This brief discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student absenteeism and academic and social-emotional outcomes using panel data from California's CORE Districts. Absenteeism has a negative effect on student outcomes, with math being more affected than English language arts, and middle school students suffering more than elementary or high school students. The study also shows that absenteeism negatively impacts social-emotional development, which can have further implications for student outcomes.

This study used data from California CORE Districts to explore whether changes in students' self-reported social-emotional learning (SEL) predicted changes in academic outcomes and attendance. The findings revealed that within-student changes in SEL were positively associated with improvements in English language arts (ELA) and math achievement, as well as attendance, and were consistent across various student subgroups.