Too Many Students Are Missing Too Much School

Millions of students across the United States are missing too many days of school. Experts call this problem 'chronic absenteeism,' and it has grown much worse since the COVID-19 pandemic. Education leaders say that if students are not in school, they cannot learn — and that puts their whole future at risk.

Chronic absenteeism means missing 10 percent or more of the school days in a year. That works out to about 18 days or more for most students. Before the pandemic, about 16 percent of students across the country were chronically absent. After the pandemic, that number jumped to nearly 30 percent, and it is still at 28 percent today.

The U.S. Department of Education is so worried about this problem that it made a 30-minute video to help school staff understand and fix it. Research also found that stricter immigration enforcement has made some families afraid to send their children to school. That fear has caused even more students to stay home and fall behind in their learning.

Missing school often leads to a much bigger problem: dropping out. It usually starts small — a student skips a day here and there. Then the absences become more frequent. The student starts failing classes and stops earning the credits needed to graduate. Before long, the student sees no reason to go to school at all.

Students who drop out of high school face very hard lives. They are more likely to get in trouble with the law or end up in prison. They are also more likely to need government help to survive and to have serious health problems. On average, dropouts earn about 20 percent less money over their lifetime than people who finish high school.

Absenteeism can spread through a school like a disease. When some students skip school often, teachers have to spend extra time helping them catch up. Other students notice and start to wonder why they have to show up every day when their classmates don't. Over time, more and more students begin to check out, and the dropout problem grows even bigger.

There are real solutions to this crisis, though. Schools can make sure every student feels safe, welcome, and valued. Teachers and staff should reach out to families early when a student starts missing school, before the problem gets worse. Keeping parents informed and involved is one of the most important steps schools can take.

The pandemic taught everyone a clear lesson: the best place for students is in the classroom. Research shows that the more time students spend learning in school, the more they actually learn. Even the best teaching methods and programs will fail if the students are not there to benefit from them. Fixing the attendance crisis is the first step toward fixing the learning crisis.