On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kelly James, a partner at Education First Consulting and Fordham’s 2024 Wonkathon winner, joins Mike and David to discuss how policymakers and practitioners can reduce chronic absenteeism in schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam reports on a study about the fiscal effects of states paying districts for the costs of students they no longer serve.  

Recommended content: 

• “‘Everything, everywhere, all at once’ solutions to chronic absenteeism”—Kelly James and Brad Bernatek 
• “To fix chronic absenteeism, we must ask why kids don’t want to go to school” —Leslie Colwell
• “How does teacher experience impact student absenteeism in early elementary school?” —Heena Kuwayama
• Aaron Garth Smith and Christian Barnard, “Billions: The Cost of State Hold Harmless Policies in K-12 Education,” Reason Foundation, (June 2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].