The problem of students habitually missing school varies widely from state to state, with about one-third of students in the nation’s capital absent 15 days or more in a single school year, according to an Associated Press analysis of government statistics. Meanwhile, 1.6 million (k – 12th grade) students attended a school that employed a law enforcement officer but no counselor.
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In addition to test scores, the law also allows states to hold schools accountable for measures such as student absences and how schools discipline students, The Washington Post reports. A total of 6 per cent of all students received one or more out-of-school suspensions in the 2013-2014 school year but the figure was much higher for African-American boys at 18 per cent and for African-American girls at 10 per cent.
While previous reports have shown that the number of black students in high school being suspended is disproportionately high, today’s report from the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection for the 2013-2014 school year shows that the disparity emerges the moment children enter the school system in preschool. It’s the first time the department has collected student absenteeism data. “You look across all of this information and it becomes very clear why we have gaps in achievement”.
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Black and Latino high school students had about the same rate of absenteeism, 22 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary for civil rights called the 20 percent reduction in suspensions across the country “breathtaking”.
Across all grades, 2.8 million students were suspended once or a couple of times.
White students make up 41 percent of preschoolers, and 28 percent of preschool kids with suspensions.
Florida had the lowest rate of absences: 4.5 percent of students in the state were chronically missing school in the 2013-2014 school year. The data showed black and Latino students accounted for 38% of student population at high schools with advanced placement (AP) courses, but only 29% enrolled in at least one AP class.
The preview of the data provided to reporters included percentages and proportions of students who were disciplined across the country.
The Obama administration began a program last fall, called Every Student, Every Day. It partners with states and local groups in 30 communities identify mentors to help chronically absent kids get back on track.
Rice said on Wednesday that there needed to be more awareness, uniform reporting and clarity on the definition of chronic absenteeism.
Whether the student is homeless or a teen parent, works two jobs or lives on their own, “that’s just the way it is”, she added. He presented a scenario in which a student interrupted class by walking around, but some teachers read about a boy named Jake – a white name – and others read about Darnell, a black name.
New efforts to combat habitual absences include an online system that parents can use to track their student’s attendance; a state grant that placed almost 100 social workers in schools; the expansion of a truancy diversion program to more than 80 campuses; and harsh penalties for missing too much school, including confiscation of a student’s driver’s license.
“It appears that at pretty much all grade levels, the chronic-absentee rate is going down”, Heath said.
– American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander elementary school students are twice as likely to be chronically absent as white elementary school students.
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The report also found that chronic student abseteeism tended to be higher in schools where the majority of teachers were also frequently absent.
