*All names have been changed for student anonymity and teachers have been kept anonymous.
Skipping Culture is defined as a trend of students not attending a class, excused or not, in an attempt to delay having to take a test, turn in an assignment, give a presentation etc. Inklings decided to investigate if Staples students have adopted this practice, and, if so, learn how skipping culture has affected Staples classes.
Inklings conducted an anonymous survey of students, and out of 173 responses, 49.8% admitted to having skipped a test. This finding aligns closely with results Inklings gathered from an anonymous teacher survey, in which 50% of 37 teachers reported noticing an increase in students skipping class on test days. Together, these numbers suggest that Staples may, in fact, have a culture of skipping.
Interestingly, at Staples, the pattern of skipping tests defies the usual stereotype. The survey results suggest it’s not the so-called “rule-breaking” or disengaged students missing class, but rather the high-achieving students who are skipping the most tests.
“I’m concerned because I see this most often with my high-performing seniors,” anonymous Teacher 1 said.
Responses suggest these students feel intense pressure to both excel in extracurricular activities while maintaining high grades and fear that a single low score could have lasting effects. For them, skipping a test isn’t about avoiding school, but about protecting their academic standing. Amy* a Staples Player, said that she had trouble studying during tech week and decided to skip classes to give her more time to study.
“[I was] staying after school a ton for rehearsals [tech week] which led me to have almost no time to study,” Amy* said.
Amy is not alone. Many Staples students claimed having difficulties with balancing demanding academic schedules, multiple assignments and tests each night.
“I had so much other work for classes that I didn’t have time to study enough for my test,” Alie* said. “I would rather take an absence than a bad grade on the test.”
That said, some students also admitted to more questionable motives for skipping tests.
“I wanted to find out what the test was like from classmates. If the study guide had a lot of material, then I wanted to know what to study specifically,” Henry* said.
That kind of “strategic” delay has not gone unnoticed.
“They take advantage of the chaotic makeup center and cheat. The work that they produce there is always better than what they produce in class,” Teacher 2 said.
Skipping tests for any illegitimate reasons can come with academic consequences. According to the Student Code of Conduct, in the case of an unexcused absence: “A teacher may determine if makeup work is allowed for class periods where a student has accrued an unexcused absence…Such absences will be counted towards loss of credit and make-up privileges will be forfeited.” But the Code of Conduct might also be contributing to the development of the skipping culture.
“[The code of conduct policy] is never enforced,” Teacher 3 said. “We have these problems because we are inconsistent and soft.”
Teachers claimed that the lack of specificity in the written guidelines results in variations in implementation across classes.
“[The unexcused absence policy is] cumbersome. It becomes the responsibility of the teacher to monitor each student and each absence,” Teacher 4 said.
The flexibility of this policy may confuse students due to varying procedures across classes. Inklings’ form found that 41% of teacher responders give students 2-3 days; 47% require makeups within a week; 5.6% give students the number of days they were absent; 2.8% require tests to be made up the day they come back; 2.8% give students more than a week. And overall, about 60% of teacher responders give students with unexcused absences a 0 or deduct points unless the absence is later excused. Every teacher interprets the code differently, leading to inconsistencies between classes.
Another teacher described feeling isolated in their efforts to uphold the policy.
“I am not supported when I try to do it,” Teacher 5 said.
But for those teachers who still try to uphold the policy, it requires them to use time to repeatedly check for attendance updates and patterns.
“To be honest, it is too time consuming […] to check. Students might start out unexcused, and then a parent will make a call and change it to excused later on,” Teacher 6 said.
The survey data also suggests that the teachers’ accusations of parents knowingly excusing their children from tests is not just paranoia or conjecture. Out of the 81 students who admitted to skipping tests in the survey, 55 of them (about 68%) reported that their parents knowingly do so.
“I had gotten home very late the night before, and I didn’t have it in me to study properly that night,” Frank* said. “Therefore, I went to school and just had a parent pick me up during that class period.”
The new PowerSchool feature that allows parents to excuse absences could be making it easier for students to skip, especially since only a parent’s email is needed to log in. Teachers have noticed this trend as well.
“The EX/Not excused is not genuine. As soon as the parents know that the student will not get credit, it becomes excused,” Teacher 7 said.
So, instead of trying to “catch” students skipping, some teachers have resorted to actively working to motivate students to come to class for the test. For example, Teacher 8 gives students who attend class on test day a 3% bonus.
There are also natural benefits to taking tests on time in the classroom.
“I monitor the quiz, answer myriad questions as they work and provide encouragement and reinforcement to those students who come to class,” anonymous Teacher 9 said. “Students who [skippied] have a whole extra week, per department policy, to study and prepare themselves better for an assessment can certainly wait to get it graded. That is fair,” anonymous Teacher 9 said.
Other teachers have chosen to implement severe penalties to deter students from skipping out on the regularly scheduled test days. Nine teachers who filled out our survey (24.3%) claimed to give alternate versions of exams or create more challenging makeup tests. Teachers also penalize unexcused students by deducting points, or giving them a zero.
“The grade remains a Zero unless the absence is excused” Teacher 10 said.
This possible skipping culture at Staples has had negative implications on the assessment center. The assessment center is overcrowded, leading students to be distracted and teachers working the center to get overwhelmed. A teacher who works in the assessment center reported that there is a significant number of students taking tests for math, science, foreign language and specifically APES. This teacher’s account coincides with the top classes that surveyed students reported skipping the most (math 56%, science 54%, foreign language 35%.)
The administration says it is aware of a pattern of students skipping classes and the assistant principals are actively working to find a way to streamline communication and promote transparency with attendance.
“We know it’s an issue. We know teachers have brought it up before,” Assistant Principal Christine Cincotta said. “And we want to make sure we are confronting it head on.”
With the culture of skipping tests, both students and teachers are left navigating a system that often blurs accountability which can lead to real consequences for students.
“Ultimately, this behavior is more harmful than helpful to them and their mental health,” Teacher 10 said. “But many students do not recognize the big picture.”
