Supporting School Attendance in a Time of Changing Norms

During this webinar, John Gomperts with the Campaign for Grade-Level-Reading moderated a conversation exploring the causes behind the widespread spike in chronic absenteeism post-pandemic and strategies to tackle it among education and community leaders.

Nat Malkus, Ph.D., with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) provided an overview of the size and scope of chronic absenteeism presently. Malkus, who tracks chronic absenteeism rates through the Return to Learn Tracker, described how national chronic absenteeism rates went from around 15% of students (or about every 1 in 7) pre-pandemic to 28% of students (or nearly 1 in 3) post-pandemic. He noted that despite COVID infections decreasing since 2022, chronic absenteeism did not also decrease but instead has persisted at this new unprecedented rate of 28%. He called on governors as key leaders who could make a difference for their states on this issue.

“Are we going to plateau at some new normal where chronic absenteeism is just something that we’re sort of okay with? I think that’s the principal threat we’re dealing with, and that’s why now is the time to confront this at every level, to really prevent this from becoming a new normal for our students.”

— Nat Malkus, Ph.D., American Enterprise Institute

Hedy Chang of Attendance Works, an organization dedicated to supporting strong attendance, described the many negative “ripple effects” of chronic absenteeism: “It is harder for teachers to teach, for teachers to set classroom norms, for teachers to form relationships with kids, for kids to form relationships with each other and for kids to learn. The ripple effects are enormous.” To combat these effects, Chang advised educators not only to help students and families understand the consequences of missing school but also to make sure school is compelling.

“We need to [send a] message to kids and families that being in school is valuable and, when you’re not here, help them know clearly what they’re missing. But we also have to make sure that schools post-pandemic feel valuable, feel engaging, feel relevant to kids’ futures.”

— Hedy Chang, Attendance Works

Denise Forte of The Education Trust noted that although we are technically post-pandemic, many families and students are still recovering from it — physically, emotionally, financially and more. In addition, she noted the specific impact on students of color and those from low-income communities who “have borne the brunt of that with the loss of employment, loss of health, deaths of caregivers.” Forte also noted the messaging of low expectations that students received when just logging online to a virtual class meant that they were present, and the impact this may have had on their motivation to go back to school in-person. She stressed the need to prioritize resource equity and adequate funding for schools and communities that were hit harder by the pandemic, including students of color and from lower-income families. Forte also underscored the importance of people in the community who families trust, like faith-based leaders, neighbors and others to encourage and support families and students to prioritize attendance, as an “all-hands-on-deck” approach. Chang, Malkus and Forte announced a call to action, sponsored by Attendance Works, The Education Trust and AEI, for every community, and especially for state leaders, to cut chronic absenteeism in half in five years. To make progress on this goal, Chang advised communities to get data on their schools’ chronic absenteeism rates, partner with others already working on this issue and prioritize helping the kindergarten through third grade age group and their families to practice regular attendance that will carry on through their time in school. The challenge particularly targets state school chiefs to sign up and tackle this issue at the state level.

Sonja Brookins Santelises, Ed.D., of Baltimore City Public Schools described how the disruption of the pandemic to regular, in-person school attendance changed the norms from “going to school out of tradition” to “school became optional.” She also noted that her district is focused on increasing attendance among pre-K students as much as they are among high school students, to help families understand the importance of regular attendance even for the youngest children. Santelises shared some things that are working in Baltimore to decrease absenteeism, including leadership from the mayor and city government with quarterly attendance challenges, partnerships with community organizations and a focus on continuous improvement to review data and adjust their approach accordingly.

“It’s going to require the kind of relationship piece that folks are talking about, but relationship connected with actual response and action on the part of schools, on the part of whole cities and communities.”

— Sonja Brookins Santelises, Ed.D., Baltimore City Public Schools

Finally, Johann Liljengren with the Colorado Department of Education described how the spike in chronic absenteeism overwhelmed districts that assigned only one or two people to work on this issue. He also shared how the state department of education is thinking through strategies to enhance districts’ capacity to effectively tackle the challenge. He noted that across the state in the 2021–2022 school year, the highest rates of chronic absenteeism were among the oldest students (12th graders) and the youngest students (kindergartners), reflecting different causes of absenteeism and a need for a deep understanding of these causes to inform appropriate responses. Liljengren described Colorado’s launch of a learning cohort for district leaders on chronic absenteeism as an effective strategy to bring people together across the state to learn and share what’s working to tackle the crisis.

“I think this is the number one problem that schools are facing….I just don’t see any way to fix pandemic learning loss that doesn’t go through major progress on chronic absenteeism. So I think it’s really where things need to be focused on.”

— Nat Malkus, Ph.D., American Enterprise Institute