--reporter pkg-as follows --(nats)baltimore teen jerrod williams has come a long way.in seventh grade, he missed thirty-thrre days f drrpping out."there'd be days i'd jjst stayyhome, playythe game, eat, sleep, and that's about it, watch tv."williams &pstruggled to get passing grades at a chool where he didn't feellthe eachers cared. that's where karen webber ndour came in.she handles attendance initiatiies for the city's school district. "i saw him on the first day of school and one of the teachers who knew him said 'this boo ann days and days,' and we approached him and said this diffeeent school year for you. we expect to see you here."in eighth grade, williams missed just five days of school.the he's now a sophomoreein high school with perfeet attendance especially in math."i got bs, and b-plusses nd one a."a johns hopkins universsty study estimates 5 to 7 and a half &pmillion k-12 students are chronicaaly absent each year. that means they miss one &pmaryland ---where the rate is 11 percent -- is one of just six states that track the issue."it's sort of a hidddn problem,,they say i