Last school year, the number of Michigan students who missed more than 10% of school days was among the highest in the nation, at nearly 30%. And the rate among Detroit students was more than double that. 

Wayne State University researchers Jeremy Singer and Sarah Lenhoff study educational equity. They believe the first step is to think of the problem differently. 

In their new book, “Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism: Why Schools Can’t Solve It Alone,” Singer and Lenhoff urge school and government leaders to focus less on what happens in schools, and more on the systemic factors that make getting to class tough for students and their families. 

Singer, a professor of teaching at Wayne State University and associate director of the Detroit Partnership for Education Equity and Research, joined The Metro to discuss the new book.

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