The Omaha Public Schools hope leveraging “improvement science” can help address the district’s continued high rates of chronic absenteeism.
OPS has signed a $1.16 million contract with the consulting firm District Management Group to help the district evaluate attendance data and test strategies through eight-week “rapid improvement cycles.”
The consulting group will work with all OPS high schools and middle schools and 24 elementaries through May 2026.
Attendance and chronic absenteeism, defined as students missing 10% or more of school days in a school year, have been a focus statewide since the pandemic. Chronic absenteeism across all Nebraska students peaked during the 2021-2022 school year, when 23% of students were considered chronically absent. That percentage was down to 21% in the 2023-24 school year.
Chronic absenteeism rates in OPS have trended higher than the state average. District data showed a slight decrease in chronic absenteeism from 40.2% of students during the 2023-24 school year to 38.4% in the 2024-25 school year.
The district’s partnership with District Management Group is one way OPS is looking to use “improvement science,” which Superintendent Matt Ray described in a recent newsletter as the process of naming a problem, trying small changes to improve outcomes and measuring if each change made a difference.
OPS’s work with the consulting group includes testing new attendance strategies and looking at attendance data weekly to evaluate what’s working, said Katie Kuhl, the district’s school support liaison. Data is also evaluated at the end of the eight-week “cycle.”
District Management Group calls its strategy of using “rapid improvement cycles” the “Breakthrough Results Program.”
According to the group’s website, the Bibb County School District in Macon, Georgia, was able to see a 56% decrease in chronic absenteeism among middle school students through the program.
The group has worked with several other Nebraska school districts, including Lincoln and Grand Island, on work such as improving literacy and creating strategic plans, according to its website.
Each OPS school is assigned a coach through the consulting group, who meets with the school’s attendance team and a district representative weekly.
Kuhl said she thinks making quick, data-driven decisions based on attendance is crucial.
“A lot of times we look at the data (but) that piece of really acting on it is missing,” she said. “It’s important that we move on it, because if you don’t, then that attendance is just going to continue to decrease or stay the same.”
Staff members at each OPS school are assigned a group of students for whom they determine the best attendance strategies to use, such as meeting one-on-one with them or reaching out to a parent or guardian, Kuhl said.
“We have been doing one-on-one contacts with the students, letting them know that we see you, we see that you’re here and we want to support you and help you with your attendance,” she said.
Kuhl said staff members have come to attendance meetings excited about improvements in relationships with students, something she thinks is key to improving attendance.
“We’re hearing staff say, ‘I found this out about this student,’ or ‘I didn’t know the student was having some of these attendance barriers that I was actually able to help them with,” she said.
At OPS’s Buena Vista High School, dean of students Kayla Pitt said the focus is on creating individualized attendance plans for each student who is struggling.
At Buena Vista, absenteeism increased from 62% in the 2023-24 school year to 65.4% in the 2024-25 school year. However, the school added more than 300 students between 2023-24 and 2024-25 as part of its phased opening.
The average chronic absenteeism rate among all OPS high schools in the 2024-25 school year was 59%.
The approach for each student depends on the specific barriers to attendance they face, which can range from transportation to mental health struggles, and even students who may work nights to help support their family, Pitt said.
As a newer school, Buena Vista is still in the process of tailoring its attendance strategies to its families, Pitt said, but the school has seen some improvements since the start of the school year.
Buena Vista is also implementing incentives for students with zero tardies to any of their classes, including a pizza party in October, Pitt said.
“We want every student that walks into our building to feel that they are welcomed here,” she said. “We are happy to see them. This is the right place for them to be, this is a safe place for all of our students to be, and this is really a place where they can achieve the goals that they set and set themselves up for success in the future.”
Want to see more like this?
Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox.
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Luna Stephens
News Reporter
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today