Experts are sounding the alarm about chronic absenteeism and the serious obstacles it poses for American students, but not only do most parents not consider it a high priority, they also struggle to specify what it actually means.
One NPR/Ipsos Poll released this week showed that only a third of parents are able to correctly define chronic absenteeism as missing at least 10% of school days – working around two per month – and when asked if it is a “major concern” for students, it was below most other issues in education, such as armed violence, restrictions on the teaching of certain topics and teachers’ salaries.
Advocates say the culture around missing school has changed and authorities have not adequately articulated to parents the dire consequences of what it means to miss school, outside of punitive measures for the family.
“I think fundamentally this is a big communication problem: schools are not really telling parents what it means to be chronically absent. They don’t define the issue well and, frankly, they don’t talk to us about it until there’s a big problem in their eyes, so I think parents are getting a lot of contradictory information,” said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union.
While it is too early to obtain data on the 2023-2024 school year, theReturn 2 Learn Trackerfrom the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) showed that chronic absenteeism jumped from 15 percent in 2018, before the pandemic, to 29 percent in 2022.
The Economic Council of Advisors found Chronic absenteeism accounts for up to 27% of post-pandemic math score declines and 45% of reading declines.
From the 2021-2022 school year to 2022-2023, there were mixed signs of improvement and decline in chronic absenteeism across the country, according to one study. collaborative report of student success organizations. Only two states, North Carolina and Michigan, recorded substantial improvements over that period.
“I’m not really shocked by it,” said Nat Malkus, senior researcher and deputy director of Educational Policy Studies at AEI, when asked about parents’ difficulty defining chronic absenteeism.
“I think the public should understand what’s going on with attendance, but whether they actually know what chronic absenteeism is, I don’t think it’s that important,” Malkus said. “I think it’s important for parents to understand that their children demonstrate that going to school regularly is a big deal, and it will continue to be a big deal.”
Chronic absenteeism is a relatively new term in education and was only monitored shortly before the pandemic began, but it quickly gained the attention of senior officials due to the ramifications it has on schools and students.
At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found a four-point decline in reading and a nine-point decline in students’ math test scores compared to pre-pandemic scores.
The White House hosted a summit last month focused on chronic absenteeism, where the Biden administration announced steps it would take to combat the problem, such as creating federal grant programs, providing new resources on effective strategies to reduce student absences and addressing transportation issues that may affect attendance.
Hedy Chang, founder and executive director of Attendance Works, said the latest numbers indicate that chronic absenteeism is slowly declining, but still well above what it was before the pandemic.
“When I go to schools that have really reduced chronic absenteeism, it’s because they’ve really invested in parent and youth engagement,” Chang said.
Chang emphasized that an environment should be created where “if you didn’t show up to school, that’s what you missed. If you didn’t show up to school, we miss you and your presence and you missed this opportunity to connect in the classroom.”
“So we have to deepen our immediate engagement with children and families, deepen our relationship building, deepen our connection and ensure that children and families know that when they are not at school, they are missed and when they’re not in school, this is what they’ve lost in terms of learning opportunities and opportunities to connect with other children and adults,” she said.
The NPR poll shows that when it comes to parents’ concerns about education, most place chronic absenteeism at the bottom of the list: just 5 percent see it as a major concern. Ensuring that young people are prepared for the future comes first, with 40%, bullying, with 39%, and armed violence, with 31%.
Mental health comes in at 29 percent, sensitive topics in the classroom come in at 28 percent, and learning loss due to the pandemic draws 14 percent.
“I think it’s important to note that on that list are some very basic things that would be incredibly difficult for parents to put behind absenteeism, like my kids aren’t being bullied and so on,” Malkus said.
And addressing these other issues is also key to getting students into classrooms, experts say.
“I think what [schools are] What’s missing is having this communication with parents and saying why it’s important for their child to be at school every day. This is what they are missing. That’s what they risk losing,” said Rodrigues.
“Parents report that they are concerned about whether or not their children are safe, whether or not they are mentally safe, whether or not they are being bullied at school, which is a big issue,” she added. “I think it’s really a matter of schools doing a better job of communicating with parents, letting them know that it’s important to show up to school every day and want to create that FOMO culture in the building, that fear of missing out, so that the kids want to be there.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
