Local districts say absenteeism, behavior problems hinder academic growthOKLAHOMA CITY — As national data shows the academic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, Oklahoma districts report stubborn challenges that worsened during the global crisis.Leaders of local districts say students’ poor attendance and behavior have thrown up barriers to reaching or exceeding pre-pandemic levels of academic achievement.A national report shows the gap to pre-pandemic results widened during the 2023-24 school year, despite billions in public spending on recovery efforts.Test scores from 7.7 million U.S. students in grades 3-8 show the average student would need the equivalent of 4.8 extra months of instruction to catch up in reading and 4.4 additional months in math, according to the report from NWEA, a testing company and research center.NWEA administers standardized assessments called MAP to track students’ academic progress across the country, including in more than 100 Oklahoma school districts.The fact that federal pandemic aid will soon end only exacerbates concerns, the NWEA report states. Oklahoma schools received more than $2 billion and must spend what’s left of it by Sept. 30.“Instead of treating COVID recovery interventions as temporary crisis- mitigation tactics, we must make targeted academic supports, such as high-dosage tutoring and summer programming, a permanent part of our new normal,” the report’s authors, Karyn Lewis and Megan Kuhfeld, wrote.The full results from Oklahoma state tests taken in the spring aren’t yet available. Last year, only 27% of Oklahoma students scored at a proficient level on state tests for reading, math and science.In Lawton Public Schools, academic results haven’t recovered as quickly as the district wanted, Superintendent Kevin Hime said. The biggest barrier, he said, has been student absenteeism.“We all know attendance is one of the things that’s lagged since the pandemic,” Hime said. “It’s been harder to get kids to come to school, believe it or not.”Lawton has been working on “finding those hooks” that attract more students to school.“Makerspace” days when elementary children get to do hands-on activities in science, technology, engineering and math show strong attendance numbers, he said. Administrators even looked at the correlation between attendance rates and which meals are served in the cafeteria.The district also saw increased interest in its summer programs this year, Hime said. Instead of calling the program “summer school,” Lawton rebranded it as a “summer camp” and added more enrichment activities.Hime said he hopes better attendance, more parent engagement and “making ...
