October 7th, 2012
12:42 PM ET
Schools battle chronic absenteeism
(CNN) - Millions of students are chronically absent. CNN's Athena Jones looks at what schools are doing to increase attendance.
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This is a very inspiring video. It's wonderful to see the things this school is doing to reduce absenteeism. I would just add that making sure teachers are welcoming, and the curriculum is one that draws students in also helps. For example, when I taught high school English I had a classroom full of books, and allowed the students to choose most of their own reading. When students find books that illuminated their own lives, they are much more likely to want to come to class. And they become much better readers, and so are able to do better in all of their classes. http://teachloveofreading.blogspot.com/