Schools tackling chronic absenteeism
State leaders eyeing strategies to get kids back after 80% surge
As schools across the country continue to wrestle with a pandemic-driven increase in chronic absenteeism, small successes in Hartford and elsewhere are giving state education leaders hope for replicable solutions.
Wednesday’s state Board of Education meeting featured presentations from officials with Hartford Public Schools and The Bridge Academy, a Bridgeport charter school, who shared details about their data-driven analyses and mindset-driven responses that are beginning to pay off.
It comes at a time when some data suggests nationwide rates of chronic absenteeism, defined as missing at least 10% of school days regardless of whether absences are excused, may have tripled during the pandemic.
Connecticut has generally fared better. Statewide chronic absenteeism was 19% in 2020-21 — an 80% increase from pre-pandemic levels. The state’s response to absenteeism was also the focus of a paper by Attendance Works, a national organization that partners with states to reduce chronic absence.
This is a look at the Greater Hartford districts where chronic absenteeism increased more than others, and what some schools are doing to combat it.
In Hartford, hardship but progress
In Hartford, chronic absenteeism has been an issue for years. The district, under the administration of Superintendent Leslie Torres-rodriguez, declared it a crisis in 2018 when absenteeism rates were about 25%, and kickstarted a districtwide analysis of attendance data.
The root-cause analysis revealed gaps in the existing systems, programs and supports, which “really weren’t designed to meet the needs of the whole students,” Torres-rodriguez told state school board members.
Some of the root causes were
connected with the families themselves, with shortage and expense of child care a major factor. Several older Hartford students work, or stay home to take care of young siblings.
Some had to do with city and state factors, including unexpected events. When a wave of Tiktok threats swept schools last December, more than 5,000 students — nearly one-third of the district’s enrollment — missed class on a single day.
And some were the unintended consequences of district policies. Hartford Public Schools made Wednesdays half days during the pandemic to give teachers time to get support or access professional development. But schools noticed that attendance was dropping noticeably, according to Evette Avila, the district’s chief of schools.
“We’ll continue to support teachers, but not at the cost of the hardships that families have shared with us of the half days,” Avila told board members.
Like the root causes, Hartford’s response has been layered. The district has several “attendance, culture and engagement” teams that meet weekly to go over attendance data. Schools have put on Olympicsor March Madness-themed events to create attendance incentives — and make school generally more fun.
Meanwhile, staff work to create individualized support plans for students, and the district leverages federal dollars to support home visits to check in with families.
District staff have conducted about 3,800 home visits so far this year, Torres-rodriguez said.
Results are modest, but present. Chronic absenteeism is down to 44% as of April 8, Torres-rodriguez shared, after shooting up to 47% during the omicron surge. Average daily attendance has improved to 87%, from 82%.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without this integrated systemic approach,” Torres-rodriguez said.
And the work will continue. Avila detailed future plans, which include summer enrichment programs and bridge support once the school year ends. Staff will target students in transition years, like eighth-graders heading into high school, and focus on family engagement.
Hartford schools are also focused on removing some of the procedural barriers, Avila said. The district plans to coordinate pop-up clinics to provide on-the-spot physicals for newly registered students, citing long waiting lists for regulars check-ups during the pandemic.
“We’re going to continue to analyze and proactively respond to our data,” Torres-rodriguez said.
Other districts
A rare few districts saw chronic absenteeism decrease in 2020-21. Absenteeism declined by 33% in South Windsor, 18% in Simsbury and nearly 20% in Rocky Hill.
Nearly all of the districts least impacted by COVID-19, however, had rates well below the state average to begin with.
In Tolland, chronic absenteeism dropped slightly, from 4.3% to 4.2%. Superintendent Walter Willett credits the district’s active student assistance teams, and strong relationships between families and outreach personnel.
Willett also acknowledged the many differences between his district’s student population and that of districts like Hartford. Chronic absenteeism is driven by myriad factors, and largely different ones between urban and suburban schools.
The pandemic motivated many families to move out of Hartford in search of less dense environments, which presented a challenge to school staff attempting to keep track of the students moving into and out of the city. And Hartford has a more transient population to begin with.
Willet also acknowledged that when his district does home visits — at a rate much less frequent than Hartford — families are generally less fearful that their legal status could be at risk.
“Other places struggle with things that we are not challenged by as much,” Willet said. “Their statistics may be a little skewed in the direction of them looking like their staff is less effective, when they’ve got people caring and doing same things we are. They’re just working against factors in ways that we’re not.”
That’s what makes The Bridge Academy, the Bridgeport charter school, such an outlier.
There, rates of chronic absenteeism have gone from well above the state average to well below, according to Rachel Allison, the school’s co-founder and principal.
Chronic absenteeism was just 12.4% in 2020-21, she said. It was 13% as of February of this year.
The biggest change, Allison said, was a shift in mindset. She credited the school’s transition to restorative justice practices, which completely eliminated punishments for being late or absent. Staff were instead asked to inquire about why kids were missing school.
“We learned that punitive methods don’t work,” Allison said.
One of the great silver linings of the pandemic, if there have been any, is that we can see how we can really move the dial with appropriate funding, because all of this costs quite a bit of money.” Rachel Allison, principal, The Bridge Academy
The school worked to remove other barriers, which included the installation of a washer and dryer on school grounds and the stocking of feminine hygiene products in the girls’ bathrooms.
And as in Hartford, Bridge Academy leveraged its personnel. The school hired an attendance coordinator and a social-emotional learning coordinator, and created four other stipend-funded positions.
“One of the great silver linings of the pandemic, if there have been any, is that we can see how we can really move the dial with appropriate funding, because all of this costs quite a bit of money,” Allison said.
But that’s the issue. Hartford’s school budget is stretched thin in the best of years, with high costs associated with muchneeded services that students and families depend on.
The district has been using federal COVID-19 relief money to support attendance initiatives.
The General Assembly this session secured dozens of millions of dollars for youth mental health — including funding for absenteeism and engagement programs — but declined to vote on legislation that would have accelerated a plan to send more funding for high-need districts.
Hartford Public Schools stood to receive $24 million more per year by fiscal year 2025.
Asked by state school board members what will happen once the federal relief runs out, Torres-rodriguez said the intangibles — like mindset, and the focus on the whole student — will continue.
But other programs and staffing are at risk.
“We know that will not be sustainable after the funding,” Torres-rodriguez said.