Exhibits 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, and 10.4 present students’ reports about the frequency they are absent from school—“never or almost never,” “once every two months,” “once a month,” “once every two weeks,” and “once a week,” with the percentage of students and average achievement reported for each category. Countries are sorted by the percentage of students reporting they are “never or almost never” absent.

In fourth grade (Exhibits 10.1 and 10.2), 61 percent of students, on average, reported they are “never or almost never” absent, 13 percent that they are absent “once every two months,” 10 percent that they are absent “once a month,” 5 percent that they are absent “once every two weeks,” and 11 percent that they are absent “once a week.” Just over half (55%) of eighth grade students said they are absent “never or almost never,” 16 percent that they are absent “once every two months,” 14 percent “once a month,” 7 percent “once every two weeks,” and 8 percent “once a week” (Exhibits 10.3 and 10.4). In both grades, students in Korea reported the lowest rate of absenteeism, with 88 percent of fourth grade students and 94 percent of eighth grade students reporting that they are “never or almost never” absent, and just 1 percent or less saying that they are absent “once a week.” In contrast, in some countries, more than one-fifth or more of students miss school “once a week.”

Because coming to school is the foundation for having an opportunity to learn, it is not surprising that an increase in frequency of being absent is highly related to a decrease in average achievement, especially for students absent “once every two weeks” or more. For example, the average mathematics score in eighth grade decreased from 502 for students “never or almost never” absent to 495 for students absent “once every two months,” to 475 for students absent “once a month,” to 452 for students absent “once every two weeks,” and to 412 for students absent “once a week”—a 90-point difference between regular attendance and missing school very often. Frequently missing school may indicate that a student has other challenges, which can cause or compound the problem of missed instruction.