Forum: COVID cast complexities behind absenteeism, outcomes

Pinpointing a root cause about declining student test scores and academic outcomes in the post-COVID era is complicated, Nevada educators said April 25.

The Carson City Chamber of Commerce’s Critical Challenges Forum’s discussed “Education in the Post-COVID Era.”

Moderator Tasha Fuson, Carson City School District’s associate superintendent of educational services, led three others in a discussion about chronic absenteeism and its impacts on national and statewide levels, all the way down to changing individual school culture itself in the process of recovery, Fuson said.

“Through COVID, we weren’t allowed to have parents in the buildings,” she said. “We were trying to keep students 6 feet apart, and I think over the course of 15 months of time, somehow we’ve changed the culture that families did not feel welcome. … So how do we reinvite our families so they can have that connectivity with us so they can see the importance of that family-school partnership and so their kids can be engaged?”

Finding ways to increase reengagement to decrease chronic absenteeism and improve student achievement takes greater community support, the panel said.

Results of Gov. Joe Lombardo’s mandated Statewide Education Audit in February resulted in several key findings pointing toward a need for more transparency in the K-12 system, Fuson said. Results showed eliminating fragmented educational oversight, maximizing spending and reintroducing literacy benchmarks outcomes would be gainful to K-12 schools. But challenges, as they relate to chronic absenteeism since the pandemic, affect student achievement, Fuson said.

Poor attendance after the pandemic has led to decreased proficiency in the classroom. Schools now closely track chronic absenteeism, defined as a student missing 10% or more of the school year.

In pre-COVID times before 2019-20, at its highest point, the state’s chronic absenteeism rate was 18.8%. During 2021-22, it doubled to 36%. Last year, in 2023-24, it reached 34.9%.

Carson City School District’s own rate, pre-COVID, was 15.3%, Fuson said. In 2020-21, it went up to 40.9%. Last year, it began on a slight downward trend to 28% and again to 25% in the fall. Most individual schools are still seeing a decline, Fuson said, thanks to proactive outreach efforts.

But Ricky Medina, director of accountability and assessment for CCSD, said there are 1,500 students within the district who still miss about one day every two weeks. At that rate, by the time they reach their sophomore year in high school, some will have missed a full year of instruction, he said.

 “It’s not just one thing. … It’s so many kids, so many things all at once,” Medina said. “And (schools) are trying to figure out what we can do to support these kiddos.”

Christy McGill, deputy superintendent for educator effectiveness and family engagement with the Nevada Department of Education, said at the national level, 60% of the urban population is experiencing chronically high rates of absenteeism.

Complicating factors include illnesses impacting children more than previous generations, including autism, mental health, diabetes or other conditions, and these can generate anxiety. The cultural shift from learning in a traditional classroom to the remote and hybrid environment and returning to the classroom again has changed home life and school operations, McGill said.

“What the pandemic taught us is that teachers can teach in a digital environment, and so they got used to that flexibility and coming back and parents are like, hey, my child has asthma … and so chronic absenteeism systems are going to have to start changing to reflect those times,” McGill said.

Nationwide, 80% of students receive mental health services from schools. The K-12 system in Nevada has to “catch up” to provide adequate programming, McGill said.

“We’re finding, as we bring those services in a multi-tiered approach, that absenteeism decreases,” McGill said. “So when they have needs met, and they have good school nurses and they have good counselors to the ratios, we find chronic absenteeism reduces.”

Jason Zona, principal of CCSD’s Pioneer Academy said staff members have had to evolve in their disciplinary process and interventions due to COVID’s impacts on student attitudes and behaviors. Although Pioneer tried offering afterschool tutoring and offering electives at various times to help students earn or make up credits, students weren’t interested in attending at later hours, he said.

“We have had to look at our suspension process,” Zona said. “Attendance problems were due to the treatment of students when they didn’t follow a rule. The way of doing business has changed critically.”

Changing demographic shifts are showing school districts where to adapt in their teaching methods for student populations. Fuson said in Carson City, 33% of its student population is made up of non-native English speakers and 17 languages representing the district, which in itself is not a challenge. Educators more frequently are encountering students not literate in their native language, with most unable to read at the third-grade level. Fuson said it’s an opportunity to view it as a positive to have the cultural diversity and help students learn in both languages, she said.

If you missed the Carson City Challenges Forum:

Mental Health: https://youtu.be/k7CSOHURKBY?si=z2KT-8K8K3LAeNH8

Housing: https://youtu.be/KnhP20kQs2g?si=xuckr53NJB-c1zXE

Education: https://youtu.be/xodR_IPAI8s?si=-PvR3NzItKvhUcpr