Thomas B. Fordham Institute
7.1.2024

This year’s Wonkathon is over, and the results are in!

2024’s Wisest Wonks:

Second place:

Third place:

Thank you to all of our participants! Read about the competition, as well as all eleven entries, below.

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The pandemic exacerbated America’s student absenteeism and engagement crisis, which continues today, plaguing schools, frustrating teachers, and harming the education of millions. Much has been tried, but little has worked. Leaders seems to be at a loss. What should they do?

Students are considered chronically absent when they miss at least 10 percent of the school year, which usually means about eighteen days. Before the pandemic, approximately 15 percent of K–12 students exceeded that bar. Yet during the last school year, 26 percent were chronically absent across forty states and D.C., according to data compiled by Nat Malkus of the American Enterprise Institute. We see rises in absenteeism rates almost everywhere—in high-, middle-, and low-income districts; in locales where pandemic closure were long, moderate, or short; in small, medium, and large systems; and in areas that are majority white and non-white.

School systems and charter networks have experimented with many different interventions to mitigate the problem. Connecticut, for example, used federal Covid-19 relief dollars to develop a home-visit program. A Detroit school paired home visits with adult mentors for students. New Mexico requires its districts to craft attendance plans with interventions tailored to the students’ situations. Santa Fe hired attendance coaches and offered students incentives to return to classrooms. Maine and New Jersey have created attendance teams tasked with analyzing data and finding solutions. There’s been much talk about making school more engaging, building relationships with parents, and clarifying guidance about when sick children should and shouldn’t stay home.

Absenteeism rates, however, have barely budged. New Mexico’s was 41 percent in 2022 and 40 percent in 2023. Connecticut’s remained twice as high in 2023 as it was pre-pandemic. In Santa Fe, more than half the students remain chronically absent.

New solutions are surely in order. And that’s what we’re focusing on for this year’s Wonkathon: How can policymakers and practitioners radically reduce chronic absenteeism—at least below pre-pandemic levels and preferably much further? While the following questions are only suggestive, creative responses to them may provide some of the direction and answers that state, local, and school leaders need.

  1. We’re especially interested in outside-the-box solutions. Is it time for more tough love—either for parents or students? Alternatively, should some schools and systems offer new learning models that don't require students and teachers to attend class in person every day? What else?
  2. Reasons for absence vary. Attendance Works says they fall into four categories: barriers, like transportation, illness, or home and food insecurity; aversion to school, caused by things like academic and behavioral challenges; disengagement, wherein a kid, for instance, finds instruction to be boring or irrelevant; and misconceptions about the purpose of attendance and the harm caused by absences. How does this complexity affect solutions? Are some reasons more important that others? Harder to solve?
  3. To what extent might schools’ lax policies around discipline, phone use, and grading be to blame?
  4. The youngest children are often absent the most. What particular strategies do we need to get them back in school?
  5. At the other end of the K–12 spectrum, high schoolers often skip a lot of school. What strategies would work for them? Should schools do more to hold those students accountable, such as by failing students who miss too much class? Should some of those older students be considered dropouts?

Particularly strong submissions will include data showing that the suggested interventions are promising.

WHAT’S A WONKATHON?

For ten years now, we at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute have hosted an annual Wonkathon on our Flypaper blog to generate substantive conversation around key issues in education reform. Last year’s forum focused how we can harness the power but mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence in our schools.

As in years past, we’ll encourage our audience to vote for the “wisest wonk,” an honor previously conferred on such luminaries as Alex Spurrier, Amy Chen Kulesa, Keri Ingraham, Angela Jerabek, Abby Javurek, Jessica Shopoff, Chase Eskelsen, McKenzie Snow, Claire Voorhees, Adam Peshek, Patricia Levesque, Christy Wolfe, Seth Rau, and Joe Siedlecki,

If you’re keen to jump in—and we hope you are—please let us know and indicate when we can expect your draft. We will publish submissions on a rolling basis, so send yours as soon as it’s practical for you, but no later than Monday, July 22. Aim for between 800 and 1200 words. Send your essay to Brandon Wright, Fordham’s Editorial Director, at [email protected], as soon as it’s ready. And please be sure to answer the fundamental question: How can policymakers and practitioners radically reduce chronic absenteeism—at least below pre-pandemic levels and preferably much further?

Let Brandon know if you have any questions. Otherwise, may the wisest wonk win!

THIS YEAR'S SUBMISSIONS:

Thomas B. Fordham Institute