Education will democratize knowledge when every person has access to steady, quality schooling. But one in seven students in the United States struggles to attend school consistently. These students meet the Department of Education’s definition of chronic absenteeism: missing 15 or more days of an academic year.
Contrary to popular belief, most of these students are not missing school because, like Ferris Bueller, they believe it’s “childish and stupid.” Socioeconomic challenges, physical and mental health, community violence, and family circumstances prevent students from having a stable routine that ensures their attendance at school every day.
Much of the conversation on chronic absenteeism surrounds strategies for reducing it. This is because, for 36 states, “accountability metrics”–which include student attendance–impact a school’s performance profile, which in turn impacts how much funding it receives. However, school funding fades in importance when compared to the impact of chronic absenteeism on students, an impact that can limit their opportunities and potential into adulthood and even for the rest of their lives.
The Effects of Chronic Absenteeism
Missing 15 days of school—three full weeks—amounts to 8% of the standard 185-day school calendar. And that’s just the minimum threshold for chronic absenteeism. 2% of chronically absent students miss 45 days or more. That’s 25% of the school year.
The effects of chronic absenteeism are significant and far-reaching. They include:
- Lower test scores (particularly in math)
- Delayed or atypical social and emotional development
- Increased inequities across racial groups
- Increased inequities across vulnerable populations
- Students from historically disinvested communities
- Students for whom English is not a first language
- Students who are neurodivergent or experience learning and development challenges
- Students with disabilities
- Students who are houseless or in the foster care system
- Increased risk of dropping out of school
- Increased likelihood of interaction with law enforcement and the criminal justice system
- Increased risk of adverse physical and mental health
- Increased risk of poverty in adulthood
School is much more than academic preparation for college and a career. It’s “America’s social safety net,” providing valuable social interactions with peers and adults, feeding students meals, and creating a safe environment for learning and play.
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism
Rather than taking a punitive approach with students who are chronically absent, schools are finding increasing success by implementing attendance teams. These committees identify students with excessive absences and use all available resources to help those students develop a consistent routine for getting to school. This might mean finding clothing for students, arranging their transportation to and from school, increasing adult presence before or after school to deter bullying, changing bus routes, or even coordinating access to healthcare.
Working from a place of empathy rather than a place of judgement facilitates movement toward the ultimate goal: getting students to school. A lifetime of serious consequences becomes more likely with each absence, but an empathy-first approach that seeks to understand and help rather than judge and punish is better for everyone.
Think about the student who just doesn’t get to class. What obstacles might be standing in their way? What resources and positive messaging might help that student work to minimize absences? When students know we care about them—not because they’ve missed a certain number of school days, but because we miss and value their presence—we’re better able to connect. That’s when we’re able to make incremental steps toward reducing chronic absenteeism and protecting students from the effects of missed school.
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