Public School Teachers Absent More Often In Nashville Than In Most Other Cities

A new study finds that Nashville has the third-worst level of public teacher absences in the country. (Source: the National Council on Teacher Quality)

A new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality found that Nashville’s public school teachers missed more days than nearly any other city district in the country. On average, Nashville teachers missed 14 days during the last school year, according to the study.

The study excluded long-term consecutive absences, like long sick breaks and family leave. Still, Nashville had the third-worst rate out of 40 major school districts nationwide.

Improving teacher attendance, the study’s authors say, can be a simple way to improve student achievement.

In Nashville, more than a quarter of all public school students were “chronically absent,” which the study defines as missing at least 18 days — which is more than the district permits. According to Metro District Spokesman Joe Bass, teachers can take up to 17 days off. That’s 10 sick days, 2 personal days and five days for teacher training. He says the study’s methodology is flawed for calculating teacher training days as absences.

“I wouldn’t say [the figures] are not alarming,” Bass said. “But I have to question their definition of absence if they’re including professional development days. If there’s any good reason for a teacher to be out of a classroom, it’s for professional development. Professional development is only going to help them improve their instruction.”

Bass said if the study would have taken out professional development days, Nashville’s ranking wouldn’t have been so low.

Gera Summerford, who leads the state’s largest teacher union, says “we need to keep the number of instructional interruptions to a minimum,” while also echoing that professional training days shouldn’t have been used to capture an absenteeism number.

Yet the study’s authors wrote that no matter the reason, a teacher missing class has a meaningful impact on student outcomes.

When teachers are absent 10 days, the decrease in student achievement is equivalent to the difference between having a brand new teacher and one with two or three years more experience.

The study also found that teacher absence in Nashville was worse in classrooms where most of the students were low-income.

The authors found that Cleveland, Ohio had the worst level of teacher absence the country. And teachers in Indianapolis missed the fewest days.