Chronic absenteeism is one of the most urgent and misunderstood signals that students are struggling to connect with school or facing significant challenges outside of it. Nearly 1 in 3 students missed 18 or more school days last year, and in some districts, more than half did. The pandemic didn’t cause this problem, but it intensified it, underscoring the importance of addressing chronic absenteeism. Before COVID-19, the absenteeism rate hovered around 16%. By 2021-22, it had nearly doubled to 31%. Attendance has improved slightly since then, but rates remain 75% above pre-pandemic levels — and in the most impacted communities, they’re still falling.

This is not a challenge schools can solve with lectures or punishments. My own early efforts to talk a student into better attendance were often met with slow eye rolls, exasperated sighs — and no change. In hindsight, I wasted time talking at students about not showing up. What I’ve learned — and now teach other school leaders — is that the only way forward in addressing chronic absenteeism is to build schools that students want to be in, families feel proud to choose and that instill confidence in their teachers.

When I was a principal, my team at Harlem West Middle School, part of the Success Academy network, stopped treating absenteeism as a compliance problem. We saw it for what it was: a culture issue. While some students were facing housing instability, coping with mental health challenges or caring for relatives, many simply didn’t feel a strong sense of belonging at school that would make attendance worthwhile.

The same was true for families. Between work, transportation and income constraints, parents faced hurdles. Their child’s absenteeism wasn’t due to a lack of care — it was the result of life’s complexities.

It became the job of my faculty and staff to recognize what was making it hard for students to show up or fully engage, and then offer practical ways to help them make the most out of their school day.

One of the most powerful — and surprisingly simple — shifts we made was giving students more ownership of their school. They helped shape how we started our mornings by making daily announcements: researching and delivering news stories, providing schoolwide updates or interviewing classmates, often showcasing their own talents. They also offered ideas for celebrating peers and created engaging student-run organizations, such as chess, theater and book clubs, along with student-organized competitions and leadership opportunities within the school community.

Read the full article about addressing chronic absenteeism by Khari Shabazz at The 74.