Since the pandemic, the number of students missing classes has increased. more than a quarter of students were “chronically absent,” meaning they missed 10% or more of their classes, during the 2021-2022 school year. This was a significant increase from the 15 percent of students who missed this many classes before the pandemic.
In fact, absenteeism has become a high-profile issue nationally, and was addressed by the White House in May. and, bipartisan coalition They quickly agreed that cutting absenteeism in half should be a “top priority” for America’s schools. Of particular concern are the impact on students’ grades if they miss class and salient issues such as student behavior. For example, the White House accused absenteeism About the plummeting reading and math scores of students in this country.
But the rise in students missing class has another potential effect. It means that teachers no longer enjoy their jobs. At least, that’s what a new study claims.
The core of education is teaching and helping children grow and develop, and anything that takes teachers away from that purpose will make them dissatisfied, said co-investigator Michael Gottfried, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. says. Author of the study.
For researchers, that means absenteeism could make the teacher shortage even worse.
shortage of personnel
This latest study was published in the journal Education Researcher in November of this year.Do teachers with absentee students experience lower job satisfaction?” claim to be the first to examine the association between whether students attend school and how satisfied teachers are with their jobs. The study, using U.S. Department of Education data on 2,370 kindergarten teachers in public and private schools across the country, found that teachers’ job satisfaction tended to decline as the percentage of students absent from the classroom increased. It turns out.
Previous research by one of the authors has shown that missed classes can negatively impact how teachers view absent students, leading them to view absent students as lacking social skills and having low academic ability. It has been shown that
With schools facing staffing shortages, it’s no surprise that the addition of new challenges can make teachers feel even more grateful and insurmountable.
For public sector education jobs, employment recovery from the COVID-19 crisis has been slow. Economic data shows that only occurred through October 2023 using federal relief funds Economic Policy Research Institute analysis. However, the institute says these public schools are still unable to meet the demand for teachers, and filling teaching positions is proving difficult, especially in public schools with high poverty levels. Additionally, with the increased complexity of post-pandemic classrooms, the amount of stress teachers feel has skyrocketed.
But one of the authors says the new report isn’t just about burnout. The study found that teachers of all experience levels experience lower job satisfaction when students are absent.
It also has a negative impact on morale.
Gottfried said that since students returned from the pandemic, teachers have had to spend time remediating disengaged students. It’s not something that’s true,” he added.
Other well-known causes of teacher shortages include low pay, burnout, and feeling unsupported. So how does this “job dissatisfaction” rank with other problems with the teaching profession, such as low pay? “I’m telling you, there are days when half the class doesn’t show up. It’s very depressing,” Gottfried says. Poor pay and stressful working conditions are top reasons for teacher dissatisfaction, Gottfried argues, but so is absenteeism. In his view, that drives teachers away, further contributing to the shortage.
But what about supporting teachers too?
When people think about the teacher shortage, Gottfried said, people don’t think enough about why teachers want to quit their jobs. That means the focus of many absenteeism efforts is on getting students back in class, Gottfried said. Many responsibilities seem to fall on teachers, like contacting families and sending homework packets home, but what happens once students return to the classroom?
Teachers feel highly responsible for absenteeism, and some policies focused on reducing absenteeism make teachers feel like they are being watched and held accountable for students’ non-attendance. They can feel burdened, Gottfried said.
Instead, he argues, scaffolding to support teachers, such as after-school tutoring, can help students return to class more easily. In addition, the pressure on teachers may be alleviated to some extent by providing more instructional support. “We are looking at ways to support students who are truant, not only by having truant officers enforce discipline and helping with responses such as “you weren’t here,” but also by We can bring in other staff,” Gottfried said.
