Event overview:
Student attendance: why it matters and what schools can do about it
New research insights and perspectives from the field.
Low attendance and high rates of chronic absenteeism are raising concerns across the country about students’ learning, development, and well-being.
New research from the UChicago Consortium and IWERC provides important insights on students’ attendance, grades, and test scores—and how they are connected to schools’ culture/climate:
Hear from researchers, a school principal, a district leader, and a state policy expert about why student attendance matters—and what schools can do.
Highlights and key takeaways:
Research highlights (starts at 1:42)
- Nationally, nearly 1 in 4 students miss 10% of school days, and are “chronically absent”
- In Illinois (4:52)…
- Absenteeism increased considerably during/after COVID, especially in cities Students’ test scores were strongly related to their absences
- In Chicago (9:16) …
- Absenteeism increased considerably during/after COVID
- Students’ academic achievement is still strongly related to their absences
- Schools’ absence rates varied considerably, even when comparing schools serving similar students from similar neighborhoods
- School climate is strongly associated with absences, especially post-pandemic
- Research takeaways (20:45):
- Attendance matters as much as ever for students’ learning, test scores, and grades
- Schools can and do influence students’ attendance
- Improving school climate helps improve students’ current and future learning and success
Panel discussion (starts at 22:24)
- What’s happening right now with attendance—what’s challenging & what’s helping?
- How is the issue of attendance different today compared to pre-pandemic or earlier periods? (29:45)
- Panelists’ reactions and responses to the UChicago Consortium research finding that schools can and do influence attendance—especially how the school’s culture and climate shapes students’ experiences in school (37:35)
- What’s most needed today to support school culture/climate, students’ experiences, and students’ attendance? (47:30)
- One thing each panelist wants to make sure folks remember (53:05)
- Elaine Allensworth: Attendance really matters for each student, and their peers, because when everyone is showing up every day, it’s more possible to build the strong relationships and have the strong instruction that feels relevant to students, and they don’t want to miss out on if they’re not there.
- Mariana Barragan Torres: Data across states, districts that shows that attendance matters the same, or more, than pre-pandemic—and it promotes more than just test scores; it promotes the school community students thrive on
- Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro: Important that we’re conceptualizing this as something that doesn’t solely land on teachers, schools, families or individual students -- it’s a community and a state issue, collaborating with leaders in health, transit, housing, and the importance of funding. Need a holistic and comprehensive approach.
- Megan Hougard: keeping each individual student in mind, and how much Figure 5 in the Consortium report shows that there are great practices happening… and it’s a tough issue to push towards, and we have students in front of us who need this support now.
- Angélica Altamirano: “We’re not just managing a building. We’re curating a community where every single student feels like this school was built specifically for them. If we can do that, we can get students through the door.”
This discussion included insights from:
- Elaine Allensworth, Lewis-Sebring Director, UChicago Consortium on School Research
- Mariana Barragan Torres, Senior Research Specialist, IWERC at the University of Illinois
- Angélica Altamirano, Principal/Directora, Hubbard High School
- Dr. Megan Hougard, Chief of College and Career Success at Chicago Public Schools
- Dr. Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro, Vice President of Education Policy & Research at the Latino Policy Forum