First Person: Lamenting Earl — and other chronically absent students

Abstract

When Amber Northern was a beginning teacher 30 years ago, one of her students, Earl, was in 9th-grade English for the third time. He only came to class once or twice a week and intended to quit school, with his father’s permission, once he turned 17. Northern delves into the research on chronic absenteeism and considers which, if any, evidence-based interventions might have been helpful for Earl. She finds that three strategies of the five she considered passed the test.