"My Students are Constantly Absent. That's Why I Teach the Reteach the Basics" - And Other Misconceptions

Based on my experience working in urban schools, student absenteeism is a problem.  For one, students miss out on critical lessons that often build on the previous day's lesson.  Thus, if student misses lesson 1, he/she may not understand the essentials needed for lesson 2.  So on and so forth.

I have often heard it said amongst my colleagues that they feel compelled to re-teach "the basics" over and over again because so many students were absent the first and or second time.  Consequently, the students who were present during lesson 1 learn the same material when the teacher re-teaches lesson 1 for the students who were absent the first time.  Needless to say, boredom is inevitable for those students.  This video from a Teach For American teacher in New Orleans highlights this point. 

In addition to boredom, researchers from the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) found another outcome of 're-teaching' the basics over and over again.  What they discovered is those schools have low attendance rates.

"Didactic instruction, which typically places students in a passive role, can create a deadening experience, especially when combined with a 'drill and kill' repetition of the same basic skills, over and over.  Students' choice to exit is not irrational in the face of the extreme version of this instruction found in some urban classrooms."  p. 104. 

In contrast, the researchers found that schools where students worked on ambitious and interesting projects saw substantial improvement in attendance.  Thus, re-teaching the same basic skills for absent students may be perpetuating absenteeism; it's a viscous cycle.

Which is why I encourage teachers to do some project work.

Your students will be more engaged, and, as the research suggests, they will probably attend your class more often.  Of course, some "drill and kill" is necessary, but do it once and move on to something more engaging.  If you're a science teacher, collect soil samples from the garden or the playground.  If you're an English teacher, have your students write movie scripts, film the movies, and put on a small film festival.  Your principal will thank you because you will help improve student attendance.

Bryk, A. S. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement : Lessons from chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.