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DA District Administration
Why absenteeism and attendance are growing school concerns
Hundreds of thousands of students haven't logged on, reports say
By: Matt Zalaznick
April 20, 2020
Chronic absenteeism and tracking attendance are rising equity concerns
as large numbers of students have not logged in to online classes
several weeks after their schools closed due to coronavirus, according
to several published reports.
Hundreds of thousands of students lack adequate technology to access
online classes while many others log on but face distractions such as
caring for siblings and sharing laptops, The Associated Press reported
via ABC News.
Los Angeles Unified School District reported that as many as 40% of its
elementary school students had not participated as of the first week of
April, and Superintendent Austin Beutner said logging in “does not tell
us anything more than the student turned on their computer,” according
to The Associated Press.
Only 14 of the 82 large districts analyzed by the Center on Reinventing
Public Education are tracking attendance, according to Chalkbeat.
“We’ve seen a lot of districts not have a policy at all or not be
explicit about it,” the Center’s Betheny Gross told Chalkbeat. “How
will we know who we need to apply some extra resources to reach and
connect with? Our kids are everywhere.”
In New York City, teachers measure attendance by “daily meaningful
interactions,” such as participation in online discussions, completed
assignments and responses to teacher’s emails. And in Denver, students
can show they’re participating by signing an online form, longing into
an online portal or emailing a photo of work they’ve done, Chalkbeat
reports.
Though St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota distributed iPads and
mobile WiFi hotspots, one in every six students never logged on during
the week of April 6, Twin Cities.com-Pioneer Press reported.
About one-third of Minneapolis Public Schools students have been absent
or unable to participate because they don’t have a computer or a paper
homework packet, according to Twin Cities.com-Pioneer Press.
Attendance and absenteeism across the country
The large county districts in South Florida have had trouble tracking
attendance, with some of the highest absentee rates occurring in high
schools, according to the Sun Sentinel.
In Broward County Public Schools, for example, attendance was 88% on
April 6, compared with an average of 94% last school year, the Sun
Sentinel reported.
“I have a couple of kids who did the first assignment and were real
motivated, and now it’s started to fall off a little bit,” Michael
Lichtenstein, a government teacher at Pompano Beach High School, told
the Sun Sentinel. “I imagine some are starting to feel economic
pressures and for others it’s laziness.”
Many districts, such as Arizona’s Sahuarita USD, are reaching out to students who haven’t logged into online classes.
“Since this shift due to the pandemic there are multiple variables
impacting individuals and families, like changes in work status, the
need for people to move, changes in the family dynamic, access to
computers and technology,” Superintendent Manny Valenzuela told the
Green Valley News. “This is kind of at the center of our consideration
and just because we’ve not been able to make contact with some of these
students its hard to discern why that is.”
About 175 students, 2.7% of the district’s enrollment, had not checked
in as of last week, but students will not be penalized for absences.
The district will also consider students’ third-quarter performance
before schools closed when determining final grades, according to The
Green Valley News.
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