Amie Rapaport, University of Southern California – School Absences, Grades, and Mental Health

The Academic Minute

Schools have been prioritizing students’ mental health, but it hasn’t been enough.

Amie Rapaport, research scientist at the Center for Social and Economic Research at the University of Southern California, looks at what still needs to be done.

Amie Rapaport has a PhD in Social Psychology and is a Research Scientist at the University of Southern California. Recently Amie helped launch the Center for Applied Research in Education where she suports school districts, state education agencies and other organizations conduct education research to inform policy. In addition, Amie has been studying families’ educational experiences throughout, and in the wake of, the pandemic, following a nationally representative panel of households across the country since March of 2020. She currently has two teenage boys who keep her grounded in the importance of improving education for all students.

School Absences, Grades, and Mental Health

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Mental health struggles among kids today are at an all-time peak. Our study found that pre-teen boys and teen girls are struggling the most, albeit in different ways. While pre-teen boys’ struggles are more likely to manifest as fighting, hyperactivity, lying, and cheating, teen girls are more likely suffering from anxiety and depression, including physical symptoms like headaches and stomachaches.

Our latest nationally-representative survey of over 2,000 adults in the United States shows that these higher rates of mental health struggles are having real negative consequences for attendance and grades in school. We found a three-fold increase in the prevalence of red-flag scores on a mental health screener among students who had missed 10% or more of the school year, compared to those with good attendance. That is just 7% of the students with the best attendance had red-flag score on the screener, compared to 23% of those with the worst attendance. The results were similar for class grades, with many more red-flag scores among those earning Cs in school compared to those earning As and Bs.

While schools have used pandemic-recovery funds to hire more mental health staff and implement more services to students in need, it hasn’t been enough. We found that only one-third of low-income families reported mental health supports were available in their schools, yet we also found low-income families are much more likely to use those supports when they are available. Many more children would benefit from services in schools if they were offered more widely.

In the aftermath of COVID there are three major crises in schools – attendance, academic achievement, and mental health. Our study provides new evidence on the interconnectedness of these crises. Now, policymakers must support schools to address them together.

Read More:
A Nation’s Children at Risk pdf

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