Absence
102 Colorado District-Level Rates Fell as the State Rate Rose
Chronic absenteeism rates fell in 102 of 178 matched Colorado district-level rows in 2024-25, while the separately counted statewide rate rose from 27.9% to 28.5%.
Colorado
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Colorado, grounded in Colorado Department of Education data.
Goldrick's Math Rebound Put It Near Denver's Top
Goldrick Elementary posted Denver's largest elementary CMAS math gain in the 2022-to-2025 screen.
Black and Hispanic Graduation Rates Cross 80% as Colorado's Racial Gaps Narrow
Black and Hispanic graduation rates each rose 6.2 points since 2019, narrowing but not closing Colorado's gaps with White students.
Colorado's Graduation Rate for Students in Foster Care Rose 8.6 Points, but a 40.8-Point Gap Remains
Colorado's foster-care graduation rate rose from 36.2% to 44.8% across three reporting years, while a 40.8-point gap remained.
District 49's Graduation Rate Rose 14.7 Points. Its School Mix Complicates Comparisons
District 49's graduation rate rose 14.7 points by 2025, while incomplete school rows rule out a clean GOAL-free comparison.
More Coverage
Absence
21 Colorado Districts Reached Six-Year Chronic Absence Highs
Twenty-one Colorado districts recorded their highest chronic absenteeism rates in the six-year 2019-20 to 2024-25 series; 17 enrolled fewer than 1,000 students.
Absence
Two in Five Colorado Seniors Are Chronically Absent
Colorado's 12th graders have a 41.2% chronic absenteeism rate, the highest of any grade and nearly double the elementary average, even as the state posts record-high graduation rates.
Equity
Denver LEP Chronic Absenteeism Surged 3 Points as ICE Fears Spread
Chronic absenteeism among Denver's LEP students jumped to 44.2% in 2024-25, the sharpest increase among any subgroup except students who are currently homeless, as the district pointed to immigration enforcement as a factor.
District Spotlight
Denver Worsened While Aurora Quietly Improved: A Tale of Two Urban Districts
Denver's chronic absenteeism reversed course in 2024-25 while neighboring Aurora kept improving for a third straight year, narrowing a gap that once seemed structural.
Absence
Colorado's K-2 Students Improved Attendance in 2024-25 While Every High School Grade Slipped Past 30%
Colorado's chronic absenteeism climbs from 23% in elementary to 41% in 12th grade. K-2 rates improved in 2024-25 while all four high school grades worsened.
Equity
Most Colorado Native American Students Are in Class. Douglas County Shows the Rate Can Be Much Higher.
More than half of Colorado's Native American students attended regularly in 2024-25, but the 45.3% chronic-absence rate worsened faster than any other group's. A handful of districts, led by Douglas County at 23%, point to what's working.
Grade Shift
Colorado Now Has 17,500 More Seniors Than Kindergartners
Colorado's K-to-12th grade ratio collapsed from 105 to 77 in a decade, with 61% of districts now graduating more seniors than they enroll in kindergarten.
Absence
Only 19 of 93 Colorado Districts Have Recovered to Pre-COVID Absence Levels
Five years after the pandemic, fewer than one in five measurable Colorado districts have chronic absenteeism rates at or below their 2019-20 levels, with most large districts still well above baseline.
District Spotlight
The District That Never Stopped Growing
Weld RE-4 in Windsor has grown every year for 11 straight years, the only Colorado district with an unbroken streak, adding 3,781 students as the state shrank.
District Spotlight
How Garfield Re-2 Cut Chronic Absenteeism From 55% to 18%
A Western Slope district of 4,641 students posted one of Colorado's most dramatic attendance turnarounds, dropping from the state's worst large-district rate to well below average in four years.
