Public schools have an absenteeism problem. Esports and architecture are helping.
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Jackie Valley Staff writer
| Las Vegas
To get U.S. students back in class, educators have tried everything. They鈥檝e visited homes, improved bus routes, increased mentoring, and even dangled cash rewards.
Enter the Nintendo Switch. Eports classes are an example of another tactic schools are deploying in a bid to reduce chronic absenteeism. They鈥檙e offering unique courses or programs that engage students.
鈥淭he way to get kids to show up isn鈥檛 going to be through social studies,鈥� says Robert Fusato, who teaches esports and ukulele classes at Maui Waena Intermediate School in Hawaii. 鈥淚f we can hook them through things they鈥檙e interested in 鈥� and they can build confidence and become skilled at something 鈥� they鈥檒l hang around for the other things.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
As schools combat chronic absenteeism, one solution gaining traction is offering elective courses that are too interesting to skip. The result is a better attitude toward school 鈥� and toward the rest of the subjects in it.
For the past few years, educators across the nation have been searching for ways to boost student attendance. Chronic absenteeism 鈥� generally defined as a student missing 10% or more of the school year 鈥� surged during the pandemic. Nearly 1 in 3 students fit that description. Since then, the percentage of chronically absent students has gradually fallen in most places after intentional reduction strategies. But the work is unfinished, and tapping into students鈥� interest appears to help.
Experts say doing so can breed motivation and provide a greater sense of belonging, both of which make school a place students want to be.
鈥淥ne of the things [schools] can definitely do is simply attend to their core functions,鈥� says Thomas Dee, a professor in Stanford University鈥檚 Graduate School of Education, who has studied chronic absenteeism. 鈥淥ffering high-quality, engaging courses encourages students to show up 鈥� gives them a reason to post up in the classroom.鈥�
That鈥檚 exactly how the esports class came to be at Maui Waena Intermediate School. A boy in the popular esports club quipped that he was only showing up to school because of afternoon matches. That student鈥檚 offhand remark correlated with his attendance record, Mr. Fusato says. That sparked the idea of upgrading the club to an elective course several years ago. Since then, school leaders say it has provided academic dividends that extend beyond students鈥� competitive gaming skills.
The 1,030-student school has seen attendance trending in a positive direction since the 2020-2021 academic year, when 32% of students were chronically absent. Last year, that rate fell to 22%. Are the unique elective courses helping? Principal Jacquelyn McCandless believes so.
鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 just for a fraction of kids, they all make a difference in my book,鈥� she says.
Several thousand miles away, student-made models representing different architectural styles line a table in a North Las Vegas high school. There鈥檚 a Victorian home, a contemporary Sydney Opera House, and a White House replica showcasing federal design.
The project keeps students like Jair Alba, a junior at Northeast Career and Technical Academy, locked in on school. The teen says he rarely misses a day at his magnet school.
鈥淟earning things like scaling, like CAD [computer-aided design], building hands-on models 鈥� all those things interest me,鈥� he says during a Design Drafting II class.
Denise Burton, who teaches the course, says students attend class and even come again after school to work on their projects. She suspects their motivation stems from them forming a school-to-career connection, which is at the very core of what Northeast Career and Technical Academy is trying to do.
鈥淭hey bought in,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are here for a purpose.鈥�
That鈥檚 the type of atmosphere Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, would like more schools to embrace. Interesting electives 鈥� whether it be a themed English class or a specialty art course 鈥� can help with engagement, but she urges educators to take a deeper look at why students are snubbing school.
A Voices of Gen Z study, conducted by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, found across all measures this year compared with 2023. Despite the gains, large shares of students continue to report dismal engagement. Four in 10 students say school doesn鈥檛 challenge them in a good way, while another third say they don鈥檛 feel like they have learned anything interesting in the prior seven days.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e sending a message,鈥� says Ms. Lake. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e saying school is not relevant to them.鈥�
So what鈥檚 the key to relevancy?
At Northeast Career and Technical Academy, Principal Ryan Cordia believes the answer lies in giving students a why and a how. The why is a career pathway, chosen by the student, that blends their passions and abilities. The how is a mastery-based learning model that allows students to move at their own pace and build confidence and work ethic along the way. The high schoolers also receive emotional intelligence instruction and career coaching.
As of early October, the magnet school 鈥� located in a minority-majority city outside of Las Vegas 鈥� had a roughly 6% chronic absenteeism rate, down from 11% at the same time last year, Dr. Cordia says.
鈥淲hen they have a why, they never stop working,鈥� he says of this generation. 鈥淭hey crowdsource and they work relentlessly toward whatever their passion is.鈥�
Ozzie Patton, a junior and aspiring youth minister, describes engagement as a two-way street.
鈥淭he school motivates me a lot, and I feel like I need to give back to my school,鈥� he says, explaining his desire to attend class. 鈥淚t gives me a lot of, like, opportunity.鈥�
Dr. Dee has also seen relevancy play out in his research related to ethnic studies classes offered in San Francisco public schools. At the select high school piloting the program more than a decade ago, the ninth graders who took the ethnic studies class showed improved grade point averages and attendance, which Dr. Dee suspects may be a result of the 鈥渋ntellectually stimulating and psychologically warm鈥� course environment.
California went on to pass an ethnic studies mandate for high school graduation. But without state funding, it has not gone into effect. And Dr. Dee cautions against a rapid scale-up without building teacher capacity for such a course.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e asking teachers to go in the classroom and discuss some of the most difficult and painful aspects of U.S. history and contemporary society,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f a teacher is not well prepared to do that, you can easily see it go sideways.鈥�
Better engagement can also help build social bonds. Hedy Chang, executive director of the nonprofit Attendance Works, points to emerging research from聽the UChicago Consortium, which shows middle school students鈥� absenteeism rates are strongly influenced by peer relationships and school connectedness in the wake of the pandemic. In other words, friendships matter now more than ever.
In Hawaii, Mr. Fusato has seen this firsthand in his esports classes. Some of his students struggled socially and were not musically or athletically inclined. Esports gives them another option, he says, and the class is more than just playing video games.
The curriculum combines gaming strategy with career exploration and soft skills such as teamwork and communication. One day students might be learning about coding in relation to video games, he says. The next day, they could be organizing an esports tournament.
鈥淓sports is a lot of communication and working together,鈥� Mr. Fusato says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to build their friend network a little bit.鈥�
