Dive Brief:
-
Students who have more “familiar faces” at school are less likely to be chronically absent, according to a new study from the University of California-Santa Barbara published in The Elementary School Journal.
-
The study, which was also reported on by Chalkbeat, has widespread repercussions, raising awareness about some of the harm caused when students bounce from school to school.
-
School attendance is linked to higher rates of achievement — a factor that makes stability and, therefore, consistent classmates (i.e., familiar faces) a more urgent goal for schools.
Dive Insight:
Study authors Jacob Kirksey and Michael Gottfried write that "mere exposure" to classmates in previous years can increase students' comfort levels in school due to there being a certain level of familiarity already developed.
“If classrooms maintain some degree of stability for students in their day-to-day learning context by having a percentage of familiar faces, then students may be less likely to be absent from school as a result of anxiety or disengagement,” they continued.
The study’s findings highlight some of the issues that can arise from too many school options with school choice. Should a family find an issue with a school, they can opt out and find a different school versus sticking around to find some sort of solution. This reality can create instability with long-term impact on a child’s comfort in a school, as well as attendance.
The study was published weeks after Chalkbeat published its own investigation into high student turnover in Detroit, where nearly 60% of school ages kids were enrolled in two or more schools during a recent school year. The results? Declining academic performances, Chalkbeat found.
“That, too, could be in part because a new school means few familiar faces for students,” the website noted in its recap of the investigation and how it could parallel the study.