A significant and troubling consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic has been its devastating impact on student engagement and attendance. Data from multiple states reveals dramatic increases in chronic absence, defined as missing 10% or more of school for any reason. Between the school years 2018–19 and 2021–22, chronic absence increased from 12.1% to 30% in California; 12.9% to 27.7% in Massachusetts; 19.7% to 38.5% in Michigan; and 13.1% to 28% in Mississippi. Early emerging data for the school year 2022–23 shows that chronic absence remained persistently high, even though students were no longer being quarantined.

Chronic absence takes a significant toll on the academic success and well-being of students. When students are chronically absent, they not only miss out on valuable classroom instruction but also opportunities to forge relationships with peers and school staff and gain access to resources available at school. One study that the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research conducted prior to the pandemic found that by ninth grade, a student’s chance of graduating from high school drops by 20% for every week of school they miss. Chronic absence is associated with declines in educational engagement, social-emotional development, and executive functioning.

An intentional and sustained focus on re­engagement and reestablishing regular routines of attendance is critical to helping students recover from the pandemic. Recently released 2023 NAEP data shows that significant decreases in math and reading scores for 13-year-olds have occurred at the same time as the number of students indicating they had missed three or more days of school during the month prior to testing increased from 16% to 25%. Students with fewer missed school days generally had higher average scores in 2023 than students with more absences.

What will it take to reengage students and improve student attendance? To answer this question, Attendance Works examined data from the school year 2021–22 to find bright spots in high schools in Connecticut and California. These bright spots—with rates of chronic absence that were better than state averages or significantly reduced from the prior year—offer six important lessons learned about what is possible.1

1. Shift away from mindsets that assign blame. An essential first step to student reengagement is shifting adult mindsets about student absence. Too often, absences—especially among secondary students—are viewed as willful defiance and treated punitively through local truancy policies. Instead, adults should be encouraged to view students as wanting to attend and learn and to see themselves as responsible for identifying and removing barriers.

Mindsets can be changed by creating opportunities for every student to be known and heard and by encouraging staff to conduct relationship-based focus groups, interviews, and home visits that allow them to gain a deeper understanding of the very real barriers students and families face. It also helps to shift policies from punitive responses (e.g., sending threatening letters or denying opportunities to turn in homework or make up exams when absences are unexcused) to supportive interventions that address the causes of absences (e.g., lack of transportation, unsafe paths to school, lack of connection to peers/teachers, or disengagement with the curriculum). Rather than blaming students for being tardy or absent, staff can begin conversations with: “What happened? How can we support your being here?”

2. Invest in positive conditions for learning. Heavily eroded by the pandemic, positive conditions for learning include physical and emotional health and safety; a sense of belonging, connection, and support; engaging and challenging opportunities to learn; and adult and student well-being and emotional competence, with positive relationships with peers and adults at the center. Investing in these conditions prevents absenteeism by ensuring students are motivated to show up for school in the first place.

To deepen a sense of belonging, schools can establish advisory classes to ensure that every student has at least one adult on campus who knows them well. Getting advisory classes right, however, requires investing in ongoing professional development and support for teachers so that advisory classes are not simply study halls but are shaped around the needs of students. Administrative leaders must also monitor and hold teachers accountable for what happens during these classes.

Schools can rekindle engagement as well as connections through extracurricular programming, much of which may have been halted and even lost during the pandemic. A rich array of extracurricular activities—sports, clubs, arts programming, and leadership activities—allows students to develop their social skills, find their passions, and explore and deepen their academic interests. Schools can use surveys and focus groups, ideally carried out with leadership from students themselves, to determine what will strengthen and expand student engagement.

Other engagement strategies can include community service projects, opportunities for students (particularly 12th graders) to reflect publicly on their high school learning and growth and their plans for the future, or the kind of applied learning that many technical high schools make possible through multiple pathways. Students can attend academic classes while also spending time in their chosen trade so they can immediately apply their academic learning.

3. Adopt data-informed, tiered approaches tailored to local realities. Attendance Works recommends a tiered approach that starts with foundational support for the whole school. These foundational supports are practices for the whole school that promote the positive conditions of learning described earlier. These are followed by prevention-oriented support for attendance (Tier 1); more personalized outreach or early intervention for students missing 10% to 20% of school (Tier 2); and intensive intervention support for students missing 20% or more of school (Tier 3). Each tier builds upon the other. When large numbers of students are chronically absent, it is a sign that a much greater investment is needed in foundational supports and universal prevention, and not just Tier 2 supports.

Schools should also use data broken down by grade, ethnicity, language status, special education status, day of the week, class period, even zip code to identify when particular groups of students are affected by chronic absence so solutions can be identified. For example, if chronic absence is concentrated in a particular zip code, find out why. Is it a sign of inadequate public transportation, a problematic bus route, or a lack of safe walking paths to school? For guidance, refer to Attendance Works’ free data tools.

Schools can use data along with insights from students and staff to create a tiered approach that builds upon available assets and addresses challenges facing their communities. Organized by tiers, the updated Attendance Playbook produced by FutureEd in collaboration with Attendance Works offers a broad array of strategies to consider.

4. Reach out to incoming ninth graders. The pandemic made the sometimes difficult transition to high school even more challenging due to disruptions in students’ middle school experiences. Offering support to smooth this transition is essential. Outreach can begin in eighth grade by offering open houses and sending high school staff to feeder schools to meet with students and families. Open houses often include a wider range of community partners, student-led entertainment, and information tables where students can learn about extracurricular activities and clubs. Summer bridge programs, often facilitated by older students, also offer students an opportunity to meet peers, participate in team-building activities, and learn more about school activities beyond core academics.

5. Take a team approach. Addressing chronic absence requires a team that takes responsibility for organizing a schoolwide attendance strategy and ensures it is an integral component of a school’s plan for improving outcomes for all students. Led by the principal or an influential designated administrator, teams should carry out the following key functions:

  • Organize a multi-tiered attendance strategy.
  • Examine attendance and absenteeism data to assess which groups of students have higher or lower levels of absence. Use data to channel support to individual students, as well as specific student groups.
  • Identify assets, barriers, and strategies that affect attendance.
  • Mobilize everyone in the school community to address attendance.
  • Determine if you are making a difference. Schools can determine, based upon local realities, whether what is needed is an independent attendance team or the integration of these responsibilities into the work of a school climate, leadership, or other already established team. For guidance, see Attendance Works’ team resources.

6. Invest in adult well-being. Because efforts to support students who may be traumatized can often be taxing for adults, ensuring that staff members take care of themselves is critical. School leaders need to be sensitive to the capacity of school staff and find opportunities to honor their hard work while creating time for school staff to support each other. When staff can “fill their cup,” they can be fully present during the day with students.

The devastating impact of the pandemic on attendance is an urgent call to action to invest in what we know works to engage students. It requires taking a multifaceted approach built upon positive relationships among and between adults and peers. It calls for a shift away from responding to absences with blame and punitive approaches, which research indicates are not particularly effective.

Engaging learners involves establishing systems that help identify and monitor students early, strategic planning and support for key transition points, practices that allow adults to gain a deep understanding of students’ realities, and tiered interventions that address the challenges students face. In partnership with communities, it entails creating opportunities for secondary students to explore their strengths, passions, the world, and their role in it. The extraordinarily high levels of chronic absence are sounding the alarm. Our students’ well-being and success require that we respond thoughtfully and with urgency. 

Hedy N. Chang is the executive director of Attendance Works, where Helen Duffy is a senior fellow. Learn more at attendanceworks.org.

1 Connecticut schools: Bassick High School, Bristol Central High School, East Hartford High School, Henry Abbott Technical High School, Francis T. Maloney High School, Naugatuck High School, and The Bridge Academy. California schools: Ramona High School, Reedley High School, and Sanger High School.

References

Edsight. (2023). Interactive data portal for Connecticut’s public districts, schools, and programs. public-edsight.ct.gov

Gottfried, M. A. (2014). Chronic absenteeism and its effects on students’ academic and socioemotional outcomes. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 19(2), 53–75. doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2014.962696

Gottfried, M. A., & Ansari A. (2021, March). Detailing new dangers: Linking kindergarten chronic absenteeism to long-term declines in executive functioning. The Elementary School Journal, 121(3), 484–500. doi: 10.1086/712426

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2022–23). School and district profiles. profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/attendance.aspx

Santibañez, L., & Guarino, C. M. The effects of absenteeism on academic and social-emotional outcomes: Lessons for COVID-19. Educational Researcher, 50(6), 392–400. doi.org/10.3102/0013189X21994488