Student absenteeism surged during and after the pandemic, harming engagement and achievement. We evaluate the impact of Washington DC’s High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) Initiative—designed to mitigate learning loss through targeted academic supports—on student absenteeism. Using daily attendance data and a within-student fixed effects design, we find that students were 1.2 percentage points less likely to be absent on days they were scheduled for tutoring, a 7.0% reduction. Bundling key features of high-impact tutoring, such as in-school delivery, smaller tutor–student ratios, and increased frequency of sessions, further amplify the effect. These results highlight HIT’s potential to boost engagement while promoting equitable access to supportive learning environments.
Lee et al. (Thu,) studied this question.