“Bueller . . . . Bueller . . . . Bueller
. . .”
Most of us are familiar with the classic “roll call” scene from Ferris
Bueller’s Day Off, but did you ever stop to think what would have happened if
Ben Stein’s teacher character had taken the day off, too?
Talking about teacher attendance
feels a little like bringing up religion at the Thanksgiving table- it’s a
sensitive topic that people have opinions about. Teachers have a job unlike
most and more often than not, they work long past the scheduled hours of the
typical school day. Of course they need a day off from time to time. But
bringing up teacher attendance may mean implying that some teachers are absent
more than what is acceptable; and that is a conversation that unnerves even the
most stalwart teacher quality advocates.
Given that teacher attendance
directly impacts student achievement, shouldn’t this be a topic policy,
district and school leaders talk about? We think so.
Today, NCTQ released its first
study on this topic, Roll call:
The importance of teacher attendance. Using data from the 2012-2013 school year, we examined teacher
attendance rates for over 230,000 teachers in 40 districts across the country.
Some districts stood out above
the crowd, while others are clearly behind the curve. Overall, teacher
attendance was a mixed bag for the districts in our study – teachers were in
their classrooms vast majority of the time, but groups of frequently and
chronically absent teachers that exist in every district unquestionably merit
attention.
It’s clear this is an area where all school districts
should roll up their sleeves and get to work. It may be uncomfortable to talk
about, but the fact remains: teacher attendance matters. After all, no matter
how much effort we pour into increasing teacher quality, it won’t matter much
if teachers aren’t in their classrooms.
