Middle and high school attendance still matters enormously post-COVID, and schools can do a lot to improve it, according to a new report from the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research.
In Chicago and across the country, student absenteeism surged during the pandemic. In Chicago Public Schools, the increase has been especially significant and unabated in the high school grades, where a 2025 Chalkbeat and WBEZ investigation showed a quarter of students missed 35 or more days the previous year. Nevertheless, the graduation rate has continued to inch up in the district, where leaders say CPS has rightfully moved away from penalizing students for missing school and instead gives them more opportunities to make up work or submit assignments virtually...