MISSING MORE THAN 5 DAYS A YEAR BEGINS TO IMPACT STUDENT PERFORMANCE.
Communities In Schools Site Coordinator, Kathleen Richardson is on the CARES team at Stockbridge High School to make sure kids who should be learning virtually are logging on to classes. The school is still majority virtual, so the CARES team is making phone calls, doing home visits, on going on social media.
Real live support even means walking students through, showing them how to log on.
A survey by the EdWeek Research Center late last year found that student absences nationally had nearly doubled during the pandemic. Daily absentee rates among high schoolers were the highest at 13% — more than 1 in 8 students were not in class. Middle school absentee rates were at 11% and elementary school had the lowest rates, but still at 9%.
Data showing higher levels of absenteeism have increased concerns that school closures and a turn to remote learning will widen academic achievement gaps between poor students and others.
Students have disengaged for reasons ranging from homelessness to family job loss, to a student needing a new hotspot, that’s why the CARES team heads out to identify problems and find solutions.