In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic school absence has nearly doubled in the United States. The U.S. Department of Education and most U.S. states define chronic absence as missing 10 percent of school for any reason, whether the absences are excused or unexcused or take the form of suspensions. This has repercussions far beyond the nearly one in three students who are chronically absent. In schools where at least 20 percent of students don’t regularly attend, it’s difficult for teachers to move forward with new lesson plans (Gottfried, 2014), and it even increases the likelihood of absenteeism schoolwide (Kirksey et al., 2024).
Chronic absenteeism erodes learning conditions that motivate students, including physical and emotional safety; a sense of belonging, connection, and support; academic challenge and engagement; adult and student well-being; and a focus on building relationships (Chang, 2023). Reestablishing these learning conditions will require engaging with the entire school community and investing in the power of teachers to make a difference.
Why Teachers Matter
Teachers are key to creating positive classroom climates (Backes et al., 2022) and building trusting relationships with students over time. When teachers show they care, students are more likely to feel they matter; when they express confidence in a student’s ability to learn, students are more likely to believe in themselves even when they’re feeling less hopeful. Because of their ongoing contact with students, teachers can notice if something is amiss and offer additional outreach or support.
By the same token, chaotic and alienating classroom environments undermine efforts to nurture attendance (Van Eck et al., 2017). Students and families may ignore messaging or outreach that promotes attendance if they don’t feel a sense of belonging and don’t believe that classrooms offer meaningful learning experiences.
To address this issue, schools can use our three-tiered intervention model (see fig. 1). Although teachers can contribute at every tier, their involvement is particularly crucial in implementing foundational and universal Tier 1 supports that reach all students.
What Teachers Can Do
I am founder and executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that serves at least 40 school districts in five U.S. states. Our approach to reducing absenteeism has resulted in significant declines in chronic absence post-pandemic in both California and Connecticut. On the basis of our experience, we offer teachers the following strategies.
Nurture belonging and connection.
Teachers can promote attendance in this context in a variety of ways.
Warmly welcome students and families. Before the school year even begins, teachers can welcome families by sending a note, an email, or a text or by making a phone call, and they can continue these practices throughout the year. If a school has a web-based parent portal, teachers can add welcoming messages to their classroom’s page or use apps that enable two-way texting. Being welcoming also starts at the classroom door. In this video by Edutopia, the teacher greets her students at eye level and offers them a high-five, a handshake, or a hug.
Ensure positive relationships. Teachers and staff should consider the extent to which they have a relationship with each student and family they serve. Adapted from a tool created by Harvard University, this resource on mapping quality connections offers a systematic way to examine whether every student has a positive connection to a staff member, with special attention to students at risk (Summers, 2024).
Invest in home visits. Relational home visits can improve attendance by bridging the gaps that exist when educators don’t live in the neighborhoods served by their schools or share the ethnic or class backgrounds of their students. Two home visit programs have been proven to reduce chronic absence: Parent Teacher Home Visits, which is a universal intervention, and Connecticut’s Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP), which is a targeted intervention for chronically absent students. Both models emphasize using a first visit to hear about a family’s hopes and dreams, build relationships, and offer support. Parent Teacher Home Visits reduced chronic absence overall for a school as long as the program served 10 percent of the student population. In Connecticut, the state-supported implementation of LEAP in 15 school districts improved attendance by 15 percent.
Provide engaging learning opportunities. Students and families are more likely to feel connected to school if the learning opportunities are engaging and relevant to their lives. “Relevant—and Culturally Relevant—Instruction” in the Attendance Playbook: Smart Strategies for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic (Jordan, 2023), describes how to help students connect what they’re learning to their lived experiences, increase student voice initiatives, and create career and educational pathways.
Offer a supportive learning environment. According to a national survey by Youth Truth (Center for Effective Philanthropy, 2023), anxiety and depression increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. This tip sheet from the National Association of School Psychologists (Malone, Dugas, & Ellis, 2020) offers a variety of strategies that teachers can use, including implementing predictable classroom routines, helping students understand the connection between anxiety and physical symptoms, and creating a plan for managing anxious behaviors.
Promoting attendance and engagement starts with knowing who can help.
Incorporate attendance messaging into routines and interactions.
In morning routines, teachers can let students know they are missed when they’ve been absent, and they can welcome them when they return. Key talking points for interactions with students and families are included in the Showing Up Matters for R.E.A.L. toolkit (Attendance Works, 2022). These focus on building routines, increasing engagement, providing access to resources, and supporting learning. Recognizing good and improved—not just perfect—attendance can generate excitement and create opportunities for messaging. For example, rather than recognizing only the students who show up every day for an entire quarter, schools can hand out raffle tickets daily to each student who arrives at school on time in the morning and announce the winner at the end of the week during the last period of the day on Friday to discourage students from leaving early. Schools can do this intermittently throughout the school year.
Consider these tips from Attendance Works (2023, July) on how to establish meaningful incentives, which might include offering no-cost rewards, such as being first in the lunch line and having lunch with a favorite teacher, or items that address common barriers to getting to school, such as gas cards, grocery cards, or food baskets.
Avoiding a blaming approach is crucial. Research (Stempel et al., 2017) shows that absenteeism is correlated with traumatic experiences, which require a compassionate response to support healing. (See this article from the American Psychological Association for guidance.) A variety of studies (Allison et al., 2019; Attendance Works & Healthy Schools Campaign, 2015; Brundage et al., 2017; Chang et al., 2019) reveal that many school absences are caused by challenges beyond a student’s or family’s control. These include lack of access to healthcare, unreliable transportation, unstable housing, lack of safe paths to school, as well as in-school difficulties, such as being bullied and struggling academically. In these cases, a punitive approach could hinder attempts to identify and address the underlying reasons that students miss school (McNeely et al., 2023).
Use conferences to promote attendance.
One-on-one student-teacher conferences or IEP meetings are opportunities to update families and caregivers on their child’s attendance and share what students are learning. Before the conference, teachers should review attendance data for each of their students. If they aren’t sure how to approach a particular child or family, they might consult with another teacher who has managed to establish such a rapport. Teachers should also make sure they have translation support to communicate with families who speak languages other than English.
Staff can tailor their approach according to the student’s attendance status, which can range from being excellent to being characterized by chronic absence. Figure 2 suggests appropriate talking points for each of three levels of attendance.
For students with severe levels of absenteeism, teachers might ask for help from the principal, school counselor, or school nurse, or schedule an additional meeting to allow more time to understand why the student is absent. This toolkit from Attendance Works (2024) offers more tips on engaging families at conferences.
Draw on school resources.
Promoting attendance and engagement starts with knowing who can help. Does your school have a team that is responsible for crafting and implementing a schoolwide strategy for reducing chronic absence? If so, who is on the team? When do they meet? What is the process for getting help for a given student or family? If your school lacks such a team, a school nurse or social worker can help clarify what is happening with a particular child or parent, and they may have access to resources that can reduce barriers. For example, they might provide needed health services or offer transportation passes. For more guidance on how to take a whole-school approach involving teachers, check out this resource from Attendance Works (2023, May). Districts and states can also focus on our key ingredients for systemic change (Attendance Works, 2018).
Helping Teachers Make It Happen
Teachers have tremendous power to influence student attendance. They are the first to witness how absences can disrupt learning, not just for the absent student but also for the entire class. However, teachers shouldn’t be expected to do this work alone. Education and community leaders need to ensure that teachers have the support they need to tackle chronic absenteeism.
For example, districts can ensure that teachers have access to friendly and clear messaging about the importance of daily attendance and to technology that supports meaningful two-way communication with families. They should also have access to resources that address basic needs, such as food, transportation, and warm clothing. To support students who are experiencing social-emotional or physical health-related challenges, teachers should also have easy access to counselors, mental health therapists, nurses, and school-based health services. Districts can encourage strong relationship building among teachers by providing professional development and making sure that teachers have time to visit or make phone calls to students and parents. With this support in hand, teachers can effectively promote attendance throughout the school day.
Reflect & Discuss
➛ How is your school addressing chronic absenteeism post-pandemic?
➛ What is the most important thing you can do as a teacher to promote attendance?
➛ What school or district support would most help you in this effort?
