North Carolina
Online assignments aren’t a cure for rising absenteeism in NC schools, researchers say
Missing too much school will hurt a student’s test scores, no matter the school — and even in an era of online learning, when some assignments can be completed from home, researchers say after examining North Carolina data.
Access to online assignments could only be having a marginal effect on academic outcomes, said Ethan Hutt, a University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill researcher who co-authored a recent study on absenteeism.
Researchers pursued the study amid worsening attendance rates that have school leaders, policymakers and education experts around the country concerned. They say it’s part of a cultural shift in attitudes about the necessity of daily school attendance, sparked during the Covid-19 pandemic, when students learned mostly remotely and relied on access to assignments in online student portals or, in some cases, through paper packet delivery.
“We’re seeing basically a 65% increase in chronic absence rates,” said Hutt, an associate professor in UNC’s School of Education. “We’re seeing really, really large numbers of absences.”
About one-quarter of North Carolina students were chronically absent during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, down from about one-third during the 2021-22 school year, according to state data. That means they missed at least 10% or more of school days. Before the pandemic, less than 16% of North Carolina students were chronically absent.
The study, published by the free-market think tank American Enterprise Institute, looked at absences and performance during the 2018-19 and 2022-23 school years in Maryland and North Carolina, at the student level. Scholars David Blazar, of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Seth Gerhenson, of American University, also co-authored the study.
Previous studies have linked chronic absenteeism and poor academic performance, and researchers wanted to see if and how the pandemic changed any of those realities. They found only that the academic consequences of chronic absenteeism are only slightly less severe — about 10% — than they were before, a phenomenon Hutt attributed to the increased availability of course materials online and other technology that can help students.
“Parents shouldn’t think, ‘Oh, well, the stuff is online. My student can catch up.’ You’re going to see the accumulative effect of these absences on student test scores,” Hutt said.
Hutt described the low attendance of students as a “cultural shift.” Low attendance in school is not merely a lingering effect of the pandemic, with high absences among students who had once attended school remotely, he said, because absenteeism is up even among kindergarteners.
Absences had a bigger impact on math scores than reading scores, researchers found. That was more true in North Carolina than in Maryland; in North Carolina, the impact on math was far worse and the impact on reading was much less.
The findings were consistent across urban, suburban and rural schools. That means the risk of worse academic performance exists for any student, regardless of the school they attend, Hutt said. Effects will be worse on lower-income schools, where attendance rates are often worse, he said.
Education leaders and policymakers should think about ways to communicate the consequences of poor attendance but also ways to help students get to school, Hutt said. For example, thinking about how a student in a rural area can get to school if they’ve missed their bus or working with organizations in communities with attendance struggles. Schools should figure out why students are missing school and put resources toward helping them get there, he said.
“This is a place where we will see a return on our investment,” Hutt said. “We know that if a student is there in school, they’re going to do better than if they’re not.”
Schools started many efforts to address attendance issues during and immediately after the pandemic, using one-time federal pandemic stimulus dollars. It’s unclear how many of those efforts remain, one year after the deadline to spend those dollars.
Some school officials told WRAL News last year they’d ramped up rewards for attendance and also punishments for failing to attend. Some districts are even referring more families to court to be held accountable for their children’s absences.
North Carolina
NC Foundation at center of I-Team Troubleshooter investigation could face contempt charge
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — New details in an I-Team investigation into a Durham foundation accused of not paying its employees.
The North Carolina Department of Labor filed a motion in court to try to force the Courtney Jordan Foundation, CJF America, to provide the pay records after the state agency received more than 30 complaints from former employees about not getting paid.
The ABC11 I-Team first told you about CJF and its problems paying employees in July. The foundation ran summer camps in Durham and Raleigh, and at the time, more than a dozen workers said they didn’t get paid, or they got paychecks that bounced. ABC11 also talked to The Chicken Hut, which didn’t get paid for providing meals to CJF Durham’s summer camps, but after Troubleshooter Diane Wilson’s involvement, The Chicken Hut did get paid.
The NC DOL launched their investigation, and according to this motion filed with the courts, since June thirty one former employees of CJF filed complaints with the agency involving pay issues. Court documents state that, despite repeated attempts from the wage and hour bureau requesting pay-related documents from CJF, and specifically Kristen Picot, the registered agent of CJF, CJF failed to comply.
According to this motion, in October, an investigator with NC DOL was contacted by Picot, and she requested that the Wage and Hour Bureau provide a letter stating that CJF was cooperating with the investigation and that repayment efforts were underway by CJF. Despite several extensions, the motion says Picot repeatedly exhibited a pattern of failing to comply with the Department of Labor’s investigation. The motion even references an ITEAM story on CJFand criminal charges filed against its executives.
The NC DOL has requested that if CJF and Picot fail to produce the requested documentation related to the agency’s investigation, the employer be held in civil contempt for failure to comply. Wilson asked the NC Department of Labor for further comment, and they said, “The motion to compel speaks for itself. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
ABC11 Troubleshooter reached out to Picot and CJF America, but no one has responded. At Picot’s last court appearance on criminal charges she faces for worthless checks, she had no comment then.
Out of all the CJF employees we heard from, only one says he has received partial payment.
Copyright © 2026 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Kate Barr is a Democrat.
But when voters in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District open their ballots in the March primary they’ll find an “R” next to her name.
She is literally a RINO or Republican In Name Only.
Barr considers herself a Democrat but said she’s running as a Republican to make a point about gerrymandering.
“Fundamentally… I hate gerrymandering. That is pretty much my core motivation for everything I do in politics,” Barr told Spectrum News 1.
The district, west of Charlotte, is solidly Republican.
The current congressman won by 16 points last election.
Barr said it speaks to just how gerrymandered North Carolina is. State Republican lawmakers recently approved a congressional map that favors Republicans in 11 of the state’s 14 congressional districts.
That’s in a state that only voted for President Donald Trump by three points in 2024 and elected a Democrat for governor.
“When the North Carolina state legislature passed the new congressional maps that further gerrymandered this state it became clear there has to be a political price for this behavior,” Barr said.
This is not the first unusual campaign for Barr.
In 2024 she ran as a Democrat in a district that heavily favored Republicans. The focus again was to draw attention to gerrymandering.
Her motto was “Kate Barr can’t win.”
She did not win, losing by 30 points.
But Barr was encouraged by some of the results she saw and in November launched her campaign for Congress.
This time she decided to run as a Republican.
She’s hoping that gives her an edge because in North Carolina voters not registered with either major party, known as unaffiliated, are the largest voting block in the state, and can participate in the Democrat or Republican primaries.
“Voters understand that the way to have a say is to choose which primary is actually going to elect their leader and vote in that primary,” Barr said. “I can absolutely win in this one… because primary turnout is so low it just doesn’t take that many people showing up and saying we’ve had enough to unseat an incumbent.”
Barr faces former North Carolina Speaker of the House and incumbent Republican congressman Tim Moore. His campaign told Spectrum News 1 that “Kate Barr’s latest stunt is an insult to Republican voters. Folks know a far-left fraud when they see one, and she doesn’t belong in our primary.”
Whether she wins or not, Barr hopes to encourage a fix to gerrymandering, an issue that’s front and center in North Carolina and around the country.
“Gerrymandering is wrong no matter which party is doing it, and we need to put an end to it. Period,” Barr said. “The goal, end result, is to have an independent commission in every state made up of citizens.”
Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.
POLK COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Two people are dead after a truck ran off the road in Polk County, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.
HIGHWAY PATROL SEEKS PUBLIC’S HELP IN FATAL HIT-AND-RUN THAT CLAIMED LIFE OF LEICESTER MAN
Highway patrol says the fatal collision occurred at approximately 12:55 p.m. when an F-150 was traveling east on North Carolina 108 near Farm Lane.
The truck ran off the road and struck a tree, catching fire and being consumed by the flames.
According to the Highway Patrol, the driver and passenger were trapped in the vehicle and died as a result of the collision and the fire.
UPDATE: MULTI-CAR CRASH ON ASHEVILLE BRIDGE NOW CLEARED
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (2)
Highway Patrol says it is working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to identify the deceased.
‘Stranger Things’ is over, but did they get the ending right? : Pop Culture Happy Hour
Power bank feature creep is out of control
After Maduro, Venezuela power vacuum exposes brutal insiders and enforcers
Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu
Common pain relievers may raise heart disease and stroke risk, doctors warn
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu
EU Commission examines childlike sexual images created by Musk’s AI
Lawmakers split over Maduro’s seizure. And, CDC cuts childhood vaccine schedule
Federal officials to halt more than $10B in funding to 5 states over non-citizen benefit concerns: report
US critics and allies condemn Maduro’s abduction at UN Security Council
-
World1 week agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
Indianapolis, IN1 week agoIndianapolis Colts playoffs: Updated elimination scenario, AFC standings, playoff picture for Week 17
-
News1 week agoFor those who help the poor, 2025 goes down as a year of chaos
-
World1 week agoPodcast: The 2025 EU-US relationship explained simply
-
Business1 week agoInstacart ends AI pricing test that charged shoppers different prices for the same items
-
Business1 week agoApple, Google and others tell some foreign employees to avoid traveling out of the country
-
Technology1 week agoChatGPT’s GPT-5.2 is here, and it feels rushed
-
Politics1 week ago‘Unlucky’ Honduran woman arrested after allegedly running red light and crashing into ICE vehicle