School Attendance and Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Aaron Leo

Falling rates of student attendance in districts across the country have drawn attention from educators and policymakers. In this blog we discuss the importance of school attendance, the potential reasons behind the declining rates, and measures which can help improve attendance.

Though often overlooked, attendance is a crucial factor in academic performance and social, emotional, and physical health. Researchers have noted, for instance, the strong correlation between academic achievement and attendance. Chronic absenteeism is linked with a number of negative student outcomes including higher rates of school dropout and decreased likelihood of college enrollment – the long-term impacts of which are associated with a range of poor outcomes in adulthood.

Lastly, because many school districts base their budgets on enrollment numbers, declining rates of attendance and chronic absentees may lead to further strains on school budgets coping with a range of resource constraints.

Attendance during the Pandemic

While research into the exact numbers is ongoing, early surveys suggest that school absences have increased sharply during the pandemic. An EdWeek survey of 790 K-12 educators, for instance, estimates that chronic absenteeism has doubled over the 2019-2020 school year. Similarly, a brief from the American Institutes for Research found that 18% of the 2,536 districts they surveyed reported that “daily attendance for all students was substantially lower” in the 2019-2020 school year.

Patterns of attendance across class and racial lines further reflect the ways in which the pandemic has sharpened inequalities and served to widen existing gaps. Indeed, in the studies cited above, attendance rates were lower in both high-poverty districts and districts serving greater numbers of students of color. Other vulnerable student groups such as English learners, students with disabilities, and those living in shelters were also found to have lower rates of attendance and higher rates of absenteeism.

The reasons behind the lagging rates of attendance among youth are numerous. As we have noted in previous blogs, economic challenges faced by families may mean that youth are taking on additional childcare and wage-earning responsibilities at home. Other households may lack a reliable internet connection needed to participate in online learning.

The stress of the pandemic is also implicated in lower rates of attendance, and experts predict the long-lasting toll on youths’ mental health will continue to negatively affect attendance patterns. Finally, some have highlighted that simply taking attendance is more challenging in remote learning classrooms.

Addressing Attendance

While these findings pose clear challenges for families, educators, and policymakers, researchers have noted various methods to help increase rates of attendance.

• Student safety has remained a primary concern for parents and families as they send their children back to school. Educators can work to address these concerns so that they do not present barriers to student attendance.
• Similarly, two-way communication strategies with families are effective ways to make sure parents and caregivers are aware of attendance-related issues with their children and to disseminate important information about the school.
• Establishing a specific position, such as an Attendance Officer, can help ensure that attendance issues do not fall through the cracks while also allocating the time needed to make home visits to students who are chronically absent.
• Last, rather than penalizing chronically absent students, educators can consider providing specialized services and supports for students who have missed large amounts of schooling over the last two years.

Please see our previous blog posts concerning the effects of the pandemic and school closures on students and educators. Stay tuned for the continued dissemination of findings from our Discovering Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education Workforce study.

As always, we thank you for your interest in NYKids and encourage you to reach out to nykids@albany.edu for further insights and direct support needs.