Chronic absenteeism threatens to derail K-12 education

Key points:

The biggest problem in education is that children are not showing up to school. Last year, 26 percent of students missed a month of class or more, leading to a dramatic decline in academic performance. Chronic absenteeism accounted for 27 percent of the decline in math scores and 45 percent of the decline in reading scores from 2019 to 2022. Students who are chronically absent are 7 times more likely to drop out before graduate, and while state and district leaders are fighting for Solutions, children are falling further behind.

Why chronic absenteeism is difficult to resolve

In 2019, only 13 percent of students in the US were chronically absent. Typically, these students missed school due to significant personal reasons: long-term illness, gang involvement, clinical depression, working jobs to support their families, lack of transportation, drug use, unplanned pregnancy, etc. , which are not easily solved.

However, since the pandemic, the chronic absenteeism rate has doubled from 13 percent to 26 percent.

The change is cultural. Over the past hundred years, it has been drilled into the American psyche that “school is important.” A great effort was made to provide buses for any children who lived too far to walk, and the expectation was that each child would go to school every day. The kind of cut would surely lead him to the principal's office or potentially even lead to the police showing up at his door.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, this narrative turned upside down. When parents started working from home, their children sat next to them. With lectures recorded and assignments posted online, class attendance began to feel optional. When school doors reopened, many families did not return completely. Common excuses like being tired, missing the bus, or just not feeling like going were validated and excused rather than reprimanded. While students skipping school were once seen as delinquent, for many families it has become culturally acceptable, almost expected, for children to stay home when they or their parents want.

Overwhelmed by the drastic increase in absenteeism, school staff are unable to reverse cultural norms about attendance. And it's not his fault.

The root of the problem

Each student's situation is unique. Some students may struggle with reliable transportation, while others skip certain classes they don't like, and still others are completely disengaged with school. Without knowing why students are absent from school, staff cannot make progress on the root cause of chronic absenteeism.

Today, nearly 75 percent of student absences are “unexplained,” meaning no authorized parents have called or emailed the school to say where their children are and why they are not in class. This lack of clarity makes it impossible for schools to offer customized solutions and keep students engaged. Unexplained absences only deepen the disengagement and limit schools' ability to effectively address absenteeism.

Knowledge because Students missing school is essential, but also very difficult to discover. In a high school of 2,000 students with an average daily attendance of 85 percent, 225 students will be absent each day without providing any explanation. In an ideal world, schools would talk to every parent to find out the reason their child was not in class, but schools can't make 225 extra phone calls without 3-5 extra employees. Instead, they rely on Robocalls and away letters, and those methods don't work well enough.

Normalizing attendance again: it takes a village

Improving attendance is more than just allocating additional resources. It's about changing mindsets and fostering a culture that prioritizes presence. This starts with schools and communities, making attendance a shared responsibility, not just a policy.

First, schools must take the initiative to understand why students miss school. Whether through modern ai-powered support systems or more traditional methods like phone calls, understanding the root causes is critical to addressing the problem.

Next, classify and recognize the patterns. Small adjustments can have big impacts. One district noticed that students who were 0.9 miles from school were much more likely to not show up because their bus policy was for families who lived 1 mile from school or more. By changing their policy, they saw an increase in attendance. Likewise, identifying specific classes that students are skipping can help tailor interventions, either through teacher involvement or offering additional support.

Finally, schools should focus resources on students facing the most severe challenges. These students often require customized solutions, such as home visits for unresponsive parents or assistance with transportation. Targeted efforts like these create a direct impact on reducing absenteeism and improving overall attendance.

When communities come together to make school attendance a priority, students receive the support they need to succeed. Addressing chronic absenteeism is no easy task, but with focused effort and a culture of engagement, we can reverse this worrying trend and give students the foundation they deserve for future success.