Chronic absentee rate for Arizona students remains far above pre-pandemic level, study finds

PHOENIX — A new report found one-third of Arizona public grade school students were chronically absent from school, which is double the absence rate before the pandemic.

The Helios Education Foundation’s “Still Missing Too Much School” report looked into data on previous absence rates from the 2022-23 school year and found that about 30% of first through eighth grade students were chronically absent. Chronic absence is defined in Arizona as missing more than 10% of a school year, which adds up to about 18 days at a single school.

There was an improvement from the 34% chronic absenteeism rate in the 2021-22 school year, but it was still higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Additional data in the report tracked absences for students that moved schools, which was referred to as “alternative definition.” Students who attended one or more schools in a single school year were considered “mobile.”

“Chronic absenteeism rates in Arizona remain high and it’s leading to inequalities in educational outcomes,” Helios Vice President of Community Impact and Learning Paul Perrault said.

The report looked at specific student populations:

• In grades one through eight, 39% to 55% of mobile students were chronically absent
• Native American, Alaskan Native, African American and Hispanic Latino students on average had higher rates of chronic absenteeism
• Low-income students had higher rates of chronic absenteeism
• English language learners had higher rates of chronic absenteeism, particularly those who started fifth grade in the 2018-19 school year

Students who started fifth grade in 2020 had a higher rate of chronic absenteeism when they reached ninth grade compared to other classes.

“They are missing school at much higher rates than they were before the pandemic, that’s really leading to poor academic outcome impacts in places like mathematics and English,” Perrault said.

Students who struggled to get to school in earlier grades had higher rates of absences when reaching high school. Not only do high absence rates affect academic performance, but it also diminished campus culture and the teacher’s relationship with a class.

“Teachers already have a hard schedule, think about then having to revise assignments for multiple students who might now be in multiple chapters or multiple units,” Perrault said.

How one school district dealt with chronic absences

The Murphy Elementary School District in Phoenix had issues with students being chronically absent. During the pandemic the district had a 50% chronic absence rate. The district is now closer to 25% of students being chronically absent, according to District Superintendent Nathan Dettmar.

“School attendance is really more of a family issue or topic. A kindergarten or first grade student… it’s less of their decision if they’re going to make it to school or not and it deals more with the family,” Dettmar said in the report.

The district educated families on the importance of ensuring their kids go to school and focused on the relationships between the schools and families.

The pandemic instilled a sense in the community that missing school had a minor impact because of changes to learning at that time, but the data found there is a link between academic performance and being in school.

“If students are not there, they obviously can’t learn,” Dettmar said in the report.

Why are students chronically absent from school?

If students aren’t in the classroom, then where are they? The data showed that students from minority communities faced more obstacles and burdens getting to school.

“Sometimes they’re (students) helping and working jobs. Some of those students might be helping babysit younger brothers and sisters, and then some of them you do have to wonder — are they out getting in trouble?” Perrault said.

Hispanic households in the Murphy district can be multi-generational, which could lead to health concerns for families sending their children to school, according to Dettmar.

The district has had success in reducing chronic absenteeism rates by building relationships with the community, but there is plenty of room to improve.

“A lot of it is probably rooted in that, that family dynamic…the close-knit families within the Latino community, when one is out, many are out,” Dettmar said.

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