US education crisis deepens: the number of ‘chronically absent’ students rose by 6.5 million after the pandemic – nearly HALF of schoolkids are AWOL in Alaska and New Mexico

The number of chronically absent schoolkids jumped by 6.5 million from before the pandemic to the 2021-22 year, says a study on how COVID lockdowns hurt classroom attendance.

More than a quarter of students missed at least 10 percent of the 2021-22 school year, making them chronically absent, Stanford University research shows. Before the pandemic, only 15 percent of students missed that much school.

In the worst-affected states of Alaska and New Mexico, nearly half of students are missing a tenth of their classes, according to an eight-page study that shows poor and minority kids are the worst affected.

Education professor Thomas Dee’s research further fuels fears of a national education crisis. Shuttered classrooms during the pandemic have already seen literacy and numeracy rates collapse.

‘The long-term consequences of disengaging from school are devastating,’ said Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit focussed on absenteeism.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12397433/US-education-crisis-deepens-number-chronically-absent-students-rose-6-5-million-pandemic-nearly-HALF-schoolkids-AWOL-Alaska-New-Mexico.html