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A pilot by researchers at the University of Southern California’s Understanding America Study asked parents to upload their children’s attendance records from the 2025–26 school year. Only 17% completed the task, and half of those uploads did not contain the requested information, leading the team to stop the study. The researcher says many parents who declined could not readily find the records, raising questions about how schools share cumulative absences.
A University of Southern California research team stopped a pilot study after just 17% of participating parents uploaded records of their children’s school absences for the 2025–26 school year. The researcher behind the project said many parents who declined could not find the information, while half of those who uploaded a file provided documentation that did not match the request.
The team, part of USC’s Understanding America Study, asked parents to provide a picture or file showing a school’s report of a child’s absences. The instructions allowed several kinds of records, including report cards, family portal downloads, and school emails or text messages. The researcher said payment for the task was above average for the time expected, but roughly two-thirds of respondents declined.
In the opinion article, the researcher reviewed written explanations from 51 parents who refused. Twenty-seven percent cited privacy concerns. More than half said they did not have the records or found them difficult to locate, including parents who said prior-year attendance data were no longer available in the school portal over the summer.
Some submissions also failed to show cumulative absences. The researcher described receiving messages about a single missed day, records covering only part of the year, and a blank portal page. As a result, the team could not reliably determine how many days some children had missed. The pilot was stopped, and the author said the experience prompted questions about how schools make attendance information available.
When Families Cannot Find Attendance Totals
The pilot points to a practical barrier in efforts to address chronic absenteeism: families may not be able to see a clear running total of missed school days, even when schools record attendance. If parents cannot readily find or interpret those records, it may be harder for them to recognize patterns and discuss attendance with schools.
The researcher argues that schools could make cumulative absence reports easier to locate and understand, and considers mailing them as one option. The pilot does not show that changing report formats would reduce absences. It does show that asking families to retrieve records after the school year can be difficult, which may limit research that relies on parent-provided documentation.
A Pilot Within Attendance Research
The study was part of a broader survey conducted through the Understanding America Study, which the author described as a nationwide panel of about 14,000 respondents. Participants answer an average of 30 online surveys a year and receive small payments for completed surveys. The attendance-record request was a pilot task within that research program.
The author places the project against continued concern about students missing substantial amounts of school. Researchers commonly use more than 10% of the school year as the threshold for chronic absenteeism. The article says rates remain above pre-pandemic levels, but the pilot itself did not measure absenteeism rates or test why students miss school.
The article also notes that states differ in what they count as an absence, including how they handle partial days or missed classes. Those differences can affect how attendance is recorded and communicated. The author raises them as background to the challenge of producing records families can use; the pilot did not compare state policies.
“The study failed — during the pilot phase, only 17% successfully completed the task.”
— The USC researcher who wrote the opinion article
What the Pilot Cannot Establish
The pilot involved a request to upload records, not an independent audit of school attendance systems. The article does not identify the pilot’s total number of participants, so the 17% completion rate cannot be assessed here for precision or representativeness. It also does not establish whether the same access problems are common across districts or school platforms.
The results do not explain why students are absent or prove that clearer reports would change attendance. The author lists several possible reasons for post-pandemic absenteeism, but the pilot did not test them. It is also unclear whether the research team plans a redesigned study or whether any schools will adopt the reporting changes the author proposes.
Making Attendance Records Easier to Reach
The author’s proposed next step is for schools to consider plain-language reports that show cumulative absences and remain easy for families to access. The article suggests making the information visible in portals and reconsidering mailed reports for key attendance details.
No school policy change, follow-up study, or implementation timeline was announced in the source article. The immediate outcome is that the pilot has ended; whether the researchers revise the task or schools change how they distribute attendance records remains unknown.
Key Questions
What did the USC pilot ask parents to do?
Parents were asked to upload a picture or file showing their child’s absences for the 2025–26 school year. The instructions accepted records such as report cards, portal downloads, or school messages.
Why did the research team stop the pilot?
Only 17% of parents completed the upload task, according to the author. The team ended the pilot after finding that participation was low and some submitted files did not show the requested annual attendance information.
What reasons did parents give for not uploading records?
Among the 51 refusals the researcher reviewed, 27% cited privacy concerns. More than half said they did not have the information or could not easily find it, including in school portals.
Does the pilot show that clearer reports would reduce absences?
No. The pilot examined whether parents could provide attendance documents. It did not test whether clearer reports or mailed records would change student attendance.
What does chronic absenteeism mean in the article?
The article describes a common research threshold as missing more than 10% of the school year. It also notes that states differ in how they define and record absences.
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