August 13, 2024
Improve Student Experiences, Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
By Transcend
There’s a strong link between student engagement and attendance. When students love school, they show up.
Our data prove it: We analyzed more than 100,000 responses to the Leaps Student Voice Survey and found that student perceptions of their learning experiences can serve as powerful predictors of more traditional outcomes such as attendance, GPA, math test results, and disciplinary incidents.
It’s time to rethink the traditional classroom. We need to create learning environments that:
- Put students first: Listen to their needs and interests.
- Inspire joy: Make learning exciting and relevant.
- Drive results: Reduce chronic absenteeism and improve overall student outcomes.
The student experience and chronic absenteesim
Our analysis found that when students report positive experiences in school, they are 25% less likely to be chronically absent than students who dislike their school experiences. (Leaps scores are out of 5 points.)
A pilot to improve student experiences at a middle school in Salem Public Schools cut chronic absenteeism in half, from 28% to 12%. The absenteeism rate among the pilot cohort continued to fall this year to less than 10%. Why? Because students don’t want to miss what’s offered at school.
To fix chronic absenteeism, we must ask why kids don’t want to go to school
Our second-place submission in the The Thomas B. Fordham Institute 2024 Wonkathon frames increasing student engagement as a solution to the chronic absenteeism crisis facing our country.
Combating Absenteeism Resources
Back to the Classroom: How To Overcome Chronic Absenteeism and Encourage Parents to Send Kids to School Consistently (Ad Council and Overdeck Family Foundation)
IES Resources for Supporting Student Engagement and Attendance (Institute of Education Sciences)
Strengthening School Connectedness to Increase Student Success, (EdResearch for Action)
Decreasing Absenteeism Toolkit (Panorama)
Digital Backpack: Resources to Address Chronic Absenteeism in Your Community (The National Partnership for Student Success Support Hub, Johns Hopkins University)
The GRAD Partnership Chronic Absenteeism Toolkit (The Grad Partnership)
Related Resources
Leaps toward Extraordinary Learning for All
Transcend’s Leaps toward Extraordinary Learning for All describe the key ways we believe the student experience must change so that every young person can maximize…
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Leaps Student Voice Survey
This validated tool measures the quality of learner experiences through the lens of our Leaps toward Extraordinary Learning for All.
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Reimagine, Redesign, Re-Engage: Solutions for Chronic Absenteeism in Schools
Experiencing an asthma attack, not having a ride to school, being uninterested in what they’re learning, feeling unsafe or unvalued at school. These are all…
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