Chronic Student Absenteeism
In some schools, initiatives and interventions have long been in place to combat frequent absences, from absence notices to home visits and more. As we’re now learning, the years following the pandemic signaled a cultural shift in parents’ views around education. Parents now see value in school developing their child more holistically and beyond academics, though many have also cultivated a mindset that school is optional (or, at least, that missing school is inconsequential).
With funding from Overdeck Family Foundation and insights on the design of the online discussions and surveys from nonprofit Attendance Works, ACRI conducted a mixed-methods research study to understand the messaging and narrative(s) that would effectively communicate to parents why consistent in-person attendance is critical to a child’s development, and encourage them to attend. Ideally, this broader narrative change will work in complement with those initiatives and interventions in order to change parents’ knowledge, awareness, and behaviors around attendance as a crucial first step toward addressing the rise in chronic absenteeism, helping to lay the groundwork for students' future success.
Key Data Points
- Parents are significantly aware of and generally agree with the benefits of in-person learning, including collaboration, engagement, socializing, and personalized attention.
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Nearly all (93%) parents agree in-person learning is important (32% very, 61% extremely).
This perception is slightly softer among parents with chronically absent students, with just over half (51%) saying in-person learning is ‘extremely’ important. - Parents view education holistically and as a balance of many elements, with academics only being a piece of their child’s growth
- (in addition to social and emotional development, and more).
- Parents—especially those whose children are routinely absent—say they regularly track their children’s grades, school performance, and attendance.
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They tend to believe most absences are acceptable.
More than three-fourths of total parents (79%) say they track their child’s school performance very (41%) or extremely (38%) closely. Parents of severely chronically absent children (5+ absences per month) are more likely to say they monitor their child’s performance extremely closely, more so for those of elementary school (50%) and middle school (50%) students. - Messaging that chastises parents or communicates the consequences of missing school does not work in the post-COVID era.
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Messaging must:
- Have a positive tone.
- Communicate the opportunities associated with in-person learning, not the consequences of missing school.
- Focus on how school develops their child holistically, beyond academic performance.
- Include realistic goals for parents to work toward not being chronically absent, such as to attend as much as possible vs. citing a specific number of days “every day”.
- Avoid chastising or shaming parents by telling them what’s acceptable
- Parents are most trusting of their child’s teacher, and want to hear attendance-related messaging from them.
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The child’s teacher is the main messenger parents would trust with messaging about attending school regularly in person (61% total parents), followed next by the principal/assistant principal (47%), guidance/school counselors (47%), and mental health professionals (44% inside the school, 40% outside the school).
Fewer parents of children who are chronically absent are trusting of school employees (teachers 50%, principal 37%, guidance counselor 38%) and mental health professionals (39% inside the school, 36% outside the school).
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