When students are absent, are their relationships with teachers affected?

People may assume that students returning from absence are seen as “troublemakers,” disrupting class and acting out, says Michael Gottfried, one of the study’s authors and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. But in fact, he argues, it’s the opposite: Teachers see them as withdrawn and disinterested.

Why does it matter?

According to the research report, “teachers’ perceptions of students’ academic abilities can influence outcomes and may actually shape teachers’ behavior toward those students.” For example, teachers might call out those students less in class or criticize them more.

The results also suggest that teachers should not worry as much about the behavioral problems of truant students, Gottfried says. Such children do not seem to be more likely to throw chairs or have tantrums, but rather to feel withdrawn, she says. Teachers should spend energy thinking about how to re-engage such students rather than disciplining them, Gottfried says.

If true, this would have some consequences. States like Nevada, with the support of teachers unions, have taken steps to make suspensions easier. According to Gottfried, this is a mistake. Teachers may view truant students as people who lack social skills and are less academically capable, but not as people who “blow up the classroom,” he adds.

But there are reasons to be cautious about drawing too many conclusions from this research, including that the study is based on data from before the pandemic. Gottfriend says he doesn't think the pandemic has altered the patterns the study found, just made them more common. But he also can't rule out some factors like the role parents play in driving these changes in how teachers view absent students, he says.

For the researchers, however, the study provides more than just a foundation of knowledge about classroom dynamics in general.

Role models

Although teachers have long been evaluated based on student attendance, absenteeism as a distinct field of study within educational research is relatively new, says Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, an absenteeism researcher who is now dean of Founder's College, a two-year college affiliated with Butler University in Indiana.

This means researchers are still exploring vital aspects of care, trying to gather knowledge from other fields and forge new ones, he says.

What we do know is that attendance is crucial for schools. Although schools are locally controlled, they rely on federal and state funding, which is disbursed according to their ability to demonstrate attendance, Gentle-Genitty says. Historically, that meant students had to physically show up for school. But during coronavirus closures, schools shifted to remote learning options. And now that schools have reopened, there’s a “tug-of-war,” she says, as some parents are reluctant to send their children back.

For Gentle-Genitty, the new study could have said more about the characteristics of teachers, who are role models for students. For example, the study does not distinguish whether teachers taught in large or small schools, in rural or urban areas, or in private, public or religious schools, nor does it explain how those variables might influence outcomes. When asked about this, one of the authors said the research was based on national-level statistics because absenteeism is a national problem.

Gentle-Genitty says it's also important to look at developmental factors that are key for students, particularly at those early ages. This means that since that's when the student's relationship with the school is being established, there are special considerations, such as how well the teacher understands “handoff,” when the student goes from parent to teacher.

She also has her own advice for teachers: Pay attention to how students play during recess. If teachers need feedback on how students this young are interpreting discipline, their teaching or their record of absences, she says, look around the playground. Students absorb what they see and often need to practice repeated behaviors. So long before other reports or negative reactions show up elsewhere, how they act on the playground can reveal whether they are feeling isolated or withdrawn.

Gottfried also believes this research suggests that schools need to focus more on teachers, not just the absent students themselves.

“Kids don’t float around in school like atoms,” Gottfried says. When one student misses school, he says, it has a ripple effect on everyone else in the classroom. There’s a big subjective component to classroom organization when it comes to absenteeism, he adds.

About a decade ago, Gottfried researched how absenteeism can lower the grades of students who didn’t miss school, because when they return, the teacher has to “slow down” the class to get the student caught up. However, Gottfried said it also occurred to him that this must have an effect on the teacher as well — something he says hasn’t been adequately studied.

Because the absenteeism crisis is affecting instructors, she says, schools should not only focus on getting students back to class but also on providing more support to teachers.