The Big Problem
Imagine walking into a classroom and seeing almost half of the chairs empty. Unfortunately, that’s the daily reality for many teachers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic absenteeism has become the norm for many students. While it may have been easier to explain absenteeism during and immediately after the pandemic, the fact that it remains a persistent issue signals the need for urgent intervention.
When students spend insufficient time in the classroom, their academic achievement, graduation rates, and prosperity for the future face a sharp decline. While schools often focus on improving curriculum and technology to improve test scores, many students simply aren’t present enough for those interventions to matter. As absenteeism is an early risk factor for mental health, financial, and academic challenges, finding ways to get students back into the classroom is imperative for their future success.1
