Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now on Colorado's Morning News, state education leaders grappling
with the latest report on school attendance, which shows a
more than a half of percent increase in students who
are chronically absent. Joining us now in the KA Common
Spirit Health Hotline, Colorado Commissioner of Educations, who's on a
court of a commissioner, We appreciate you coming on with
us this morning before we dive a little bit into
the data. What do you make of the latest data
(00:20):
in your initial thoughts on.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
The report, you know, I think we're really disappointed that
we didn't see a larger number of students attending school
on a regular basis. The results are pretty flat. But
you know, we know that after the pandemic, behavior patterns
around school attendance really changed and we really have to
(00:43):
get back to the place where kids are in school
every day.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
What is the main reason for kids that miss school?
Can you point to one issue as to why there
is this issue?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, I'll talk a little bit about where we're seeing
some bright spots. You know, I think post pandemic, particularly
at the early grades, where school attendance depends on parents,
Parents who are keeping kids home for lots of different
reasons including, you know, the messaging if you're even a
little bit sick, stay home. And we're starting to see
(01:14):
kinder first second grade participate in school on a daily
basis in a better way. So that's good news, but
you know, the reasons really are incredibly diverse. In secondary,
I think it's kids who are disengaged when school is boring,
where they don't feel like they have a reason to participate.
We also saw really large increase in the number of
(01:37):
Hispanic students who were chronically absent, and we need to
dig into that data more to understand what happened.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I was going to ask about the different student groups
and populations. So are we seeing trends differently for the
you know, the K through six kids or middle school
kids in high school kids? And then a little follow
up to that, I've heard for years that especially when
you're older, that a lot of times they're absent because
of lack of sleep. And there's been talk about starting
school later for the older kids or is that a
(02:07):
possible solution at least at that end. Sure.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, so when we look at the trends, it looks
sort of like a big u Our best attendance tends
to be in the upper elementary grades. We tend to
see higher rates of absences for our littlest kids kinder
first second, and then it jumps up high again in
(02:31):
high school where you know, sometimes I think kids, you know,
it might be kids who are working and sleep in late.
We have definitely seen many many school districts change their
schedules so that high school starts later. There's a ton
of research around the teenage body clock and starting school later.
It can be a real help in doing that. But
(02:53):
we also, I think need to look at like how
do we make school engaging. We know that when kids
are motivated by what they learned, and particularly opportunities to
learn work based learning applications, that they're much more motivated
to be in school.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
At what point is there a number or data that
shows that it impacts the learning piece if young people
are chronically absent, is it four or five, six times
twice a week or however that works. We're like, that
really is impacting the learning.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, So we consider chronically absent kids who miss ten
percent or more of the school year, and that is
just two days a week typically, and so it may
not seem like a lot, it's not every week necessarily,
but when you think about it, you know, if you
miss once or twice a month or more, you're missing
(03:45):
big parts of the school of your school experience. And
for a lot of our school districts, they have longer
school days but only four day school weeks. If you
miss one of those days, it's like missing a day
and a half almost, And so we know it's really
important that we get back to the expectation that kids
are in school every day.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And am I right to understand this commissioner that attendance
it's tied to funding for schools, right. I know a
lot of schools encourage the kids to have butts and
seats because it's part of the funding mechanism. Is that
still the case.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, So we fund our schools based on an October
count and so when kids are in school in October,
there's a specific timeframe when we're counting whether they're here.
Colored is not a state. Some states actually take attendance
every day and count every day, and you have to
do what they call it true up for the number
of days the kids are enrolled versus the number of
(04:38):
days they attend. Colorado doesn't actually do that, and so
it's really we need kids in school because that's how
kids learn. And I think with technology, with jobs, with sleep, like,
all of these things can be real barriers. You know,
kids maybe became more introverted after the pandemic, more associated
(05:04):
with their devices, and feel less confident going into school.
We really need to work on all the things that
get in the way of kids regularly attending school.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And final question the solutions based as I know you
try to be. You talked about having kids more engaged,
maybe more engaged classes, teaching instruction, But what else are
you all trying to do to address this issue?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah, So in addition to like looking at the research
and working with national experts, we really try to work
with the folks right here in Colorado who are getting
great improvements in their attendance. And when we talk with
schools that get higher attendance, they really talk about a
few things. One is they really work on relationships and
(05:48):
want to make sure that kids are seen, known, and
cared about when they're in school. When kids are absent,
they have a very focused approach to following up. And
I think particularly with our you know, teenagers. We just
talked with a high school leader yesterday who talked about
(06:09):
their lunchtime group with kids who are missing school, and
you know what they do to re engage with kids
to make sure that they're following up. They check the data,
they check in with kids, they check in with parents.
We have a school district that has worked with their
their community partners, and rather than thinking about referring kids
(06:31):
to attendance court, they have a council that works on
like your kid is chronically absent, what's the problem? Is it? Transportation?
Is it that they're working? You know, what is it?
And how can community partners help with some of those challenges?
And so I think it really is you know, goes
back to like it takes a village, Like we all
need to be in on it. We all need to
(06:51):
be helping kids. We all need to make sure that
parents know the importance of being in school every day.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And I know economics and funding are important. So I
go to ask this question. It's a little bit answerer
to what we're talking about. But with the big budget shortfall,
and I know the governor trying to find ways to
do it, I think he said he won't touch education,
But are you concerned there may be cuts coming to
what you all do.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well, you know, we're always concerned whenever those tight budget
environment because you know, for so long, schools really took
the brunt of our budget struggles and so, you know,
having eliminated the budget stabilization factor a couple of sessions ago,
I really appreciate the governor and the legislature making the
(07:30):
commitment to lead K twelve off the table and making
these cuts. We're doing our part at the department and
tightening our belt, you know, and you know in districts,
I think everybody tries to make sure they've got a
lean overhead to push as much funding directly to the
classroom as possible, and we're going to need to continue
to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Colorado Commissioner of Education SU's on a court of a
thank you so much, Thanks so much,
Right now on Colorado's Morning News, state education leaders grappling
with the latest report on school attendance, which shows a
more than a half of percent increase in students who
are chronically absent. Joining us now in the KA Common
Spirit Health Hotline, Colorado Commissioner of Educations, who's on a
court of a commissioner, We appreciate you coming on with
us this morning before we dive a little bit into
the data. What do you make of the latest data
(00:20):
in your initial thoughts on.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
The report, you know, I think we're really disappointed that
we didn't see a larger number of students attending school
on a regular basis. The results are pretty flat. But
you know, we know that after the pandemic, behavior patterns
around school attendance really changed and we really have to
(00:43):
get back to the place where kids are in school
every day.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
What is the main reason for kids that miss school?
Can you point to one issue as to why there
is this issue?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, I'll talk a little bit about where we're seeing
some bright spots. You know, I think post pandemic, particularly
at the early grades, where school attendance depends on parents,
Parents who are keeping kids home for lots of different
reasons including, you know, the messaging if you're even a
little bit sick, stay home. And we're starting to see
(01:14):
kinder first second grade participate in school on a daily
basis in a better way. So that's good news, but
you know, the reasons really are incredibly diverse. In secondary,
I think it's kids who are disengaged when school is boring,
where they don't feel like they have a reason to participate.
We also saw really large increase in the number of
(01:37):
Hispanic students who were chronically absent, and we need to
dig into that data more to understand what happened.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I was going to ask about the different student groups
and populations. So are we seeing trends differently for the
you know, the K through six kids or middle school
kids in high school kids? And then a little follow
up to that, I've heard for years that especially when
you're older, that a lot of times they're absent because
of lack of sleep. And there's been talk about starting
school later for the older kids or is that a
(02:07):
possible solution at least at that end. Sure.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, so when we look at the trends, it looks
sort of like a big u Our best attendance tends
to be in the upper elementary grades. We tend to
see higher rates of absences for our littlest kids kinder
first second, and then it jumps up high again in
(02:31):
high school where you know, sometimes I think kids, you know,
it might be kids who are working and sleep in late.
We have definitely seen many many school districts change their
schedules so that high school starts later. There's a ton
of research around the teenage body clock and starting school later.
It can be a real help in doing that. But
(02:53):
we also, I think need to look at like how
do we make school engaging. We know that when kids
are motivated by what they learned, and particularly opportunities to
learn work based learning applications, that they're much more motivated
to be in school.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
At what point is there a number or data that
shows that it impacts the learning piece if young people
are chronically absent, is it four or five, six times
twice a week or however that works. We're like, that
really is impacting the learning.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, So we consider chronically absent kids who miss ten
percent or more of the school year, and that is
just two days a week typically, and so it may
not seem like a lot, it's not every week necessarily,
but when you think about it, you know, if you
miss once or twice a month or more, you're missing
(03:45):
big parts of the school of your school experience. And
for a lot of our school districts, they have longer
school days but only four day school weeks. If you
miss one of those days, it's like missing a day
and a half almost, And so we know it's really
important that we get back to the expectation that kids
are in school every day.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And am I right to understand this commissioner that attendance
it's tied to funding for schools, right. I know a
lot of schools encourage the kids to have butts and
seats because it's part of the funding mechanism. Is that
still the case.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, So we fund our schools based on an October
count and so when kids are in school in October,
there's a specific timeframe when we're counting whether they're here.
Colored is not a state. Some states actually take attendance
every day and count every day, and you have to
do what they call it true up for the number
of days the kids are enrolled versus the number of
(04:38):
days they attend. Colorado doesn't actually do that, and so
it's really we need kids in school because that's how
kids learn. And I think with technology, with jobs, with sleep, like,
all of these things can be real barriers. You know,
kids maybe became more introverted after the pandemic, more associated
(05:04):
with their devices, and feel less confident going into school.
We really need to work on all the things that
get in the way of kids regularly attending school.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
And final question the solutions based as I know you
try to be. You talked about having kids more engaged,
maybe more engaged classes, teaching instruction, But what else are
you all trying to do to address this issue?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah, So in addition to like looking at the research
and working with national experts, we really try to work
with the folks right here in Colorado who are getting
great improvements in their attendance. And when we talk with
schools that get higher attendance, they really talk about a
few things. One is they really work on relationships and
(05:48):
want to make sure that kids are seen, known, and
cared about when they're in school. When kids are absent,
they have a very focused approach to following up. And
I think particularly with our you know, teenagers. We just
talked with a high school leader yesterday who talked about
(06:09):
their lunchtime group with kids who are missing school, and
you know what they do to re engage with kids
to make sure that they're following up. They check the data,
they check in with kids, they check in with parents.
We have a school district that has worked with their
their community partners, and rather than thinking about referring kids
(06:31):
to attendance court, they have a council that works on
like your kid is chronically absent, what's the problem? Is it? Transportation?
Is it that they're working? You know, what is it?
And how can community partners help with some of those challenges?
And so I think it really is you know, goes
back to like it takes a village, Like we all
need to be in on it. We all need to
(06:51):
be helping kids. We all need to make sure that
parents know the importance of being in school every day.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And I know economics and funding are important. So I
go to ask this question. It's a little bit answerer
to what we're talking about. But with the big budget shortfall,
and I know the governor trying to find ways to
do it, I think he said he won't touch education,
But are you concerned there may be cuts coming to
what you all do.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well, you know, we're always concerned whenever those tight budget
environment because you know, for so long, schools really took
the brunt of our budget struggles and so, you know,
having eliminated the budget stabilization factor a couple of sessions ago,
I really appreciate the governor and the legislature making the
(07:30):
commitment to lead K twelve off the table and making
these cuts. We're doing our part at the department and
tightening our belt, you know, and you know in districts,
I think everybody tries to make sure they've got a
lean overhead to push as much funding directly to the
classroom as possible, and we're going to need to continue
to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Colorado Commissioner of Education SU's on a court of a
thank you so much, Thanks so much,
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