By Laura Tavares, the executive director of the WPS Institute

Chronic absenteeism is one of the most stubborn problems plaguing U.S. schools today. It’s not just a post-pandemic issue of skipped classes and missed school days. Today’s persistent high absenteeism is a symptom of a deeper disengagement that has been brewing for years.

As much as educators and families have tried to address this challenge with incentives or punitive measures, there’s a growing consensus that the key to reducing absenteeism lies in giving students something much more powerful: a sense of ownership over their education.

For too many students, school has become something to endure rather than an experience they look forward to. Research supports what most educators can observe first hand every day: when students don’t feel that their education is relevant to their futures or connected to their own interests, they check out—physically and mentally. This challenge compounds over time. In fifth grade, 74% of children say they love school, but by eleventh grade, that number drops to just 32%. In fact, starting in sixth grade, chronic absenteeism becomes a leading indicator that a student will ultimately drop out of high school altogether.

We can’t afford to let this pattern continue. When students aren’t given a voice in their education, when they’re not asked to think critically or take initiative, they become disengaged. Too many students feel like passive participants in a one-size-fits-all system, and that sense of disempowerment breeds apathy. It also constricts students’ future opportunities. A recent Gallup survey revealed that nearly half of Generation Z feels unprepared for the future, and employers complain that young hires lack initiative, communication skills, and resilience. It’s easy to blame social media or the pandemic, but these problems run much deeper. Schools, for all their good intentions, have largely failed to give students the agency they need to thrive.

We need to move away from a one-size-fits-all model and embrace approaches that give students agency. When schools create conditions for learning that foster curiosity, initiative, and real-world learning, we can reduce chronic absenteeism and create an education system that prepares students for success—both in school and in life.

Re-Imagining School

In the spring of 2022, district leaders from Salem, Massachusetts, were confronting challenges with absenteeism and engagement in their own community, particularly at the middle school level where the chronic absenteeism rate was nearly 25%. In collaboration with our team at the WPS Institute, a non-profit devoted to helping schools and communities reimagine learning, Salem educators began to explore an important question. What if the problem isn’t with the students, but with the school experience itself?

This question launched us on a process of discovery, design, and innovation that has transformed the experience of both students and educators at Salem’s Collins Middle School. Our pilot program launched in September 2022, targeting a group of eighth graders selected by lottery to reflect the district’s diversity. Using principles from human-centered design, teachers began by engaging students in candid conversations about their every day school experiences, and taking their responses seriously—even when students described school as “boring.” Less than a quarter of students reported enjoying school overall, and only 12 percent felt that they were learning things that truly interested them.

Informed by student voices, and with support from the WPS partnership, educators were empowered to design new approaches to learning. Together, we built a model for middle school that prioritizes connection, agency, and relevance. By the end of the first year, chronic absenteeism in the pilot had been reduced by half, and we doubled the number of students who agreed that “most of the time, I love school.” These results held steady in the pilot’s second year—and pilot students also outperformed their school peers on both district assessments and state tests. Today, the approach has spread across Salem’s two middle schools, and WPS is bringing elements of the model to other Massachusetts school districts. What can others learn from one district’s successful efforts to make school something that students genuinely hate to miss?

Empowering Educators and Students Through Agency

Giving students agency doesn’t mean letting them do whatever they want or dumbing down the curriculum. Rather, it means offering students the tools to set their own goals, make decisions about how they learn, and reflect on their progress. We’ve been inspired by the work of Johnmarshall Reeve, a professor at Australian Catholic University, who has conducted studies with over two million students across 18 countries. His research shows that when students are given a chance to set goals and take charge of their learning, they not only perform better academically, but they also have better relationships with their peers and are happier overall. These students develop crucial life skills such as initiative, resilience, and the ability to solve problems.

In WPS partner programs with schools, students have regular opportunities to identify their interests, strengths, and discover pathways. Over the course of the school year, they engage with college-age near-peer mentors to explore future possibilities and build “learner profiles” reflecting their insights. We’ve also introduced design studios, hands-on projects that offer students the opportunity to practice creative problem-solving in response to open-ended challenges. In one such studio, developed in collaboration with NuVuX, students modeled deep-sea robots that could address local environmental issues, such as pollution and rising sea levels. Their learning journey took them to the New England Aquarium, where they studied biomimicry and observed how aquatic creatures interact with their environments. Building on this knowledge, students designed robot prototypes inspired by marine creatures to solve real-world challenges facing their local community.

Real-World Learning and Impact on Absenteeism 

The shift toward greater agency doesn’t just happen in the classroom; it extends to the community. Partnerships with community organizations, universities, and businesses are critical to creating learning opportunities that blur the boundaries between school and the larger world outside. By facilitating connections between schools and the broader community, we can help students see the value in what they’re learning. In Salem’s reimagined middle school, civics students don’t just read about current events or politics; they also interview civic leaders, research candidates in local elections, and present voter education materials to first-time voters at a local university. By getting out into the community and learning with local museums, environmental organizations, and civic groups, students gain a deeper connection to what they are studying and see how their education can make a tangible difference in their community and in their own lives. When students see how their education can be applied in real-world settings, they become more invested. And when they feel that their learning is relevant, they’re more likely to show up, reducing absenteeism. 

Teacher Leadership and Collaboration

None of this would be possible without teachers who are empowered to innovate and experiment. In Salem, teachers worked with community organizations, businesses, and universities to create a dynamic, flexible learning environment. Building on the district’s high quality instructional materials, they collaborated with others to create an education experience that was meaningful and engaging for students.

Teachers who feel supported and empowered to try new things are more likely to engage their students. They’re also more likely to stay in the profession. In Salem, 60% of teachers asserted that they are more likely to stay in the classroom and in their school as a result of the new middle school model. The key to creating meaningful change is collaboration—between schools, teachers, students, and the broader community. By working together, we can create an education system that values engagement, creativity, and real-world learning.

WPS Institute: Equipping Communities to Transform Learning

The WPS Institute is committed to creating connected communities, empowered learners, and unbounded futures by helping schools focus on what matters most to students: agency, curiosity, real-world relevance, and belonging. Through innovation grants, professional learning, co-design, implementation support, and facilitation of community partnerships, we’re helping schools create conditions for learning that empower students to take ownership of their education and apply their learning in ways that make a real difference in their lives and their communities. Visit our webpage to learn more about our work, and look for us at School Redesign in Action 2025 on April 8.