Northwest High School in Cedar Hill is working to break students’ bad attendance habits with a new policy that went into effect at the start of this school year.
The policy holds students accountable for making up any hours they miss that are over the allowable amount to receive credit for classwork. The yearlong effort has resulted in a 25 percent decrease in attendance policy violators, Northwest High School Principal Stella Viehland said.
“At the end of the first semester, there were 561 students in violation of the attendance policy and now there are 100 students,” Viehland told the Northwest R-1 Board of Education at its April 11 meeting.
Northwest High has 1,760 students in grades nine through 12, she said. The school had 1,835 students during the first semester, which included 75 seniors who graduated in December.
The new attendance policy allows students up to five absences per class a semester. After five absences, credit is withheld until the attendance time is made up through after-school hours or unless the student appeals and shows documentation for excused absences, such as doctor appointments, funerals and court appearances.
“We have always had the attendance policy of five days per semester, but we have now included the additional requirement of appealing and making up hours for the number of absences that are in excess of the policy,” Viehland said.
School officials realized the student absenteeism rate was not improving in the spring of the 2022-2023 school year, when 33 percent of students were chronically absent or missed 10 percent of school days, she said.
“Unfortunately, our absences were not decreasing, so we had to do a bit of a reset to establish expectations and begin to rebuild those habits of regular attendance,” Viehland said. “We couldn’t continue with (the previous attendance policy) because it wasn’t working. We realized accountability might be the missing piece.”
Chronic absenteeism is a nationwide problem, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Edfacts, which reported that chronic absenteeism in schools across the country nearly doubled from 16 percent before COVID-19 to 29.17 percent in the 2021-2022 school year.
That represents nearly 14.7 million students who were chronically absent and missed so much school they were at academic risk, according to the federal data.
A study recently published by FutureEd, an independent think tank at Georgetown University, showed that the national average for chronic absenteeism during the 2022-2023 school year was 27.85 percent.
In Missouri, chronic absenteeism during the 2018-2019 school year averaged 12.7 percent compared to 23.4 percent in 2022-2023, according to FutureEd’s Tracking State Trends in Chronic Absenteeism report.
“This data shows that the absenteeism problem that began during the pandemic is slow to rebound,” Viehland said.
Chronic absenteeism often signals that students are experiencing untreated health needs, mental health issues or other significant challenges, FutureEd reported.
When lots of students attend school irregularly, it hurts the academic process of students who are attending regularly as well as those with chronic absenteeism, the report said.
“Teachers are better able to move forward in the curriculum when more students are attending regularly,” Viehland said. “They know students are ‘on the same page,’ and there is less loss of class time for backtracking and make-up work.”
“These high rates of chronic absences suggest a disengagement that we have to address,” said Hedy N. Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit initiative addressing chronic absenteeism. “Among the issues affecting all students are struggles with feeling engaged and connected to school. Families may think showing up for school isn’t essential and believe they can make up things electronically.”
Viehland agrees.
“Chronic absenteeism can reduce the connectivity students have with other students, their teachers and the school community as a whole when they miss important and memorable activities,” she said. “We know that a sense of belonging is key to mental health and confidence.”
A plethora of activities at Northwest High School aim to help students feel engaged and connected.
“Whether it be clubs, athletics or performing arts, we let our students know there is a place for them at Northwest,” Viehland said.
“There are multiple reasons that contribute to students not attending school, and they can vary by school population,” Chang said. “Students report more anxiety and depression than ever before. Families in low-income communities may especially be struggling with lack of access to reliable health care, housing and food insecurity, and poor transportation.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022, an estimated 8.7 percent of Jefferson County residents lived in poverty, which was defined as having an annual income of $13,590 for an individual, $18,310 for two people and $27,750 for a family of four people. Comparatively, 11.5 percent of U.S. residents, about 37.9 million people, lived in poverty in 2022.
“It’s difficult to pinpoint individual reasons for missing school because every situation is different,” Viehland said. “For all our students, even though pandemic schooling is no longer an issue, they have increased stressors both in their lives individually and sometimes in the home as well.
“We find that we are best able to provide problem-solving support when students are at school,” she said. “The predictability and structure of school, reduction in stress through the maintenance of ongoing responsibilities and availability of resources is what will help students manage challenges and establish perseverance needed for adult success.”
When students miss school, it can be challenging to catch up.
“New learning builds on prior knowledge. When students have to make up missing work while also staying up with what the class has continued to work on, this can cause additional stress and confusion,” Viehland said. “Students begin to realize it would be easier to attend school daily and put in the time learning with their teacher than to put in time later after hours.”
“We have seen improvements in student attendance, which has resulted in improvements to student grades,” said Jenny Baugh, assistant principal of the Northwest High School junior class. “Multiple juniors have told us that coming to school every day has caused their grades to improve. They are proud of their A’s and B’s.”
“Student achievement is directly impacted by attendance.” Viehland said. “The intention of the attendance policy is to ensure students attend school regularly and develop daily habits that will serve them beyond high school in the workplace or college.
“We regularly say to them, ‘We want to see you here. We count on you to be at school.’ While there have been many tough conversations this year, ultimately, we hope our students and families know we care about them. Showing up to learn is the first crucial step of this.”