Data: Small fraction attending CPS in person
High school opt-in deadline extended until Tuesday
Since students started returning to Chicago Public Schools under an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union in February, fewer than 24% of eligible students have attended class in person at least once, according to data released Friday by CPS.
Hours after the longawaited release, the district extended the Friday deadline to Tuesday for high schoolers and any elementary students who had not yet returned to opt in for the remainder of the school year. Earlier this week, CPS announced April 19, the start of fourth quarter, as the target return date for high schools.
Among students expected to attend class in CPS buildings for the most recent week available, March 8-12, an average of 73% were present, according to CPS. That rate has improved over time, most significantly among preschool and special education students who were in the first group welcomed back.
Average daily attendance rates have skewed highest among grades kindergarten through five, whose students were in the second wave. Their return March 1 also coincided with a boost in preschool attendance and brought overall attendance to 67%. On March 8, the first day back for sixth to eighth graders, overall attendance was 72%.
Since each group’s respective return date, their average attendance rates have been 65% among in-person students and 86% among virtual students for wave one; 74% in person and 93% virtual for kindergarten through fifth graders in wave two; and 69% in person and 94% virtual for grades six through eight in wave three. Additionally, nearly a quarter of students expected in person attended classes virtually, according to CPS.
Daily attendance numbers show that when students in prekindergarten and special education cluster programs returned Feb. 11, less than 55% of students expected in person actually showed up, with some reverting to remote learning and others absent altogether.
As time went on and more grades phased in, the first group’s attendance rose to 69% on March 12, with a peak on March 9 at 74%, a factor of both more preschool students attending and fluctuation in the number of students “expected back,” according to CPS.
“While in-person attendance rates aren’t comparable to pre-pandemic levels, the district is encouraged to see an increase in school-based attendance the longer students have that option available, especially among our youngest learners and students in cluster programs,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson said in a written statement. “Schools offer children a stable learning environment, and we look forward to welcoming additional students back to the classroom on April 19.”
CTU released a statement with a different take: “The district’s push for in-person learning has drawn even less students than the small number initially expected. The pandemic has brought us to this moment, and the numbers speak for themselves. Our families need assurances of safety, and it is clear that the overwhelming majority of the families we serve simply do not trust claims of equity from (Mayor Lori Lightfoot) and CPS.”
Educators and families seeking improvements to remote learning have been ignored, the union said.
According to the district data, of nearly 208,000 eligible elementary and cluster students, 49,281 in total attended in person at least one day between Feb. 11 and March 12, out of 59,302 anticipated in-school learners. The most students in schools on any one day was 31,728, on a day when 42,372 were “expected.”
While the majority of in-person elementary students are in a hybrid learning model in which they still learn remotely three days a week, most prekindergarten and cluster program students are in schools every day. Parents can pull their child back to remote learning at any time, and principals have the discretion to allow a student to switch to in person if they have the staffing to make it work.
The district cautioned that these factors mean the number of students “expected back” each day does not correlate directly with opt-in forms.
Including all elementary students learning either in person or remotely, average attendance the week ending March 12 ranged from 71% at Wilma Rudolph Learning Center and Emmett Louis Till Math and Science Academy to more than 99% at Alcott and Keller elementary schools. Among cluster programs, the lowest attendance rate was 44% at Taft High School.
A breakdown of attendance rates by demographic groups shows racial and economic disparities similar to those seen since remote learning began, though attendance rates provided by the district provide limited insight.
While nearly three-quarters of CPS students are economically disadvantaged, those expected in person had a 68% average daily in-person attendance rate. That rate was 70% among students with special education plans and 57% among students experiencing homelessness, though that represents a much smaller fraction of students in those groups who had the option to attend.
The average daily in-person attendance rate was highest, at 89%, among white students, who opted in at the highest rate to begin with, then 83% among Asian and multiracial students, 77% among Hispanic and Latino students, and 60% among Black students.
Based on CPS survey data updated in February for families in the first three waves, 56% of white students opted in, followed by 42% of multiracial students, 31% of Black students, and 22% of Asian and Latino students. The opt-in rate was 32% for students experiencing homelessness, 29% for students with special education programs, 25% for economically disadvantaged students and 21% for students learning English.
Since intent-to-return forms were due in December, the total number of students opting in has diminished from roughly 77,000 to fewer than 60,000. Families were told that opting in preserved the ability to continue remote learning, but students choosing the remote option would not have the same flexibility to switch to in-person school, and some parents who were undecided said they selected in-person learning to keep their options open.