(WRGB)— New data from SchoolStatus reveals a concerning decline in student attendance as they transition from elementary to middle school.
The analysis highlights that while intervention efforts in elementary schools are proving effective, with attendance peaking in the fifth grade, a significant drop occurs once students enter middle school.
Dr. Kara Stern, Education Director at SchoolStatus, explained the trend: “Fifth grade is the sweet spot for attendance. It’s where kids are showing up the most, and then it’s pretty much a downward slope. It’s like you go up on a ski lift… you get to the top and then you realize you don’t actually know how to ski and you’re going down at 1,000 miles an hour and you don’t know what to do. And that’s pretty much what the lines of absenteeism look like.”…