Millions of Kids Missing Weeks of School as Attendance Tanks Across the US; 6.5 Million Students Chronically Absent After the Pandemic, New Study Shows, and other C-Virus related stories

By admin On Aug 19, 2023

Millions of kids missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US:

When in-person school resumed after pandemic closures, Rousmery Negrón and her 11-year-old son both noticed a change: School seemed less welcoming.

Parents were no longer allowed in the building without appointments, she said, and punishments were more severe.

Everyone seemed less tolerant, more angry.

Negrón’s son told her he overheard a teacher mocking his learning disabilities, calling him an ugly name.

Her son didn’t want to go to school anymore.

And she didn’t feel he was safe there.

He would end up missing more than five months of sixth grade.

Across the country, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened during the pandemic.

More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year, making them chronically absent, according to the most recent data available.

Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school.

All told, an estimated 6.5 million additional students became chronically absent, according to the data, which was compiled by Stanford University education professor Thomas Dee in partnership with The Associated Press.

Taken together, the data from 40 states and Washington, D.C., provides the most comprehensive accounting of absenteeism nationwide.

Absences were more prevalent among Latino, Black, and low-income students, according to Dee’s analysis. —>READ MORE HERE

6.5 million students chronically absent after the pandemic, new study shows:

Students across the U.S. have been chronically absent in record-high numbers after the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study from Stanford Research shows.

More than 25% of students were classified as chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year because they had missed at least 10% of the school year. Comparatively, before the pandemic, only 15% of students had such high levels of absenteeism, the study noted.

Between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 academic years, the percentage of students classified as chronically absent increased by 13½ points. This increase, which equates to a 91% spike, suggests an estimated 6.5 million more students are now falling into the category of being chronically absent compared to before the pandemic.

“The substantial, negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple indicators of well-being and development among children in the United States are increasingly well-documented,” the author of the study, Thomas S. Dee, wrote.

“For example, evidence of deteriorating youth mental health recently motivated a coalition of leading health organizations to declare a national emergency, as well as the publication of a rare public health advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General,” he said.

The study, presented in an eight-page report, found that in the hardest-hit states, such as Alaska and New Mexico, nearly 50% of students are absent for a tenth of their classes.