Attendance recovery policy: A solution for California’s chronic absenteeism?

Since the pandemic, school districts nationwide have been struggling with lower daily attendance rates and higher rates of chronic absenteeism. While chronic absence has begun to decrease in California, it still affects at least 1 out of 5 students, and school attendance is now also being impacted in many communities by immigration raids. The attendance crisis is taking a toll on California school districts because school funding is based on average daily attendance, not enrollment. In 2023-24, for example, the Oakland Unified School District lost about $90 in average daily attendance funding for each absent student. With average daily attendance at 90%, Oakland Unified lost about $55 million to student absences, no small amount for a district in financial distress. This challenge exists in districts across the state. 

In July, California’s new attendance recovery policy came into effect. This approach allows school districts to recoup lost attendance dollars and learning time by providing extra classes for absent students during non-school hours. If implemented effectively, this policy could provide much-needed financial support while reengaging students and motivating them to learn. 

If poorly implemented, the recovery policy could undermine the strength of the existing expanded learning system and reduce student engagement by making students with poor attendance feel stigmatized or even punished, while providing activities that don’t inspire participation. 

Beyond the financial effects, absenteeism carries significant academic and developmental costs. Students miss subject-matter learning and the social-emotional growth and support that come from interacting with peers and adults in school. Chronically absent students — missing 10% or more of the school year — are more likely to struggle academically and become disengaged from the learning process and the school community. When multiple students are chronically absent, the “churn” of students in and out of the class means teachers are constantly having to repeat material, hampering everyone’s  academic and social development.

Among other rules of the new attendance recovery policy, learning sessions must be taught by credentialed teachers and include instruction that is substantially equivalent to the school day, using standards-aligned content, as defined by the district. The policy encourages partnership with expanded learning, allowing the use of funding from the recently increased $4.5 billion Expanded Learning Opportunities Program that every California district serving TK-6th grade students receives. If districts use this funding to implement the attendance recovery policy, participating students must have access to all the activities funded by the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, and districts must follow all the requirements for Expanded Learning Opportunities Program implementation. 

If well implemented, the attendance recovery policy will result in academic supports that are seamlessly integrated into the existing expanded learning structure, creating greater alignment between teaching and learning during and after the regular school day. 

In this best-case scenario, credentialed teachers partner with their school’s expanded learning program to engage students with attendance challenges in interesting, interactive activities that fill in gaps or expand on learning they may have missed during the regular school day. 

In addition to classes with credentialed teachers, the targeted students join the full array of expanded learning activities — for example, arts, sciences, sports — that research shows motivate children to learn and attend school. School day staff and expanded learning partners would work together to design the program so that students experience consistently positive learning environments across the school and expanded learning hours. 

On the other hand, this opportunity could be squandered. 

In a worst-case scenario, districts ignore their existing expanded learning program and create a parallel attendance recovery program that competes with expanded learning and does little to motivate students. Rather than leveraging the resources, expertise and infrastructure of their expanded learning partners, districts in this scenario set up separate attendance recovery classes in non-school hours that stigmatize students with poor attendance and duplicate the administrative functions that expanded learning programs already do. 

Some districts are planning this approach, including using worksheets designed for Covid-era independent learning. 

Districts can avoid this worst-case scenario. They can prioritize strong partnerships with their expanded learning providers, co-design engaging attendance recovery activities, and build these into the existing expanded learning infrastructure. 

To some, this might feel like extra work, but as one principal recently explained, “The principal’s job is impossible. The more you lean into your expanded learning partnership, the better the program will run. This means less work troubleshooting and more time to focus on kids.” Let’s choose to focus on kids.

•••

Jessica Gunderson is co-CEO of the Partnership for Children & Youth, an organization working to expand learning opportunities for children.
Hedy Chang is executive director of Attendance Works, an organization working to reduce absenteeism in schools.
Katie Brackenridge is a consultant with the Glen Price Group.  

The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the authors. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.