Chronic Absenteeism
60% of DC high schoolers are chronically absent. WTF!
Chronic absenteeism is frighteningly high
A recent analysis by The74 and FutureEd shows chronic absenteeism remains persistently elevated in many states, with the worst offenders being 11th and 12th graders and, more frighteningly for society, Kindergarteners.
In DC, Hawaii, Michigan and Oregon, more than a third of all Kindergarteners are chronically absent.
The educational trends in this country are not promising, and this is one more disheartening stat.
How can we get these kids back?
11th and 12th graders are disinterested in school, especially when attendance is increasingly no longer a requirement to graduate (such as in Georgia and NYC). High school exams are also no longer a requirement to graduate. So despite learning outcomes tanking and attendance dropping, our graduation rates are at all time highs.
In DC, where chronic absenteeism in high school is about 60%, graduation rates are higher than pre-pandemic: 76% in ‘23 vs. 68% in ‘19.
“Students are taking time off when they don’t feel good [mentally or physically], which did not happen before. There’s a greater sense that being in school is not as important as before. If they’re not going to school, it undermines the investments we’re making.” - Yesim Sayin, head of the D.C. Policy Center
For Kindergarten, it’s because new parents likely can’t bring their kids to school.
Chronic absenteeism at the kindergarten and high school levels are the result of:
Student and parental misconceptions around the importance of school
Barriers to attendance–like housing insecurity, chronic illness, lack of transportation, etc.
A lack of repercussions around chronic absenteeism (for students, parents, and schools).
Success stories
Rhode Island reduced chronic absenteeism by 5% this past year by putting up billboards around the state. They also tracked and published attendance levels for each school, providing transparency.
Iowa has a new law that requires the families of chronically absent kids to meet with school staff. West Virginia requires the school to reach out to the families of students after one absence.
Georgia’s state senate just unanimously passed a bill requiring LEAs to establish attendance review teams if they have an average chronic absenteeism rate >10%, or have schools with rates >15%. That’s…pretty much every school in Georgia, where the average rate is ~22%. Even pre-pandemic was about ~12%. But that’s good to be proactive and figure out why students aren’t going to school.
The Sisyphean Hill to Climb
There are great partnerships happening with parents and communities around the country, and these are definitely having an impact. But in order to return to pre-pandemic levels, I think we’ll need systemic shifts.
The job market for young adults is abysmal, and many of them are soured on the idea of college (even if college remains a net-positive ROI). The unemployment rate for 20–24 year olds increased from 6.1% to 7.1% from ‘23 to ‘24. For Hispanic and Latinos, it increased from 6.8 to 7.6%; for Asians from 5.6 to 9%; for White people, from 5.3 to 6.2%. The unemployment rate for Black people is a staggering 10.2% (while it decreased for Black women from 18.8% to 10.1% from ‘23 to ‘24, it increased for Black men from 10.5 to 11.9%).
55% of Millennials now work gig-economy jobs as their primary source of income. The average cost of child care in this country now exceeds $9,000 per year. More people are poor and underemployed, while the cost of childcare is skyrocketing.
We are entering a doom loop where Americans lack financial security, which makes it harder for their kids to access the education needed to break out of the cycle.
States can publish dashboards about school absenteeism, but addressing the root causes of chronic absenteeism require a bipartisan family-first agenda.