Teacher Tea
Teacher Burnout: The Hidden Cost of Student Absenteeism
To what degree are teachers responsible for countering the negative effects of student absences? And how are teachers themselves affected by them?
Reporter Daniel Mollenkamp discusses the impact of student absenteeism on teacher job satisfaction in “When Students Miss School, Teachers Enjoy Their Jobs Less,” for EdSurge. According to Mollenkamp, a recent study found that teachers with higher rates of absent students experience lower job satisfaction. This is due to the increased workload of remediating absent students, the demoralization of seeing students disengaged, and the feeling of being held responsible for student attendance. Mollenkamp suggests that addressing student absenteeism requires not only getting students back to class but also providing support to teachers, through tutoring and instructional assistance, to help them manage the challenges of teaching absent students.
Absenteeism directly impacts student learning and achievement. Absences can lead to missed instruction and falling behind in coursework in the long run. Moreover, chronic absenteeism can negatively affect students' social and emotional development, so their overall well-being is truly at stake.