Chronic absenteeism: Old problem, New approaches

Bernardo Ascona • Cahn Fellow 2021

In New York, chronic absenteeism is when a student misses 10% or more of the academic year, at least 18 days, for any reason excused or unexcused. The loss of instructional days at school often results in low academic achievement, truancy, dropping out, delinquency, teenage pregnancies, violence, crime, and substance abuse, as child advocates warn (USA Today, June 25, 1996, p. D1). Educators and local officials were focused on this issue as early as the late 19th century, a quarter of the juveniles jailed at the Chicago House of Correction in 1898 where there existed a problem with truancy. “The negative impacts of the recent pandemic school closure are likely to be more severe and longer lasting than we initially thought. Michelle Kaffenberger, a research fellow on the RISE Programme at the University of Oxford, predicts that a three-month school closure can reduce long-term learning by a full year (Smith-Spark, 2021)”. The National Dropout Prevention Center’s report “The Pandemic’s Impact on At Risk students, schools and graduation rates has begun to analyze the impact of the pandemic school closures and their impact on chronic absenteeism.