Over the past decade, chronic absence has gone from being a virtually unknown concept to a national education metric that provides every school in the nation with critical data on how many students are missing so many days of school it jeopardizes their academic success. The inclusion of chronic absence in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was a watershed moment that made this metric an integral component of efforts to help students succeed in school and later in life. This report provides a national and state analysis of how many schools face high levels of chronic absence and discusses the implications for state and local action. Based on data released by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, the analysis compares differences in school chronic absence levels from the 2013-14 and 2015-16 school years, while showing the connection between chronic absence levels and demographics. Aimed at motivating action, this report: (1) Shares key findings from this analysis of the scale, scope, and concentration of chronic absence in schools nationwide and reflects upon how those patterns can vary by state; (2) Discusses how to use chronic absence data to anticipate and put in place effective solutions to poor attendance that are tailored to local realities; and (3) Recommends steps that key stakeholders--whether they operate at a school, district or state level--can take to support a data driven approach to reducing chronic absence. [Additional funding for this brief was provided by the Jonathon Logan Foundation.]