Data-Driven Education Journalism for the Gem State
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Idaho, grounded in Idaho Department of Education data.
Black students cut their chronic absenteeism rate from 22.1% to 15.9% while white students barely moved, narrowing the gap from 9.1 points to 3.0.
Snake River District dropped from 10.3% to 3.1% chronic absenteeism in two years (less than one-quarter of the state average) in a cluster of eastern Idaho districts defying the statewide trend.
Idaho narrowed its Black, Native American, and Hispanic absenteeism gaps since 2021. The gap for students with disabilities has held within 1.4 points the whole time.
Idaho's largest district has a 21% chronic absenteeism rate (three points higher than 2021) with a 69-point spread between its best and worst schools.
While every other student subgroup in Idaho improved or held steady, students in foster care saw chronic absenteeism rise from 24.2% to 27.1%, the only group moving in the wrong direction.
Coeur d'Alene's chronic absenteeism rate jumped from 13.3% to 20.7% over four years, crossing above the state average as Idaho's overall rate fell.
Sixteen Idaho schools have chronic absenteeism rates above 50%, including Malad Elementary at 78%, the highest rate for a non-alternative school in the state.
Native American students cut their chronic absenteeism rate from 32.8% to 21.3% over four years, far outpacing every other racial group in Idaho.
Caldwell District's 34.1% chronic absenteeism rate is the highest among Idaho's large districts, and higher than when the state started tracking the data.
Idaho's absenteeism rate dropped just 0.4 points last year after sharp improvements in 2023 and 2024, leaving 44,640 students still habitually absent.
Idaho added 3,500 students a year for 17 years. Since 2023, it has lost nearly 5,000, and the gap between actual enrollment and pre-COVID projections widens every year.
96.5% of Idaho 9th graders now reach 12th grade, up from 87.7% two decades ago. The 9th grade retention bulge has nearly vanished.
Idaho's public preschool enrollment grew 65% since 2002 despite zero state funding, driven entirely by district-level decisions and federal special education dollars.
Eastern Idaho's largest district added 5,943 students over two decades. Three consecutive years of decline signal the growth era is over.
Gem Prep grew from a single Pocatello charter to Idaho's first multi-campus network in nine years, now enrolling 12% of all charter students statewide.
