The Attendance Solution Schools May Be Overlooking: Civic Engagement

Across California, educators continue working to address one of the most persistent challenges facing schools today: chronic absenteeism.

School districts have invested significant time and resources into attendance campaigns, family outreach, wellness initiatives, transportation solutions, and student support services. These efforts have helped improve attendance since the height of the pandemic, yet many schools continue searching for strategies that address a deeper question:

Why do some students feel disconnected from school in the first place?

The answer may be more complex than transportation barriers, illness, or scheduling conflicts. Increasingly, educators and researchers are recognizing that student engagement, belonging, and purpose play a critical role in whether students consistently attend school.

What if one of the most promising attendance solutions is already sitting inside our classrooms?

What if civic engagement is not only preparing students for citizenship but also helping them find meaningful reasons to show up each day?

The Challenge Behind the Numbers

California schools have made progress in recovering from the attendance crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, but significant challenges remain. According to California education data, chronic absenteeism reached approximately 30 percent of students during the 2021-22 school year. While statewide rates have improved, nearly one in five California students still experiences chronic absenteeism today.

Educators know these numbers represent more than missed instructional minutes. Chronic absenteeism often signals that students feel disconnected from school, their peers, or their learning experiences.

The challenge for schools is not simply getting students through the front doors.

It is helping students feel that what happens inside those doors matters.

Research from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University has found strong connections between positive school climate, student belonging, and civic engagement. Students who feel connected to their schools are more likely to develop confidence, participate in their communities, and remain engaged in learning.

In other words, attendance is often connected to purpose.

Learning That Matters

One of the most effective ways to increase purpose is through meaningful, real-world learning.

Civic engagement provides students with opportunities to identify community issues, conduct research, analyze data, collaborate with community partners, evaluate multiple perspectives, and develop solutions to problems that affect the places where they live.

Rather than completing assignments solely for a grade, students apply academic skills to authentic community challenges. A mathematics lesson might involve analyzing homelessness data or water usage trends. An English class might develop public awareness campaigns. Science students might investigate environmental concerns affecting local habitats. Government students might present recommendations to local leaders. The learning becomes relevant because it extends beyond the classroom. Students begin to see how their education connects directly to the communities they care about.

From Student Voice to Student Ownership

One of the most powerful outcomes of civic engagement is student ownership.

When students are given opportunities to investigate issues that affect their lives, they become invested in the outcome. Instead of asking, "Why do I need to learn this?" students begin asking, "How can I use this to help solve a problem?"

That shift matters.

Students who feel ownership over their work are more likely to participate, collaborate, and engage. They develop a stronger sense of belonging because they see themselves as contributors rather than passive learners.

Attendance is not simply about being physically present.

It is about believing there is a reason to be there.

Real Examples from Fresno County

Across Fresno County, students participating in civic learning projects are demonstrating what meaningful engagement can look like.

At Sanger West High School, students worked with community partners to revitalize Del Rey Park. Through research, planning, collaboration, and implementation, students transformed concerns about a local community space into meaningful action. Their work included park improvements, beautification efforts, and public engagement. The project required students to develop skills in communication, planning, teamwork, and problem-solving while creating a visible impact within their community.

At Hoover High School, students partnered with local organizations to address environmental stewardship and wildlife conservation issues. Through research and community partnerships, students explored ways to educate others about local environmental challenges and solutions.

In both cases, students were not simply learning about civic engagement.

They were practicing it.

Educators involved in civic-based learning often report that students who may not thrive in traditional classroom settings become leaders when given opportunities to tackle real-world problems. Students who are quiet during lectures become confident presenters. Students who struggle to connect with coursework become passionate advocates for issues they care about.

The project becomes bigger than the grade.

Hoover High School Students working on the Light Pollution Project

The State Seal of Civic Engagement

California's State Seal of Civic Engagement offers another example of how civic learning can strengthen student engagement. The Seal recognizes students who demonstrate civic knowledge, skills, character, and participation through meaningful engagement with their communities.

To earn the Seal, students investigate community issues, consider multiple perspectives, collaborate with others, and take informed action to address real challenges.

The process encourages students to see themselves as active participants in democracy rather than future participants.

For many students, earning the Seal becomes more than an academic achievement. It becomes evidence that their voice matters and that they have the ability to make a positive impact.

Civic Engagement as an Attendance Strategy

The most effective attendance strategies do more than bring students to school—they give students a reason to be there.

Schools will continue to need strong family partnerships, mental health resources, academic support systems, and targeted attendance interventions. However, civic learning offers something many traditional attendance strategies cannot.

It gives students purpose.

When students see how their learning connects to their communities, when they work alongside local organizations, when they have opportunities to solve real problems, and when they believe their voices matter, school becomes more than a place they are required to attend.

It becomes a place where they can contribute.

As educators across California continue searching for ways to improve attendance and strengthen student engagement, civic learning deserves a place in the conversation.

Civic engagement may not appear as a standalone indicator on the California School Dashboard, but it directly supports many of the outcomes schools are working hard to improve: student connectedness, belonging, engagement, leadership, and ultimately attendance.

Sometimes the best way to get students to show up is to help them discover that they have the power to make a difference.

And few things are more engaging than knowing your work matters.

Tammy Eggert is Program Director for Civic Education Center, where she works with educators and students across California to support civic learning, civic engagement, and implementation of the California State Seal of Civic Engagement