Schools make slow progress on record truancy, with millions of children still skipping school | News, Sports, Jobs

History teacher Matt Brophy, left, works with Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, of Medford, Mass., to catch up on late assignments during summer school at Medford High School, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. AP photo

MEDFORD, Mass. — Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste missed so much school that he had to repeat his freshman year at Medford High outside Boston. At school, “you do the same thing every day,” said Jean-Baptiste, who missed 30 days his freshman year. “It’s very frustrating.”

Then his principal did something almost unheard of: she allowed students to play organized sports during lunch — if they attended all of their classes. In other words, she offered high school students recess.

“It gave me something to look forward to,” said Jean-Baptiste, 16. The following year, he halved his absences. Schoolwide, the share of chronically absent students dropped from 35% in March 2023 to 23% in March 2024 — one of the largest declines among Massachusetts high schools.

Years after COVID-19 upended the U.S. education system, nearly every state is still struggling with truancy, according to data collected by The Associated Press and Stanford University education economist Thomas Dee.

About one in four students in the 2022-23 school year was chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year. That represents about 12 million children in the 42 states and Washington, D.C., where data are available.

Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed this much school.

Society may be largely over COVID, but schools say they’re still struggling with the effects of the pandemic’s school closures. After a year of being stuck at home, school can feel overwhelming, boring, or socially stressful for many kids. More than ever, kids and parents are deciding it’s OK to stay home, making it even harder to keep up.

In all states except Arkansas, absenteeism rates are still higher than pre-pandemic levels. Still, the problem appears to have peaked; in nearly every state, absenteeism improved at least slightly from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

Schools are working to identify and then provide support for students with declining attendance. They are working to bridge communication gaps with parents, who are often unaware that their child is missing so much school or why that is a problem.

So far, the solutions that help seem simple — like sending postcards to parents comparing a child’s attendance to that of peers. But to make more progress, experts say, schools will have to get creative in meeting the needs of their students.

CARING ADULTS — AND INCENTIVES

In Oakland, California, chronic absenteeism skyrocketed from 29% before the pandemic to 53% in 2022-23 at district and charter schools. Officials asked students what would convince them to come to class.

Money, they replied, and a mentor.

A grant-funded program launched in spring 2023 paid 45 students $50 a week for perfect attendance. Students also checked in daily with an assigned adult and completed weekly mental health assessments.

According to Zaia Vera, the district’s director of social-emotional learning, paying students is not a permanent or sustainable solution.

But many absent students didn’t have stable housing or help support their families. “The money is the hook that pulled them in,” Vera said.

More than 60 percent improved their attendance after participating, Vera said. The program is expected to continue, along with districtwide efforts aimed at creating a sense of belonging. Oakland’s African American Male Achievement project, for example, pairs black students with black teachers who provide support.

Children who identify with their caregivers are more likely to go to school, says Michael Gottfried, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In a study led by Gottfried, students in California found it “important to see someone who looks like me, early on, first thing in the day,” he said.

A caring teacher made all the difference for Golden Tachiquin, 18, who graduated this spring from Skyline High School in Oakland. When she started 10th grade after a first year of remote learning, she felt lost and anxious. She later realized that those feelings were causing the nausea and dizziness that kept her home sick. That year, she was absent for at least 25 days.

She bonded with an Afro-Latina teacher who understood her culturally and made Tachiquin, a student with only A’s, feel like her poor attendance did not define her.

“I didn’t dread going to her class,” Tachiquin said.

Another teacher had the opposite effect. “She said, ‘Wow, guess who decided to come today?’” Tachiquin recalls. “I started skipping her classes even more.”

In Massachusetts, the Medford High School board requires students to greet and talk to them every morning, especially those who have been absent for a long time.

But the lunchtime gym classes have been the biggest driver of improved attendance, said principal Marta Cabral. High school students need freedom and a chance to move, she said. “They’re here seven hours a day. They should have some fun.”

Persistent conditions

Chronically absent students are at greater risk of illiteracy and eventual dropout. They also miss out on the meals, counseling, and socialization offered at school.

Many of the reasons children were unable to attend school at the start of the pandemic are still relevant today: financial hardship, transportation issues, mild illness, and mental health issues.

In Alaska, 45 percent of students missed a major school last year. In Amy Lloyd’s Juneau high school classes, some families now consider attendance optional. Last semester, several of her English students missed school for vacations.

“I don’t really know how to adjust the expectations that were squashed when we sat in front of the computer that year,” Lloyd said.

Emotional and behavioral problems have also kept children out of school. Research shared exclusively with the AP found that absenteeism and poor mental health are “interrelated,” said Morgan Polikoff, a professor at the University of Southern California.

For example, in the USC study, nearly a quarter of chronically absent children had high levels of emotional or behavioral problems, according to a parent questionnaire, compared with only 7% of children with good attendance. Emotional symptoms among teenage girls were particularly associated with missing school.

How sick is too sick?

When chronic absenteeism in Fresno, California, rose to about 50%, officials realized they had to change the pandemic mentality that kept children home when sick.

“Unless your student has a fever or has vomited in the last 24 hours, please come to school. That’s what we want,” said Abigail Arii, director of student support services.

Often, parents are unaware that physical symptoms can indicate mental health issues, says Noreida Perez, who monitors child attendance, such as when a child is afraid to leave his or her bedroom.

More than a dozen states now let students take mental health days as excused absences. But staying home can become a vicious cycle, said Hedy Chang of Attendance Works, which works with schools on absences.

“When you stay home from school, you feel more disconnected,” she said. “You fall further and further behind.”

Changing the culture around sick days is only part of the problem.

At Fort Miller Middle School in Fresno, where half the students were chronically absent, two reasons kept coming up: dirty laundry and no transportation. The school purchased a washer and dryer for families, along with a Chevy Suburban to pick up students who missed the bus. Overall, Fresno’s chronic absenteeism improved to 35% in 2022-23.

Melinda Gonzalez, 14, would miss the school bus about once a week and ask for a ride in the Suburban.

“I don’t have a car; my parents couldn’t take me to school,” Gonzalez said. “That ride made a big difference.”

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