Introduction to the Study
Students in Illinois are still missing more school than they were before the pandemic and, for elementary school students, the number of days absent is impacting their learning even more than it did before COVID-19, according to a study released Tuesday. Senior researcher Mariana Barragán Torres said she and her colleagues thought the opposite would be true — that online lessons, refined and normalized during the pandemic, would make in-person attendance in school less tied to how well students learn.
Findings of the Research
But Torres’ Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative, or iWERC, found that in-person learning has become even more important. In fact, test scores decline each additional day students are absent from school, especially in math. iWerc is a private-public institution that provides data analysis for the state’s policy and education leaders. Torres said the findings are especially important in this moment when many schools are reporting that students are staying home, scared by increased federal immigration enforcement.
Impact on Student Performance
Before the pandemic, Black and Latino students, as well as children from low-income families, had higher absenteeism rates than other groups. That got worse during the pandemic, “highlighting a double disadvantage for these groups of students,” according to the study. Torres noted that researchers looked at school-level data over time, so they saw the effects of increased absenteeism on individual students. Elementary students particularly struggle in math when they are absent. The study found that every additional day a third-grader was absent in 2023, their average score on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness standardized exam decreased by -.31 points. In 2019, test scores went down by -.24 points. The discrepancy continued through eighth grade.
Comparison of Subjects
Math scores for elementary school students in Illinois have not rebounded as much as English Language Arts scores. The study shows that continued increased absenteeism might be the reason. For high school students, the story is a little different. Absenteeism skyrocketed by an average of more than five days in ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Test scores were negatively affected, but they weren’t worse than before the pandemic. In Chicago Public Schools, almost half of high school students missed more than 20 days of school in 2024, and they scored an average of less than 500 on either the math or English Language Arts portions of the SAT.
Conclusion
The study underscores the importance of in-person attendance for students’ academic performance, particularly in math. The findings suggest that policies aimed at creating a safe and supportive learning environment could help mitigate the negative effects of absenteeism. As schools and policymakers consider strategies to support students, they must prioritize efforts to reduce absenteeism and promote regular attendance.
FAQs
- Q: What was the main finding of the study regarding in-person attendance and test scores?
A: The study found that in-person attendance is tied to higher test scores, with each additional day of absence leading to a decline in test scores, especially in math. - Q: Which group of students was most affected by absenteeism?
A: Elementary school students, particularly in math, were most affected by absenteeism, with a greater decline in test scores compared to before the pandemic. - Q: Did the study find any difference in the impact of absenteeism on high school students?
A: Yes, the study found that while absenteeism increased significantly for high school students, the impact on their test scores was not worse than before the pandemic. - Q: What is the implication of the study’s findings for schools and policymakers?
A: The study suggests that creating policies to promote a safe and supportive learning environment could help reduce absenteeism and improve academic performance, particularly in math.
