.8

In the low income communities selected for the previous study, the average ranged from 6.4 school absences to 15.7. Here we see that children in high income communities tend to miss a lot less school; the averages range from 5.5 school days to 8.3. This difference indicates the added challenge that low income communities have in educating their children compared to high income communities. While is it important to know this, the next step should be to determine why students are not coming to school and what the school, parents and community can do to change high absentee rates. Fixing the curriculum and raising standards are important, but matters little if children not coming to school; one cannot teach a child that is not present.

All Data Taken from: www.doe.mass.edu