School leaders work to keep students in class amid rise in chronic absenteeism

Geoff Bennett:

Chronic absenteeism is a problem for school districts and students across the country. While some states have seen modest gains, the situation has grown significantly worse since the pandemic.

Nearly 30 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2021 and 2022 school year. That's according to the most recent federal data. And it's defined as missing at least 10 percent of school days. It can have major consequences for student achievement and much more, and many districts are struggling with it, including Missouri.

Our communities correspondent, Gabrielle Hays, joins us now from St. Louis.

Gabby, it's good to see you.

So give us a sense of the state of chronic absenteeism in Missouri and across the country, based on your reporting.

Gabrielle Hays:

Yes, absolutely, Geoff.

Well, I think it's important to understand that, here in Missouri, we're kind of trailing national data. It's not much better, but it hasn't gone back to what it was. So, the most recent numbers that we have seen from our state report card point to nearly a quarter of our students across state of Missouri being absent.

Now, if we're comparing this year to last year, as you have noted, what we're seeing nationwide, we have seen very, very modest gains. But, again, the place of concern for our school administrators and our experts is that those numbers have not returned to what they were pre-pandemic.

And that is something that is especially of concern, not just in Missouri, but nationwide, so much so that we have seen the White House come out on this, not just last year, but even today, emphasizing the issue of chronic absenteeism across the states and across the country.

Geoff Bennett:

What did they say about the impact that absenteeism is having?

Gabrielle Hays:

Yes.

Well, today, we heard from the White House, from the education secretary, from governors across the country, and they note just how big this issue is of chronic absenteeism and what it means for students across the country. They really honed in on the fact that, how can our nation's students learn if they're not in the classroom, and emphasize the need for some side of — some sort of road map to help states navigate some accountability when it comes to that.

But we heard especially from domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden on this.

Neera Tanden, White House Domestic Policy Adviser:

Absenteeism can account for up to 27 percent of the test score declines in math we have seen and 45 percent of the test score declines in reading respectively.

We know that from the Council of Economic Advisers and deep research they have done. The truth is, we simply cannot accept chronic absenteeism as the new normal.

Gabrielle Hays:

Now, I want to emphasize something that I heard not just from school administrators, not just from the state, and not just from the White House, but from researchers that have emphasized this as well, are these long, far-reaching impacts of chronic absenteeism and what that can mean to students.

And they have linked this not only to things like its effects on mental health, but also the ability of a person to earn a living long term.

Geoff Bennett:

So, what are the barriers keeping students out of the classroom then?

Gabrielle Hays:

That's a really good question.

I think one thing that I — that's imperative to point out that administrators have pointed out to me and experts is that we're talking about barriers that young people faced even before the pandemic that the pandemic maybe made even worse, right?

Attendance Works, which is a national organization that works at this issue, caused them root causes. So we're talking about anything from child abuse, to not having access to transportation, to not having access to stable housing. So, if you add a global pandemic to all of these root causes, it makes for a very rough scenario for a lot of our young people who are not showing up to school.

Hedy Chang, the executive director of Attendance Works, spoke to me about this and of the importance of understanding what these barriers are.

Hedy Chang, Executive Director, Attendance Works:

A major challenge in our work on — around attendance is that people's reaction to when kids miss school, often, in this country, we think it's because a kid and family doesn't care.

This is not about whether you care or not. This is about whether you face barriers or challenges and issues coming to school.

Gabrielle Hays:

This is a big thing that Chang stressed to me, that, in order to really take a look at this issue, it has to go beyond the numbers.

The numbers are a good start, but it has to go beyond the numbers and misconceptions about why young people aren't at school.

Geoff Bennett:

So, how are schools handling this? And what do experts say needs to be done?

Gabrielle Hays:

Yes, well, I think, on one hand, school districts have told me they're really just trying to communicate and learn as best they can why students aren't showing up, so they can help them.

But Chang really emphasized to me that there needs to be more data. There needs to be more investigation into what this looks like and why it looks like it, so that, once we have all of the numbers to know how far this goes, that we can work together to solve it and really attack this as a case-by-case basis, because every student is different and every story is different.

Geoff Bennett:

Our communities correspondent, Gabrielle Hays, in St. Louis, thanks so much.