Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere – NY Times
“The increases have occurred in districts big and small, and across income and race. For districts in wealthier areas, chronic absenteeism rates have about doubled, to 19 percent in the 2022-23 school year from 10 percent before the pandemic, a New York Times analysis of the data found.
“Poor communities, which started with elevated rates of student absenteeism, are facing an even bigger crisis: Around 32 percent of students in the poorest districts were chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year, up from 19 percent before the pandemic.”
Long COVID for Public Schools: Chronic Absenteeism Before and After the Pandemic – Nat Malkus/AEI
“Key Points:
- Consistent attendance is key to student success, but post-pandemic attendance has been far from consistent. Nationwide, chronic absenteeism—the percentage of students missing at least 10 percent of a school year—surged from 15 percent in 2018 to 28 percent in 2022.
- Falling in 33 of 39 states reporting data, chronic absenteeism rates improved in 2023 but still remained 75 percent higher than the pre-pandemic baseline.
- Chronic absenteeism increased for all district types, but rates were highest in districts with low achievement and higher poverty, affecting over one in three students.
- In 2022, 16 percent of Asian students and 24 percent of white students were chronically absent, compared to 36 percent of Hispanic students and 39 percent of black students.
- The urgent need to recover from pandemic learning loss will be severely hampered by current rates of chronic absenteeism, making it the most pressing post-pandemic problem in public schools.”
School absenteeism crisis needs an all-hands effort – Everett Daily Herald
“‘When a student stops attending school, it closes the door to a multitude of living-wage careers and further complicates their pathway out of poverty,’ Monica Wilson told The Herald for a May 2021 editorial. Wilson is director of human services for Housing Hope, the nonprofit agency that provides housing for homeless and low-income families throughout the county.”