As the school year comes to a close, one problem is plaguing educators across the country: chronic absenteeism. In 2023, roughly 1 student out of 4 was chronically absent across the school year. The problem is aligned with historic drops in reading and math scores nationwide.
School districts have launched campaigns with text messages and home visits in efforts to get students back in class. Educators have long been aware that missing 15, 20 days a year or more creates serious learning setbacks and puts students at a greater risk of dropping out.
But parents 鈥� according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll 鈥� don鈥檛 yet see the urgency.
Only about a third of parents, our poll found, are able to properly define chronic absenteeism. Can you?
Loading...
Experts aren鈥檛 surprised: 鈥淚n general, the public doesn't understand what it is and why it matters,鈥� says Cecelia Leong, a vice president at Attendance Works, an advocacy group that seeks to reduce chronic absenteeism. 鈥淧arents aren't used to hearing about it.鈥�
The issue really rose to the forefront during the pandemic, and since 2020 the number of chronically absent students has ballooned: 鈥淲e went from 8 million students to over 14.6 million chronically absent,鈥� Leong says.
She notes that absenteeism can creep up on parents: A student only has to miss two days of school a month to end up chronically absent, so parents often don鈥檛 see it happening.
Parents are slow to grasp the urgency
Even when parents see absenteeism as a problem, they don鈥檛 always see it as their problem: According to the NPR/Ipsos poll, only 6% of parents surveyed identified their child as chronically absent 鈥� but the numbers nationwide show a disconnect.
鈥淧rior to the pandemic 鈥� about 15% of students would meet the definition of chronic absenteeism. And that rate grew to nearly 30% in the 21/22 school year,鈥� says Thomas Dee, an education professor at Stanford University.
鈥淥ne very prominent explanation here that meets the evidence,鈥� Dee says, 鈥渋s that during the pandemic many children and parents simply began to see less value in regular school attendance.鈥�
Scholars call it 鈥渘orm erosion": It essentially means students and parents fell out of the habit of school.
How sick is too sick for school?
Maritza Hernandez lives in Phoenix with her three children. Two are still in school 鈥� one is 7 and the other is 18. Her youngest struggles with bad allergies during parts of the year and, before the pandemic, that didn鈥檛 necessarily mean a sick day from school: 鈥淗e could still go to school again with some Tylenol,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淗e's good.鈥�
But, after the pandemic, Hernandez adds, 鈥淚 can't send him to school because you might get somebody else sick. I don't know if this is just allergies, or it might be worse.鈥�
She's a single mom, and says that, with all the challenges of getting her children fed and off to school, and herself to work, there are many days when her kids are late. "I'm guilty, she says. "I'm one of those parents."
Sometimes, she adds, when they're too late, her kids are marked "absent."
Hernandez calls the school or takes the time to go check them in at the office. But she says she鈥檚 normally waiting in a long line of parents to get a late pass 鈥� often making the kids even more tardy.
Nicole Wyglendowski says she gets it. She鈥檚 an elementary school teacher in Philadelphia.
鈥淲hat I'm not going to do here today is parent-blame,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey have a lot of other issues that they're facing.鈥�
She thinks keeping kids home when they鈥檙e sick is the right thing, and it鈥檚 not anyone鈥檚 fault. Her students 鈥渁re missing school because we live in an area with bad air quality, right? So their asthma acts up and they're not sure if it's their asthma or if it's their allergies or if it's Covid.鈥�
She says that many factors: housing insecurity, transportation issues, having little siblings who need to stay home and receive care, can result in more students staying home.
Loading...
The poll asked parents about all kinds of issues facing K-12 education. Only 5% of parents and the general population saw it as a top worry. Their highest priority? Preparing students for the future.
Mallory Newall, a vice president at Ipsos, sees potential there: 鈥淭o prepare students adequately for the future, they need to be in the classroom. I think that could be a really effective and important linkage for parents that maybe parents in the public just aren't making quite yet.鈥�
Experts say outreach and identifying the reasons keeping students out of the classroom is the best chance districts have of getting their students back.
Copyright 2024 NPR
