The Peacock Award is a plush toy that has become a source of pride for the students at Kaiulani Elementary School in Honolulu. It’s also one tool principal Bebi Davis and her vice principal Jane Toyama are using to combat chronic absenteeism. At lunchtime, Davis and Toyama present the award to classrooms that have the best attendance as a way to incentivize students to come to school at a time when far too many of them aren’t showing up.
Davis is one of many principals leading creative approaches to tackling America’s chronic absenteeism crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years, the percentage of K-12 students who were chronically absent—defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days—nearly doubled. While rates decreased slightly in 2022-23, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
If you’re not in the classroom getting direct instruction, it’s hard to understand and learn critical concepts that help you progress through the grades.
“If you’re not in the classroom getting direct instruction, it’s hard to understand and learn critical concepts that help you progress through the grades,” says Rachel Vigil, principal of Manzano High School in Albuquerque, NM, of the impact absenteeism can have on learning.
Vigil said that following virtual learning during the pandemic, it was difficult to reintegrate students back into in-person classes. Through student meetings and data collected from counselors, Vigil learned some of the challenges that were keeping students out of school. These included loss of motivation, lack of academic confidence, social and emotional challenges like anxiety and depression, and lack of stable housing.
Davis added that reasons she’s seen for student absences include lack of transportation and sibling childcare responsibilities.
Attendance Works, a nonprofit focused on reducing chronic absenteeism, has culled the main reasons students miss school into four categories:
- Barriers to attendance
- Aversion to school
- Disengagement from school
- Misconceptions about the impact of absences
Davis knows that while there may be common root causes of absenteeism, those vary from student to student and require personalized conversations to address a student’s individual challenges. For example, she recently spoke with a brother and sister who were regularly late and, instead of scolding them for being tardy, thanked them for showing up and asked why they were late. The sister wanted her brother to make her breakfast, the brother explained. Davis took this opportunity to offer suggestions for how they could arrive at school on time and still have breakfast, such as enjoying the school-provided breakfast or waking up a little earlier.
But remember every child is important. They’re not just data points.
Tracking Every Student
Principals know that data is a critical part of understanding and analyzing any education problem as well as measuring the success of solutions. This data may be quantitative, such as attendance rates, but they may also be qualitative, such as insights from teachers and counselors. Vigil is collaborating on this data analysis with The GRAD Partnership, a coalition that helps schools establish “student success systems.” These systems help organize the school community to better support students.
Leading this work at Manzano High is a student-success systems coordinator whose team runs weekly reports; collaborates closely with students, teachers, and families; and analyzes data and insights to develop supports that get students back in school.
“We dig deep into the data to find the story it’s telling us,” says Vigil.
Davis says she kicked her elementary school’s data collection into high gear at the end of the last school year. Her team downloaded all the attendance data they had for every student, then created individual trackers for each child. Now, as soon as a child starts missing school, a teacher calls their parent or guardian to find out why. They supplement these phone calls with letters home and, if necessary, home visits.
“Build and sustain systems,” Davis says. “But remember every child is important. They’re not just data points. Know their names, visit their families.”
Principals Have the Bird’s Eye View
The influence a principal can have at their school was recently found to be even bigger than previously thought. A study of 20 years of research found that effective principals have a significant impact on student academic outcomes, teacher retention—and reduced absenteeism. The study found that students are 4 percentage points less likely to be chronically absent in a school with an above-average principal. Additionally, the impact of principals on chronic absenteeism is even larger in urban schools and schools with high concentrations of student poverty.
“The principal puts together the system,” says Vigil of how she views the principal’s role in addressing chronic absenteeism. “They have the bird’s eye view and are able to see the good work that is happening in isolation.”
Davis sees relationship-building as a crucial part of the principal’s role.
“Build relationships with everyone,” she urges her fellow principals. “Students, parents, staff—build that culture and value around attendance.”
The principal puts together the system. They have the bird’s eye view and are able to see the good work that is happening in isolation.
She takes the time to welcome students and their families in the mornings with the goal of creating a friendly environment that kids and parents alike want to be a part of. She is also working with the local school district to host parents at her school’s library on a monthly basis to improve communications and build a network together.
Davis’s engagement with families doesn’t stop on school property. She also meets families where they are: at local churches, apartment complexes, and food banks. She and her team hang flyers promoting the importance of school attendance and talk to families to build relationships and understand how they might support them in getting their kids to school.
“Parents are dealing with a lot,” Vigil agrees about the need to support families. “A lot of them are in survival mode.”
Her school builds relationships and trust with families by offering a hub of community support. They have held classes in financial literacy and GED. They offer cover letter and resume workshops for parents, and provide other resources to help families find or regain stability. Vigil says they never want students and their parents to feel judged for absenteeism, but rather supported in getting back on track.
Supporting the School’s Fearless Leader
Principals may be the visionaries and leaders of this village, but they need support too. District leaders in Vigil’s district created professional learning communities, or PLCs, so schools can learn from each other about what’s working when it comes to addressing this common challenge.
Partnerships with national organizations like The Grad Partnership coalition bring together school leaders, researchers, and other experts who can work together towards solutions that can be scaled and adapted across the country.
And celebrating every win—small or large—also helps sustain these efforts. Both Vigil and Davis have seen progress at their schools: Last year, Manzano High School saw their chronic absenteeism rates decrease by nearly 15 percentage points. Kaiulani Elementary School had a 20 percent chronic absenteeism rate for the most recent quarter, an improvement from 52 percent on average last school year.
Beyond the numbers, the principals are buoyed by each and every student they see walking in their building’s doors.
“The campus is coming alive,” Vigil says of the improvement in attendance. “At lunch, you’re seeing groups of kids, kids playing volleyball or hackeysack. These little signs of life, they’re telling signs that we’re getting better…we’re happy about that.”
