(TNND) — Chronic absenteeism remains a big problem for American students, a new report from RAND researchers shows.

And chronic absenteeism remains more common now than it was before the pandemic upended school life a few years back.

The RAND researchers estimated that around 22% of K-12 students nationally were chronically absent last school year.

Pulling from another source, that’s down from about 28% of students chronically missing school at the peak of the problem, in the 2021-22 school year.

But chronic absenteeism is still up considerably from the typical 15% range before the pandemic.

“It's happening in our rural schools and our suburban schools and our urban schools,” said Michael Gottfried, an expert on chronic absenteeism and truancy. “It's happening from state to state, from coast to coast. It's something that tons of different community members and stakeholders are concerned about, and for good reason. Kids are still missing a lot of school across the country.”

Gottfried, a professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and an applied economist by training, was not involved in the RAND study.

But this is a topic he’s studied plenty.

Chronic absenteeism, which is defined as missing 10% of school, or roughly three weeks of the year, hurts kids in a number of ways, Gottfried said.

“It is hurting kid growth. It's hurting kids’ test scores. It's hurting kids’ trajectories in school,” he said.

Students who miss a lot of school might not feel as engaged.

And the more time they miss, the harder it is to catch up on lessons.

But Gottfried said the “absenteeism ecosystem” also hurts teachers and other school officials.

Teacher morale suffers if they see empty desks all the time.

Their job enjoyment takes a hit if they’re spending time calling parents instead of teaching their subject.

And that matters when a lot of school districts are struggling to keep teachers in the classroom, Gottfried said.

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The RAND estimations pull from national surveys conducted with school districts between March and May of this year.

And the researchers supplemented the survey data with interviews of some school district leaders.

Nearly half of urban districts reported extreme levels of chronic absenteeism, meaning that 30% or more of students in urban districts were chronically absent.

Urban districts were roughly five to six times more likely to report extreme chronic absenteeism than rural and suburban districts, according to RAND.

The new report also pulled from student surveys, which found that around a quarter of students don’t see chronic absenteeism as a problem.

Kids whose parents obtained a high school degree or less were most likely to view missing school as OK.

RAND said sickness was by far the most common reason kids missed school.

In the survey of students, 67% said they had missed school due to an illness.

No other reason, from anxiety to oversleeping, topped 10%.

Gottfried said parents might be more willing to keep sick kids home following the pandemic.

“We've all become more accommodating to that, but I also think schools have become more accommodating,” he said.

That can be for better and for worse, he said.

No one wants a sick kid making other students ill.

“And maybe that's good, but maybe it's also been overcorrected,” Gottfried said.

Parents and students might benefit from clearer guidance on when it’s OK to come to school when a student is feeling under the weather.

“And making it feel like we want you here as much as possible,” he added.

Technology has the potential to facilitate chronic absenteeism if students feel like they can get just as much out of an online lesson on their school-issued Chromebook, Gottfried said.

But Gottfried said students who skip class miss out on critical parts of the lesson.

And Gottfried said work-from-home parents might be more willing to let their child stay home.

But Gottfried said students who go to school regularly will have a better chance to perform well on tests, build relationships with friends and teachers, and get into college.

“Think of all the things your kids will gain by being in school,” he said.