The closure of schools during the pandemic and stringent quarantine protocols upon reopening have left enduring consequences for our students. As schools and families continue to confront the challenge of reclaiming lost academic time and addressing the impacts, one persistent barrier remains: school attendance. Recent data indicates that the rise and persistence of chronic absenteeism – defined as students missing 10% or more of instructional days – hinders academic recovery, particularly in high-poverty districts where students have experienced the most significant declines in achievement. However, chronic absenteeism is a complex policy issue, driven by multiple factors often beyond the immediate control of schools, and with no one-size-fits-all solution. Considering this, how can district and school leaders tackle this pressing challenge?
Since 2021, I have worked in a research practice partnership between NWEA, AIR-CALDER and Guilford County Schools in North Carolina to study Guilford’s post-pandemic efforts to improve student attendance and foster student engagement in learning. Like other districts nationwide, Guilford’s chronic absenteeism rate reached 34.89% in the 2021-22 school year and declined slightly to 31% in the 2023-24 school year. In the face of persistent chronic absenteeism, Guilford leaders transformed the district’s schools into resource hubs to provide students with various services and supports to strengthen ties between schools, students and families. Guilford schools distributed technology to support continuity in student learning at home, provided meals to food-insecure students and families, improved student access to transportation to and from school, offered students telehealth services and counseling, and individualized academic support for students who had fallen behind in learning.
Guilford’s model mirrors how other states and districts are tackling chronic absenteeism. This includes expanding community schools in New York and California that draw on partnerships with community organizations and local governments to support students’ academic, physical, and mental development. Recently, district leaders in Arizona shared their experience of moving away from punitive policies for student absenteeism toward a problem-solving approach to mitigate barriers to student attendance. Below are four recommendations for how districts and schools can partner with families, community organizations and government agencies to build a robust support system for getting students to school.
Communicate with families about attendance
Providing families with frequent and personalized information on student absences, and positive messaging on the importance of school, can improve student attendance. Additionally, offering families actionable guidance or support can empower them to overcome attendance barriers. Communication efforts should support a two-way exchange of information. For example, home visits by school staff can strengthen school-family relationships and provide schools with better insight on why students are absent from school and possible solutions.
Create safe, inclusive and welcoming school environments
Districts should avoid exclusionary policies that keep students out of school and adopt programs that improve student engagement and attendance, such as restorative school discipline, mentoring, carefully designed incentives or rewards for improved attendance, and coursework related to students’ backgrounds and interests. Strengthening teacher-student and teacher-family relationships is another critical leverage point, and to this end, teachers need access to evidence-based, family engagement-focused professional development.
Proactively identify students for increased attendance support
Student attendance needs are not uniform and should be carefully diagnosed and paired with tailored interventions. As such, districts need systems for reviewing multiple and early-warning indicators of student need, and identifying interventions according to the severity of need. Collaborative structures that connect educators to relevant experts (e.g., doctors, counselors, social workers) and stakeholders (e.g., families, guardians, community actors) can drive holistic interventions and multiple touchpoints for family support.
Partner with others to tackle out-of-school causes of absenteeism
Out-of-school factors contributing to student absenteeism have gotten worse during the pandemic, including limited access to or use of public transportation, frequent student illness and increased student demand for mental health services. In some cases, districts may have the internal capacity to address these challenges. Still, in other cases, they may need to partner with community organizations and government agencies to bring in critical skills, such as health care agencies who can provide in-school health care services to keep kids at school. Districts must also engage families and local stakeholders to develop context-specific solutions. In the case of transportation, for example, school districts may need to invest in more buses and bus drivers in rural areas, whereas in urban areas, districts may need to facilitate safe walking passages through neighborhoods to and from school.
Reducing chronic absenteeism is long-term and will require cross-sector collaboration between districts, community organizations, governmental agencies, and close partnership with families and students. Certain districts are leading the way, but the work must go wider and deeper across schools nationwide. As districts build robust systems for resolving chronic absenteeism, we can learn more about what works, for whom, and in what context.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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