(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Chronic Absenteeism Working Group met for the first time since the pandemic on July 19 to discuss the issues surrounding attendance and how to get students to come to school.
The working group was established in 2016 and designed to be a collaboration between school districts and community groups. The Chronic Absenteeism Working Group is made up of members within multiple offices of KDE, district directors of pupil personnel and other leaders from districts across the Commonwealth, and representatives with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Administrative Office of the Courts, Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSCs) coordinators, and the Region 5 Comprehensive Center.
KDE defines a student as chronically absent if they are present 90% or less of full-time equivalency, meaning the student has missed more than 10% of the enrolled time in school. This includes both excused and unexcused absences.
Districts have been dealing with chronic absenteeism for years, but the problem spiked following the COVID-19 pandemic: in 2018, 5% of districts were considered to have high or extreme levels of chronic absenteeism; in 2023, that percentage was 77%.
Leslie McKinney, KDE strategic data analyst, said the department has been gathering data and information on contributing factors surrounding chronic absenteeism. She highlighted the four biggest factors:
- Barriers like chronic health conditions, family responsibilities, transportation, housing or food insecurity and community violence;
- Aversion to school because a student may be struggling academically, behaviorally or with their peers;
- Disengagement with school because the student feels bored or has a lack of connection and enrichment opportunities; and
- Misconceptions about staying home for illness and the belief that attendance “doesn’t matter” or that only unexcused absences are a problem.
McKinney said habits developed during the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated these issues.
“Maybe the shift in some of the ways that school had to be conducted during the pandemic and habits that happened during COVID have sort of lingered on past the pandemic,” she said. “And so, for some students, maybe they don't see those vibrant learning experiences or enrichment opportunities in school.”
Data presented by KDE staff during the meeting showed chronic absenteeism tends to be more of an issue among middle and high school students, peaking when students reach Grade 12. This has remained true in pre- and post-pandemic data, and Kentucky has seen an increase in chronic absenteeism following the pandemic across all grade levels, but the rate among younger students is growing faster than older students.
“The reasons why our (younger) students are chronically absent are probably largely different as to why our high school students are chronically absent,” said McKinney. “And so, we want to make sure that we're sort of keeping our finger on the pulse of this movement within levels.”
Florence Chang, program consultant with the KDE Division of Student Success, highlighted some of the strategies KDE has developed with school districts to address chronic absenteeism so far. The work includes efforts to foster a welcoming and supportive culture for students and adults.
“You’re trying to draw kids into the school and pull them in. That’s your climate and culture,” she said to members of the working group.
Efforts also focus on districts creating academically engaging and challenging environments with meaningful learning activities, frequent feedback and learning supports.
Additional tools in Infinite Campus help school leaders track chronic absenteeism. For example, the Early Warning tool helps identify students who have the potential to fall behind or even drop out of school. Infinite Campus also includes Insights featuring new data visualization dashboards, including attendance data, along with reports on chronically absent and transient student populations. More resources are available on the KDE Chronic Absenteeism webpage.
KDE is also working on a public messaging campaign, which includes ads on television, radio and on billboards across the Commonwealth emphasizing that attendance matters. Jennifer Ginn, KDE director of communications, showed examples of some of the billboards during the meeting. The images feature messaging about how much Kentucky misses students in various aspects of the student experience like in class, at a football game, in band, in gym class, in lunch or at recess. The advertisements will start appearing in August.
Attendees from outside KDE shared some of their experiences dealing with chronic absenteeism during the first meeting.
Brent Lynch, director of pupil personnel in Jefferson County, said his office has been working to inform parents about new requirements established by House Bill 611 (2024), which makes changes to the timeline for processing truancy violations by requiring automatic referral to the county attorney after 15 days of truancy. He also discussed district efforts to send postcards to parents once their child starts missing too much school.
“We do get a strong response with these and more often than not, it’s really good responses,” he said. “Parents especially don't realize … when you're adding up the tardies and the full-time (absences), they don't realize how many days they're missing.”
Representatives with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities shared an update about the work several Regional Interagency Councils have been doing to help at-risk student populations, creating strategic plans to address many issues that are linked to chronic absenteeism.
The Chronic Absenteeism Work Group will continue meeting to develop strategies and resources to address attendance issues.
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