According to a study published this week by Attendance Works.
Forty-four of the 46 states that participated in the survey said they now require schools to take daily attendance for in-person instruction. That’s an increase from the 31 states that required it last year, when many schools were either remote or operated under a hybrid model.
Regarding distance learning, 39 states currently require attendance during long-term distance learning, and 41 require it for short-term distance learning for students who are quarantined. at home.
According to the report, nearly all students have suffered from absenteeism during the pandemic, but black, Latino and low-income students have tended to miss more schools and fall further behind academically.
“States have an important role to play in how schools and districts collect attendance and chronic absence data,” said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works. “A well-designed state policy that requires taking daily attendance and monitoring chronic absences is essential. Efforts to support students’ recovery from the challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic are unlikely to have the desired results unless children and young people are present at school to benefit from the programming offered.
