Modesto City Schools makes gains on chronic absenteeism. How it’s getting kids to class
Across California, 30% of students are considered “chronically absent,” missing school by being absent, tardy or truant. The Modesto City Schools rate was at that same level, but the district has seen a marked improvement from last year.
Chronic absenteeism describes students who are absent 10%, or a minimum of 18 days, of the school year and are at risk of falling behind, according to the California Department of Education.
According to the latest data, released Oct 19, Modesto City Schools’ rate of chronic absenteeism is 17%.
The state Department of Education reported the chronic absentee rate at Modesto City high schools and elementary schools was around 30% during the 2022-23 school year. Across Stanislaus County, the rate hovered at 25% that same school year.
To continue to combat chronic absenteeism, MCS is participating in a countywide, yearlong attendance campaign called Every Day Counts to get students motivated to get back into their classrooms. The district’s goal is to reach 96% attendance rate at all of their school sites.
This campaign, by the Stanislaus County of Education, utilizes multimedia, social media, billboards, and posters to reach students and parents and motivate them to get to their classes every day and on time.
Some administrators and teachers give trophies and prizes to students with perfect attendance. Others have their media production teams craft videos to promote perfect attendance.
Bret Harte Elementary Principal Marla Conteh said at her school she encourages her teachers to call families to work out how they can get their students in class on time.
“We see a trend at our site where the youngest ones, the littlest ones, are the ones who exhibit the most anxiety and have the lowest attendance rate and the highest chronic absenteeism rate,” Conteh said. “Once they get to sixth grade, they’ve pretty much learned the system and the expectations and we start to see improvement with their attendance rate with their ability to adapt to changes at school.”
Though there are improvements, there continues to be concern with attendance as it can affect students’ future opportunities and grades.
What are the factors behind chronic absenteeism?
Aletha Harven, a psychology professor at Stanislaus State University, finds chronic absenteeism can be caused by a variety of factors such as students’ home lives or what’s happening in the surrounding community.
She said students might have to wake themselves up, have to walk to school and get on campus without help, or take on leadership roles in their households such as caring for their younger siblings.
“A lot of times, what I found is just whatever is happening in a student’s life, just tends to interfere with their schooling,” Harven said.
Once the student comes to school after missing classes for so long, Harven said, it can greatly affect the student’s motivation to continue attending class, because there’s a lot of makeup work. It can also cause students to be more disruptive in the class because they’re not really understanding what’s going on.
“They’re lost when they are in the classroom,” Harven said, “and it’s more challenging for them to engage in the classroom discourse and the activities.”
Here are the kids still most affected
Some demographics continue to have a higher rate of chronic absenteeism than the general population. Last school year, Black and Latino students in Modesto City’s high schools had the highest chronic absenteeism rates, with Black students at 37% rate and Latinos at 32%.
In Modesto City’s elementary schools that same year, Black and Pacific Islander students had the highest chronic absenteeism rates: Black students at 42%, Pacific Islanders at 38%.
In addition, students who are homeless, in foster families or have disabilities have higher rates of chronic absenteeism. In Modesto City high schools, homeless students had a rate of 73% last year, foster youth 46% and students with disabilities 43%.
“The number one thing we push is building relationships. We want the students to feel welcome at school,” said Nathan Schar, principal at Johansen High. “So, I especially remind teachers every time, if a student hasn’t been there a few weeks and they come in, be excited that they show up to class. Be excited that they’re there, and do everything you can to get them to learn.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
