Chronic Absences

Chronic Absence is a huge problem for this country.  The Department of Education put together a report originally on June 7, 2016, and was revised on October 27, 2016.  The title of the report was Chronic Absenteeism in the Nation’s Schools: A Hidden Educational Crisis.  The report stated over 7 million students missed 15 or more days of school in the 2015-2016 school year.  That is 16 % of the student population or about 1 in 6 students.  This report was completed before COVID–19. The New York Times published an article Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere by Sarah Mervosh and Francesca Paris on March 29, 2024.  The article states that nationally, about 26% of public school students were chronically absent from school last year.  That is up 15% from before the pandemic.  From the data in this article, it is up about 10%. The definition of Chronic absence is now 18 days or 10 % of the school year.  The article has also shown different districts and what the districts have been doing to try to address the answer but at the end of the article it finishes with “We haven’t seen an answer.”

We need to rethink how we educate our youth in this country.  One of the ways that has emerged is homeschooling. The rise of homeschooling has grown by about 2-8% in an article published October 2, 2023, titled 41+ Homeschooling Statistics in the U.S.: Key Statistics and Trends.  It has also stated that homeschooling is associated with higher academic achievement and positive outcomes.  The advantage of homeschooling is that the work is directed toward the child’s interests, abilities, and behaviors.  Most homeschooling parents make a huge commitment to homeschooling their children.  Homeschool has emerged for many families because they have been disappointed with the traditional schools. Homeschooling focuses on the child. But in many public, private, and charter schools the emphasis is not on the child but on the approved state’s curriculum or state tests or something else.  In traditional schools which focus on crucial points other than the child can have poor outcomes, extreme student behavior, and chronic absences.  Homeschooling does not have an issue with chronic absences since the child is learning at home and can do the work at the best time for him/her.

With so many problems that are happening in traditional schools from chronic absences, teacher shortages, student behavior, the achievement gap, and mental health issues we need to come together to find broader solutions.   The solutions need to be focused on what is best for the children, not other issues.  Many states and districts need to turn to the child and disregard the importance of the child as central.  We need to come together and find ways for out-of-the-box solutions to resolve the issue.  Make comments on this article with your ideas to resolve the issue.