An increasing number of American Indian/Native Alaskan (AI/NA) students were considered chronically absent since the pandemic, 47 percent in the 2021–22 academic year compared to 30 percent in 2017–18. WestEd’s recent brief, “Missing More Than School: Reducing Chronic Absence for American Indian and Alaska Native Students,” explores the issue and offer strategies for improvement.
Research has shown that students who are chronically absent, defined as missing 10 percent of school days for any reason, can experience adverse academic and health outcomes.
Making up just 1 percent of the nation’s K-12 population, only Pacific Islander students had a higher rate of chronic absence in 2021–22, at 48 percent. White and Asian students had the lowest rates at 24 percent and 15 percent, respectively. “More than half of AI/NA students attend a school where they are fewer than 10 percent of the student population,” according to the brief.
In 2022–23 in California, 36 percent of Native students were chronically absent compared to 20 percent of their white peers.
Causes of chronic absence
To find effective solutions, the root causes of chronic absenteeism among these students must be identified. The brief sorted common reasons for chronic absence into four categories: barriers, aversion, disengagement and misconceptions.
“When large numbers of students are affected by chronic absenteeism, it often indicates systemic challenges in the community and in schools that are beyond a student’s or family’s control,” according to the brief. “These challenges may include barriers such as lack of access to health care, unreliable transportation, unstable housing, lack of safe paths to school, and community violence. Moreover, factors within the school environment, such as an unwelcoming school climate, biased disciplinary or attendance practices, the lack of a meaningful and culturally relevant curriculum, bullying, and undiagnosed learning disabilities, can also contribute to chronic absenteeism.”
The pandemic exacerbated many of these factors for American Indian/Native Alaskan students — that is on top of the long-term impact of historical events, like American Indian boarding schools, that caused generational distrust and already contributed to challenges with regular attendance.
Strategies for improvement
Input from families, tribal leaders and community-based organizations can help determine more locally what barriers exist as well as what kinds of initiatives could motive change.
“When you are working with AI/AN families and community leaders, it is important to make sure that your communication approach is effective. Each Native nation is distinct. Cultural practices and communication preferences differ,” the report states. “This resource from the Office of the Tribal Advisor in California offers helpful considerations for developing approaches that foster and sustain meaningful engagement.”
The brief covers three strategies that have been proven to improve attendance, including:
- Investing in positive learning conditions
- Engaging in culturally appropriate universal Tier 1 supports
- Partnering with tribal governments to remove barriers
“The high rates of chronic absence among AI/AN students require a robust, coordinated, and tiered response from the organizations that serve them. What proves effective for AI/AN students are many of the same things that work for all students: positive conditions for learning that make students want to come to school, strong Tier 1 strategies that encourage regular attendance, and Tier 2 early interventions and Tier 3 intensive interventions that remove barriers that prevent students from coming to school,” the brief concludes. “By adapting these strategies to build on the assets and rich cultural contexts of AI/AN students, communities increase their chance of successfully reengaging AI/AN students in school.”
