{"id":696068,"date":"2022-09-06T11:49:49","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T15:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&p=696068"},"modified":"2022-09-06T11:49:54","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T15:49:54","slug":"four-things-carvalho-learned-from-following-chronically-absent-students","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/four-things-carvalho-learned-from-following-chronically-absent-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Things Carvalho Learned From Following Chronically Absent Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After half of Los Angeles Unified students<\/a> were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year, superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted<\/a> in April he would personally take on 30 chronically absent students to better understand the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview earlier this month with LA School Report, Carvalho said he was able to have \u201cregular contact\u201d with 10 of the students he set out to follow, having meetings and lunches with them, and visiting their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rest of the students graduated or moved to another state \u2026 it became difficult to get a hold of them,\u201d said Carvalho, following remarks he made at an education conference last month in Orlando, Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LAUSD has suffered vast declining enrollment for years, exacerbated by the pandemic and is now trying to amp up larger efforts to get kids regularly attending school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the first day of the 2022-23 school year earlier this month, there were more than 60,000 students missing. But the 89% attendance rate<\/a> was an improvement over last September\u2019s rate of 77% on day one.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho and his team are working to personally engage with and understand students who have been chronically absent in order to curb chronic absenteeism this school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe students that I did follow \u2026 were living in conditions that were worse than we even knew,\u201d he said, adding there were sometimes drug addicted parents or undocumented students living with adults not able to provide \u201cadequate care,\u201d leaving children to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carvalho spoke about four things he learned about chronic absenteeism, declining enrollment in L.A. schools, and how to tackle absenteeism in the coming school year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Many Chronically Absent Students Do Not Have \u201cAn Adult Providing Adequate Care\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn many instances there was an adult present, but not able to provide adequate care,\u201d Carvalho explained. One of the students Carvalho followed was a senior in South Los Angeles who just came out of the juvenile justice system. The young man described his mom as \u201ca loving person, but dealing with severe addiction.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teen ended up caring for his two younger siblings as well. \u201cIn so many of these situations you see a teenager basically becoming a full-time caretaker \u2026 it\u2019s too much for them to take on,\u201d Carvalho said. \u201cIn that instance we alerted appropriate entities to make sure the kids were cared for, but we also need to ensure the mom can get the care and resources she needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another student Carvalho followed was a young woman who came to the U.S. alone and was undocumented, so she was living with an older cousin who was working and didn\u2019t have an adult looking after her, either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many cases I\u2019ve seen where kids are living with adults who are incapable of providing the care they need \u2026 we need to pinpoint these students and show them they have help and support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Chronically Absent Students Are Caring for Young Siblings, Who Often Are Not Enrolled In School Themselves<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho said he saw many high school students taking care of young siblings because parents were overwhelmed with work or had too many other responsibilities. \u201cYou have instances where teenagers are caring for siblings who aren\u2019t even enrolled in the school system yet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho said these young children who aren\u2019t enrolled in school account for some of the ten to twenty thousand students<\/a> he said were missing from school rosters this year. Carvalho describes these students as the \u201clost children of Los Angeles\u201d \u2013 those who are either not enrolled in school at all and some who have simply stopped attending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho said one chronically absent student he followed had a sibling he was trying to get enrolled for first grade. The teen explained the enrollment process as \u201ca loop\u201d he couldn\u2019t figure out how to navigate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho also said he found that many parents decided not to send their kids to prekindergarten and kindergarten last year. \u201cThose grades are where we\u2019ve seen the greatest decline in enrollment \u2026 Parents may be choosing not to send their kids to school for economic reasons, misinformation, fear \u2026 we want to build relationships with those parents who are hesitant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Students are Working Instead of Going To School<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho became close with one student he followed, a junior who lived in the valley who was working two jobs and caring for her two younger siblings. He also said he followed a student who had to take on a third job this summer in order to help his parents make ends meet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho mentioned that some high school students feel discouraged even going to school when they know they won\u2019t be able to afford college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis one woman, Nicole, that I was following ended up getting a scholarship to college. At first she was discouraged, because she still didn\u2019t think she could afford it, but we ultimately helped her get more financial aid.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicole is now attending a college in Southern California, he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want these students to feel supported by the collective weight of our system. They should feel that they are not alone in navigating their education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho also mentioned some students who come to the U.S. at 15, 16, or 17 years old may be going straight to work and never enrolling for school at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. LAUSD Will Sustain Their Efforts and Target \u201cEarly Absenteeism\u201d This Year<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since Carvalho announced his plan to personally follow 30 chronically absent students in April, he and his team have been \u201cmaking calls, knocking on doors, really doing anything we can do to get connected with these students.\u201d Carvalho said that as he hoped, his initiative to personally follow chronically absent students inspired many principals and administrators to do the same thing. \u201cWe decided to turn what was initially a symbolic move into a coherent plan in advance of this school year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Earlier this month Carvalho and his team of counselors, staffers, and volunteers knocked on the doors of students who did not regularly show up for school last year. Carvalho said he and his team plan to do this again during the coming school year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis cannot be a one and done thing. It needs to be a systemic approach where we continue to make contact \u2026 connect these students to enrichment programs and mental health resources \u2026we cannot have repeat conditions of last year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carvalho said that after the first week or two of school, administrators will target students who are already showing a pattern of absenteeism and hold another event to understand what is going on with those students and families. \u201cWe will repeat that as often as need be,\u201d he said. We\u2019re not going to give up on any child.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After half of Los Angeles Unified students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year, superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted in April he would personally take on 30 chronically absent students to better understand the issue. In an interview earlier this month with LA School Report, Carvalho said he was able to have \u201cregular contact\u201d with 10 of the students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":696076,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[190],"tags":[1340,895],"series":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/696068"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/696068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":696075,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/696068\/revisions\/696075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696068"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=696068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}