By Kim Shaw
Learning loss, decreased test scores, and diminished classroom engagement are just a few of the post-Covid-19 pandemic K-12 student outcomes that continue to make headlines. As schools strive to improve student outcomes, there is a major hurdle: students aren’t showing up. Chronic absenteeism is a metric that highlights this issue.
We have been digging into chronic absenteeism in Arkansas, and today we released a full report and short policy brief. We will hit on the highlights here.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing at least 10% of the school year for any reason, which equates to 18 days for Arkansas K-12 public school students. This term encompasses both excused and unexcused absences.
Chronic absenteeism negatively impacts student achievement, emotional well-being, and graduation rates, with patterns often persisting year to year. Following the pandemic, all 50 states saw increases in chronic absenteeism, adding an estimated 6.5 million students nationwide.
In Arkansas, chronic absenteeism rose by 44,000 students, with over 100,000 now chronically absent annually. To address this, the Arkansas Department of Education joined 13 other states in pledging to cut chronic absenteeism in half over five years. The Office for Education Policy (OEP) has compiled data to examine statewide trends before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Finding:
Overall, we find that chronic absenteeism increased across the entire state and at all grade levels. Considering individual student characteristics, chronic absenteeism rose among all groups following the pandemic. However, some groups were disproportionately affected. In our full report, we include results related to the pandemic, but we will focus our analysis on the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods.
Student Chronic Absenteeism Rates by Grade Level and Covid-19 Time Periods
Note: Rates represent averages for the years within each time period. Pre-pandemic includes the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 school years, Pandemic includes the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, and Post-pandemic includes the 2021-2022 and 2022-23 school years.
Chronic absenteeism by grade level
All grade levels saw increased rates of chronic absenteeism after the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic rates. Early elementary and high school students have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism consistently. This pattern aligns with national trends.
Student Chronic Absenteeism Rates by District and COVID-19 Time Period
Note: Rates represent averages for the years within each time period. Pre-pandemic includes the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 school years, Pandemic includes the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, and Post-pandemic includes the 2021-2022 and 2022-23 school years.
Chronic Absenteeism by School District
There is a widespread increase in chronic absenteeism between the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods, observable across almost all districts without geographical constraints. Nevertheless, a few districts scattered throughout the state managed to maintain lower chronic absenteeism rates in the post-pandemic period. These districts are often located near others with similarly high rates of chronic absenteeism, reinforcing the idea that this issue, while widespread and systemic, can still be meaningfully addressed at the local level.
Chronic Absenteeism Regression Results on Student Characteristics
Regression Results
Within our ordinary least squares regression, we can compare students with various programmatic and demographic characteristics and how that impacts their likelihood of being chronically absent. We find that all groups were more likely to be absent post-pandemic, but some students saw a disproportionate increase. Key findings from the regression include:
- During the post-pandemic years, all students had a 5% higher likelihood of being chronically absent compared to students in pre-pandemic time periods.
- Students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch, a proxy for low socioeconomic status, have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism across all time periods.
- Students receiving special education services similarly exhibited a high likelihood of chronic absenteeism prior to the pandemic, which increased by about 1% post-pandemic.
- Female students were slightly more likely to be chronically absent before the pandemic compared to male students, and this likelihood grew after the pandemic.
- Many minority groups, including African American and Hispanic students, were less likely to be chronically absent before the pandemic compared to White students. After the pandemic, this likelihood shifted, making them more likely to be chronically absent.
- African American students observed the highest increase in likelihood to be chronically absent from before the pandemic to afterwards.
How to Address Chronic Absenteeism?
Reducing chronic absenteeism starts with understanding why students are absent. Barriers like transportation, housing instability, outside responsibilities, school disengagement, or misconceptions about attendance can all play a role. Since students may face multiple challenges, schools must work closely with students and families to identify and address the root causes of chronic absenteeism. Furthermore, the causes of chronic absenteeism may vary by community, and the needs and interventions for those communities would also differ.
For this reason, the OEP has partnered with the Arkansas Department of Education and TeachPlus to confront the challenge of chronic absenteeism by building a student survey intended to identify students’ root causes of absenteeism. We are eager to collaborate with schools and districts across the state to uncover the root causes behind student absences and develop tailored, effective solutions. After all, no learning recovery effort can succeed if students aren’t in the classroom.
If you are interested in more information on how to address chronic absenteeism or administer our student survey at your school or district, please reach out at oep@uark.edu.