Chronic absenteeism plagues our schools and society

A disturbing proportion of school-age students are frequently skipping school. When young people are not in school, they are not learning and are tempted into irresponsible and even criminal behavior . The highly publicized learning crisis is closely tied to the chronic absenteeism crisis.

This back-to-school season, to get more students back on track to learn, graduate and become productive members of society, we first need to get them back in the classroom.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent or more of the days when your school is open. It was a problem before the COVID-19 pandemic, when 16 percent of K-12 students nationwide were chronically absent. Post-pandemic , the number nearly doubled to 30 percent. It remains elevated at 28 percent , based on the most recent data.

The crisis of chronic absenteeism is so acute that the U.S. Department of Education recently produced a 30-minute video about the problem and how school personnel can address it. Additional research , featuring in-depth interviews with principals from across the country, found increased immigration enforcement and the administration’s rhetoric have also increased absenteeism and negatively impacted students’ ability to learn.

Policymakers and education experts have long been concerned about high school dropouts. Dropping out of school may seem to be an event, but it is instead a process of gradual disengagement.

A student starts to skip school occasionally, then more frequently. They abandon their school day routines. They flunk classes and fail to earn credits . Finally, they no longer see the point of going to school. Every chronically absent student is a potential drop-out in the making, signaling a cry for help before it is too late.

We need to hear the cries of chronically absent children. If they do drop out of school entirely, their future is bleak. High school dropouts are more likely to commit crimes , be incarcerated , depend on welfare , suffer chronic health problems and die prematurely . They earn an average of 20 percent less over their lifetime than an otherwise similar person who graduates from high school and, as a result, pays less in taxes to support their community. A society with a persistently high rate of chronic absenteeism is headed for trouble .

Absenteeism is like a plague that infects first a school, then a community. Students who periodically miss school require extra attention from teachers and administrators. They make it difficult for their teachers to keep everyone on schedule, learning together. They set a bad example for other students , who start to wonder, “Why do I have to come to school every day when other kids don’t?” Soon, groups of students start to disengage, and a dropout stampede gains momentum.

Fortunately, there are effective strategies to reduce chronic absenteeism. Teachers and administrators should make their schools as safe and welcoming as possible to all students. They should ensure that students feel valued and are engaged in the learning process. Importantly, school personnel should investigate the reasons for occasional student absences and address them before the problem spirals out of control . Communication with parents is crucial.

We learned a painful lesson during the pandemic’s school closures: The best place for kids is in school. A wealth of research supports the intuition that more instructional time produces more learning. The converse is also true: Students learn little or nothing when they aren’t in school .

The best way to counter a culture of absenteeism is to build a counterculture that values and supports regular school attendance for all children. To solve the learning crisis in our society, we must first address the attendance crisis, as even the most effective education intervention fails if the student is not there to receive it.

Patrick J. Wolf is a distinguished professor of education policy at the University of Arkansas.