Student absenteeism jumps during the pandemic,

Research on GTA boards shows concerning trend with elementary students

Extreme absenteeism — when students miss more than 50 per cent of classes — jumped during the pandemic, a new study looking at five large Greater Toronto boards has found.

The study, which examined enrolment data for more than 630,500 students, reported an increase in the higher level of absences, as well as “chronic” absenteeism, when students miss more than 10 per cent of class time.

Extreme absenteeism was found to be more common in elementary students studying online, and “the 4,759 students in remote schooling who missed more than 50 per cent of days between September and December 2020 would be considered at high risk of adverse educational outcomes,” says the report, released Friday.

“There is a ton of research, North America-wide, that points to chronic absenteeism as a really significant student success factor,” said study coordinator Kelly GallagherMackay of Wilfrid Laurier University, who worked with research departments at public boards in Toronto, Peel, Durham and York, as well as Halton Catholic, examining data from last September to December.

“Typically, a 10 per cent absenteeism level is a big red flag in the system that something is going on,” she said, noting that previous research has linked missing classes to lower levels of school completion, increased drug use and engagement in risky behaviours by students.

“We had two concerns with this report — what’s going on with these chronic absences, what changes are happening there,” she added.

“The other concern is that kids were potentially getting lost,” and the system would lose track of them, considering some were missing more than half of classes.

That absenteeism increased during the COVID pandemic is not a huge surprise, GallagherMackay added, especially given that public health was advising students to stay home if they weren’t feeling well and students exposed to COVID would have to isolate.

As a result, chronic absenteeism was more prevalent for students who opted for in-person learning.

But “the 50 per cent cutoff changed dramatically,” rising sixfold, she said.

“That’s the one everyone is worried about … six times as many, with a very incremental increase in resources given to boards to address that very serious issue.”

And with remote learning, “it’s easier to get lost. That is one of the big worries about online schooling — that we might lose kids more deeply.”

Because absence reporting during the pandemic may not have been as reliable as in the past, the issue is something boards are keeping an eye on this year.

David Cameron, senior manager of research and development at the Toronto District School Board, said absenteeism is important to track because it affects kids in the long term.

“If you miss more than 10 per cent of elementary school attendance, then you are more at risk of not going to post-secondary,” he said.

The board’s average is usually about 8.5 per cent, but he cautioned that during the disruption taking attendance was more difficult.

He said while chronic absenteeism was up about two per cent last year, the board is also seeing “high levels of resilience, with 90 per cent of students in grades 6 to 12 saying ‘I’m in,’ ” — though acknowledging how difficult pandemic learning has been.

“Our biggest worry is about content understanding, what kids are coming to the table with,” especially given the lower than usual kindergarten enrolment, Cameron said.

Gallagher-Mackay said the higher-than-usual absence rates also lead to worries “that kids’ lack of connection to school is increasing, and a connection to school is incredibly important for all kinds of things.”

And with data from around the world showing that children have fallen behind academically during the pandemic — in some cases, two years behind in reading — the province needs to spend more to help these kids succeed, she added.

The study did not look at secondary school absences given the different models used by boards, with virtual or blended learning between home and school, saying the data was not consistent, but does raise concerns about teens “ghosting” high school during the pandemic.

The study looked at 630,000 students out of the province’s two million. The percentage of elementary students who were absent more than half the time increased from pre-pandemic levels of 0.3 per cent to two per cent, for a total of more than 8,500 kids.

Gallagher-Mackay noted that one board has just one full-time social worker for every 287 students with high levels of absenteeism.

Kindergarten enrolment dropped by more than five per cent, or 4,500 students, which is thought to reflect parents’ concerns about younger children being able to handle safety protocols.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said the province spent $85 million on summer catch-up programs, and has expanded tutoring and supports in math and language.

He also told the Star that “you can expect to see supports going forward to help kids get back on track.”

The York Region District School Board has a new caring and learning plan focused on students’ well-being, including monitoring attendance and ensuring they are supported, said superintendent Shawn Bredin, who oversees research and assessment.

“From our consultations this year with students and families, they want significant and better ways to stay connected to schools and connected to their peers, in addition to having high-quality curriculum and assessment,” he said.