States tie funding for Okay-12 college districts to day by day scholar attendance charges or different measures of enrollment, a hyperlink that makes it important for policymakers to know that they’re getting correct measures for these metrics.
The accessible knowledge recommend that persistent absenteeism is an epidemic. States are paying consideration.
About This Analyst
Rachel Anderson is vice chairman of the Information High quality Marketing campaign. She has been on the group since 2013 and leads the nonprofit advocacy group’s work to know and assist the standard, accessibility and use of knowledge in schooling. Earlier than that, she labored in early childhood growth at Little one Tendencies, a nonprofit analysis group. Throughout her graduate research, she labored for the Ounce of Prevention Fund, offering early schooling coverage steering to state advocates.
In 2021, 18 % of states included persistent absenteeism for the earlier 12 months on state report playing cards—a determine that hit 33 % of states in 2022 and jumped to 80 % of them in 2023, in line with the Information High quality Marketing campaign, a nonprofit advocacy group that helps state and college district leaders use schooling knowledge successfully.
“The pandemic actually elevated persistent absenteeism as a core coverage concern for lots of schooling leaders—and what we care about will get measured,” stated Rachel Anderson, vice chairman of the Information High quality Marketing campaign, which offers entry to knowledge for schooling decision-making.
“An elevated give attention to college students coming to high school—and realizing that persistent absenteeism was an actual drawback—then translated into higher, extra public details about the problem.”
Anderson lately spoke with EdWeek Market Temporary Contributing Author Robin L. Flanigan about how states have been battling persistent absenteeism, what some states have completed to reverse troubling traits, and the way distributors will help districts apply attendance knowledge to correcting the issue.
How lengthy has your group been retaining monitor of persistent absenteeism, and why is doing so vital?
The Information High quality Marketing campaign has been supporting states to make use of knowledge [on] persistent absenteeism for nearly 20 years, so long as the group has existed. Whereas we aren’t singularly targeted on absenteeism knowledge, we’ve at all times been singularly targeted on this concept that knowledge must be an accessible device to alter selections.
Power absenteeism knowledge is uniquely useful as a result of it illuminates bigger issues and questions. The information itself doesn’t let you know a lot, however it means that you can ask a unique set of questions on why there’s a persistent absenteeism drawback. Is it as a result of there are well being issues locally? Is it as a result of there isn’t sufficient transportation? Are there issues of safety with youngsters coming to high school?
What do state report playing cards appear to be, and what’s your evaluation of how dependable they’re?
We take a look at whether or not these report playing cards are only a record of numbers or a spreadsheet, or truly a device that might assist information dad and mom by a collection of questions and solutions to assist perceive how a college is doing. And what we constantly discover is that states continuously don’t embrace federally required data on these report playing cards—and so they’re additionally not utilizing them as a useful gizmo.
They as an alternative are a compliance train for reporting data. Usually the information is incomplete or old-fashioned, and on the whole isn’t geared towards serving to households perceive what’s truly happening.
Legally, states are required to place out persistent absence knowledge for each single college, however that is definitely not at all times being completed.
May you describe the function COVID has performed on this attendance pattern?
Within the 2021-22 college 12 months, 30 % of scholars nationwide have been chronically absent, in line with Attendance Works. If you evaluate that to the 2018-19 college 12 months—simply earlier than the pandemic—that’s almost double the proportion.
So not solely did the beginning of COVID trigger an infinite enhance in persistent absences, however even now that colleges have reopened we haven’t seen that fee come again down. In reality, for the 2022-23 college 12 months, analysis from FutureEd discovered solely marginal enhancements of lower than 5 proportion factors in comparison with the 12 months earlier than.
What accounts for the enhancements in attendance within the states which have seen them lately?
Simply having the information itself doesn’t do something. The place we’re seeing states and communities make actual progress is the place they’ve knowledge and are utilizing it as half of a bigger plan to deal with persistent absenteeism. They’re utilizing it to have several types of conversations internally, have several types of conversations with households, and have extra public conversations about attendance.
One instance is Rhode Island, which has introduced down its persistent absenteeism fee fairly a bit over the past two years. It has a Scholar Attendance Leaderboard, a device that’s up to date day by day and exhibits the variety of college students enrolled in every college and the quantity on monitor to be chronically absent. Whereas college leaders and policymakers can use the dashboard, it’s additionally accessible to the general public on the Rhode Island Division of Training web site.
Be part of Us for EdWeek Market Temporary’s Fall In-Particular person Summit
Training firm executives and their groups don’t wish to miss EdWeek Market Temporary’s Fall Summit, being held in-person in Denver Nov. 13-15. The occasion delivers unmatched market intel by panel discussions, authentic knowledge, and networking alternatives.
What different states are making sensible use of absenteeism knowledge, in your view?
Connecticut elevated attendance by 15 % in 2021-22 for chronically absent college students due to the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program [it] bought by federal funding. It’s designed to construct relationships with households by residence visits and focused interventions, moderately than simply saying, “Now we have a persistent absentee drawback. Please, everybody, come to high school.”
They’d funding, time, data and path to do outreach with households and have conversations about why it was arduous to return to high school and what helps is likely to be wanted. They noticed this program was profitable and now allocate numerous state funding to it.
What separated these state approaches from others you’ve seen?
State management is vital, however so is having a approach to work together with and perceive knowledge. Even in states which have robust knowledge methods, recordkeeping and administration, it may be actually tough to take motion with knowledge until you’re in a position to put it in a visualization device—one that’s customizable and in addition brings collectively knowledge from totally different sources—that means that you can perceive what you’re . That may’t be overstated.
You’ve stated knowledge assortment can make clear bigger challenges going through a college. Please elaborate.
The impacts of persistent absenteeism are felt not simply by the scholars who’re absent, however by the remainder of the varsity as effectively. It may well spotlight well being challenges or transportation issues or issues of safety.
And if the information is used as a place to begin to have interaction with households and ask extra questions on causes behind an issue, it might probably develop into a extremely highly effective supply of knowledge for altering coverage throughout the college, and even on the district or state stage.
How can schooling distributors assist with knowledge, when states typically have totally different definitions of what it means to be chronically absent?
Native colleges and districts want platforms or reporting processes which can be conscious of their state definitions. Distributors might have to have the ability to alter a few of their reporting fields, relying on what state they’re working in.
Native colleges and districts want platforms or reporting processes which can be conscious of their state definitions.
We additionally need colleges to have the ability to disaggregate knowledge by totally different scholar populations. For instance, it is likely to be vital to know if college students in a sure a part of the district usually tend to be chronically absent, which could require a transportation repair. States and colleges are going to want longitudinal knowledge, the place they will see not simply how college students are at present doing however how they did final 12 months as effectively.
What different parts of knowledge assortment and evaluation are lacking from the market?
We’re additionally going to see states on the lookout for knowledge platforms that permit them to attach several types of knowledge. They’ll wish to pull collectively attendance knowledge alongside educational knowledge and check rating data, and in addition nonacademic data like tutoring or childcare or afterschool programming.
A nationwide ballot earlier this 12 months discovered that two causes for persistent absenteeism are scholar boredom and psychological well being challenges. Can knowledge assist colleges overcome these issues?
Power absence knowledge is usually a actually highly effective a part of different initiatives. For instance, early warning methods deliver collectively attendance knowledge, course-grade knowledge, and suspension knowledge to assist educators determine college students who’re susceptible to dropping out.
The thought is that college leaders attain out to college students earlier than they’re off monitor and assist individualize interventions.
What recommendation would you give to distributors attempting to assist districts make smarter use of knowledge?
They need to get a way from educators of the questions they’re attempting to reply, what knowledge they want, and the way they wish to take a look at this knowledge with a purpose to take motion. It is a matter that’s entrance of thoughts for a lot of educators, college leaders and district leaders proper now. They’ll have large perception into how platforms will be most useful to them.
What are your ideas concerning the White Home taking actions to stop persistent absenteeism?
The White Home needs states to supply the general public with up-to-date data on persistent absence traits, to supply educators with school-level knowledge that helps them perceive the foundation causes of persistent absence of their neighborhood, and to supply households with real-time data on their very own baby’s attendance.
The administration calls on scholar data system distributors to make scholar attendance knowledge extra accessible and helpful, and to make sure their merchandise make this knowledge interoperable, exportable, and shareable. States and districts can be on the lookout for distributors who can meet these wants.