The 74 Million – Phyllis W. Jordan
“The spread of coronavirus, the need for social distancing and the shuttering of schools in more than 30 states leads inevitably to the matter of school attendance. Given that many of the same states closing schools are holding schools accountable for student absenteeism, will the fast-moving virus wreak havoc on this important metric? The U.S. Education Department is already offering an out, raising the possibility of one-year waivers that would allow states to exclude the indicator from their 2019-20 accountability rubrics. Currently, 36 states and the District of Columbia use some definition of chronic absenteeism in assessing schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act.” (more)