Student Absenteeism: Turning More Eyes Toward Empty Desks
There's a truism in education circles: Kids can't learn if they're not in class. But the problem of absenteeism – particularly when it’s chronic – is one that experts say is too often missing from the debate over how to boost student achievement and turn around struggling schools.
To be sure, educators from Florida to Hawaii know there’s a problem, and you should expect to see more of a focus on the issue as the new academic year gets underway (September is Attendance Awareness Month). But solving it will take more than just adding truancy officers or imposing fines on parents who let their kids skip.
Calling his district's absentee rate "atrocious," Pasco (Fla.) Superintendent Kurt Browning vowed that "If I have to, I will come and knock on every door of every student letting them know they have to attend," the Tampa Bay Times reported.
In Pasco, about one out of every 10 of students missed at least 21 days of instruction in the 2011-12 academic year. Researchers define a habitual truancy as missing at least 10 percent of the instructional days, or 18 days in an average 180-
To be sure, educators from Florida to Hawaii know there’s a problem, and you should expect to see more of a focus on the issue as the new academic year gets underway (September is Attendance Awareness Month). But solving it will take more than just adding truancy officers or imposing fines on parents who let their kids skip.
Calling his district's absentee rate "atrocious," Pasco (Fla.) Superintendent Kurt Browning vowed that "If I have to, I will come and knock on every door of every student letting them know they have to attend," the Tampa Bay Times reported.
In Pasco, about one out of every 10 of students missed at least 21 days of instruction in the 2011-12 academic year. Researchers define a habitual truancy as missing at least 10 percent of the instructional days, or 18 days in an average 180-