By Asher Lehrer-Small, The 74, July 27, 2022
Students who miss at least 10% of school days are more likely to face reading difficulties by third grade, less likely to earn a high school diploma and are at higher risk of juvenile delinquency. There’s a word to describe when students surpass this troubling threshold: chronic absenteeism.
It makes intuitive sense. Students who spend less time in the classroom have a harder time keeping up with their peers and may face difficulties developing positive relationships with school staff.
During the pandemic, rates of chronic absenteeism have skyrocketed, hitting 40% in the nation’s two largest school systems, New York City and Los Angeles, and reaching dangerously high levels in many districts in between.
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