by Aziah Siid
It’s been nearly five years since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education in America, putting schools on lockdown, and normalizing remote learning. But while schools have long since reopened for in-person learning, millions of students aren’t consistently showing up for class.
According to the Return 2 Learn tracker that follows the issue more than one in four public K-12 students missed at least 10%, or about 18 days, of the 2023 school year, a sign that chronic absenteeism continues to surge since the pandemic. That’s compared to just 15% of chronic absenteeism in 2018. The increases have occurred in both big urban and small rural districts, as well as across income and race.
Experts say a combination of factors — from anxiety to the stress of making up lost classwork to the threat of being punished for being absent — is keeping students away from school, and out of the classroom. But kids can’t learn if they aren’t in school. For students who may be behind in reading or math — and who attend under resourced schools — not being in class isn’t helping them catch up.
As concerns grow, school districts and school leaders have tried a range of solutions to draw students back to the classroom and get attendance rates up. Here are three suggestions on ways parents, teachers, and school communities can reverse chronic absenteeism.
1. Strengthen Communication
It’s a communication method as old as schools themselves: teachers or school administrators reaching out to an absent student’s parents. Instead of putting a note in a student’s backpack, experts suggest using technology.
Scott Fassbach, chief research officer in education consulting at the research firm EAB, told Chalkbeat educators can use simple texts to parents like, “How can we help make it easier for them to join class again?” They can also ask what barriers their child faces getting to school and why.
Professionals also suggested schools can minimize or drop truism punishments: threats of detention, suspension, or involving law enforcement. Black students (and, in some cases, their families) are already statistically punished at higher rates than their white peers.
2. Work Together
The most successful approach to combating absenteeism in some districts has been the personal touch: old-school door-knocking campaigns. Thousands of volunteers — teachers, superintendents, student leaders, and others — go to the homes of missing students to talk to them or their families in person.
In Alabama, local prosecutors are pitching in, placing phone calls to families to stress the need for making sure their children are in school.
But one district is offering incentives, too: Parents of children who live in public housing whose children had perfect attendance for the month are entered in a lottery for help with household expenses.
3. Create Environments Students Want to Be In
Studies show that, post-pandemic, more students are struggling academically, emotionally, behaviorally, and socially. Many students say they feel a disconnection from their classmates and teachers, not just their school. EAB, the education research center, found that about 40% of students reported feeling less connected to peers or adults in their school since before the pandemic.
That has led some districts to collaborate with educators and mental health professionals to identify and support students with unmet health needs, helping them re-engage with school. It’s a win-win: doing so improves student health and helps increase school attendance.
Chronic absenteeism can also result from complex physical issues or family problems, so school-based health centers and wellness centers can play a crucial part in addressing lack of attendance from students.
