Dive Brief:
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While chronic absenteeism has impacted students from all backgrounds during the pandemic years, the greatest effect has been at schools serving more students in poverty, according to an analysis of federal data released last week by Attendance Works.
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For schools where three-quarters or more of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, extreme chronic absenteeism almost tripled, from 25% to 69%, between the 2017-18 and 2021-22 school years. Extreme chronic absenteeism for schools serving up to a quarter of low-income students increased nearly fivefold, from 3% to 14%, but remained at much lower levels.
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Overall, the report found that poverty influenced the size and scale of the pandemic's impact on chronic absences. About a third of districts nationwide reported half their schools experiencing extreme levels of chronic absence.
Dive Insight:
The report said districts with multiple schools facing extreme levels of chronic absence "must move forward with a system-wide approach." Extreme chronic absenteeism is defined as 30% or more students in a school being chronically absent.
That should include training their teams on data-informed approaches to engage students and families and putting in place coordinated and tiered interventions, according to Attendance Works, a nonprofit organization that works with schools and districts to address chronic absenteeism.
Attendance experts and education leaders have repeatedly stressed the need to reengage students and families through outreach and building connections to school in the wake of the pandemic-induced disruptions.
The Education Department has also stressed the importance of reaching out to historically underserved families, including students of color, English learners and students with disabilities, as well as those in foster care, in correctional facilities or without a home.
In fact, the latest Attendance Works data shows Native, Pacific Islander and Black students were more likely than their peers to be absent in the 2021-22 school year.
Schools serving greater portions of nonwhite students were also much more likely in 2021-22 to experience high and extreme levels of chronic absence than prior to the pandemic, which the organization said is likely related to concentrations of poverty.
Nationally, chronic absenteeism skyrocketed following the pandemic closures, with 6.5 million more students missing at least 10% or more of the school days in 2021-22 than in 2017-18, per another Attendance Works analysis released in October.
"Yes, it's a challenge. Yes, we need to do something. But when you deepen your support and deepen your outreach, we can actually turn these numbers around," said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works.
Chang told K-12 Dive last month that it could take at least three to four years to return to pre-pandemic levels of attendance.
"I just don't want people to think that this is the way it has to be," she said.
Attendance Works also previously found that preliminary data in 11 states showed a 2% decrease in chronic absenteeism levels in 2022-23.
Strategies the organization suggested for districts include:
- Making home visits.
- Using apps to help with communications in a family's home language.
- Engaging students in activities during or after the school day.
- Establishing community schools.
- Expanding access to school health services to help families learn how to avoid keeping students home unnecessarily.
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