States, districts and schools are now being offered unprecedented opportunities to develop programs that will improve student performance and turn around underperforming schools. An understanding of how reducing chronic early absence helps those efforts will go a long way to assure that innovative school improvement policies and practices will be successful in the long run. This issue of "The Progress of Education Reform" looks at two recent research studies on the issue of chronic early absence and addresses the following: (1) What are the impacts of chronic early absence? (2) Why has it been overlooked? (3) What contributes to chronic early absence? and (4) What can be done to reduce chronic absence in the early grades? The papers featured in this issue are: (1) Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades (Hedy Chang and Mariajose Romero); and (2) On the Path to Success: Policies and Practices for Getting Every Child to School Every Day (Jane Sundius and Molly Farneth). A list of resources is included. (Contains 2 figures.)