PRiME In the News: PRiME’s Dr. Courtney Vahle discusses Missouri absenteeism

In April, PRiME’s Director of Operations, Dr. Courtney Vahle, sat down with KOMU 8 and Fox23 NOW to discuss chronic absenteeism and her corresponding co-authored report, Empty Desks: An Analysis of Chronic Absenteeism in Missouri Schools (co-authored with PRiME affiliate researcher, Dr. Margaret Powers).

[From KOMU 8] "The high number of chronically absent students is eye-opening, and parents and policymakers alike should take notice," said Dr. Courtney Vahle, co-author of the report. "There’s a direct correlation between chronic absenteeism and student outcomes."

[From FOX23 NOW] Vahle says that even though this is a statewide issue she believes the reasoning is district specific, not a one reason fits all cases.

“It really needs to be done on a school-by-school basis, analyze who’s missing, why they’re missing. I don’t think that reasoning is going to look the exact same in any school district” says Vahle. “It's happening in more than 91% of districts. It’s a statewide problem, 499 districts in the state have experienced a rise in absenteeism post covid.”

Click the buttons below to find the full stories from KOMU 8 and FOX 23, and click here to find the Empty Desks Report.

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