Are Student Absences Worth the Worry in U.S. Primary Schools?

Gershenson, Seth; Jacknowitz, Alison; Brannegan, Andrew

doi:10.1162/edfp_a_00207

Cited by 173 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…Having done so enabled for a richer discussion as to why center-based care might be linked to achievement or socioemotional development in the first place. For instance, chronic absenteeism reduces achievement and weakens socioemotional development in kindergarten (Gershenson et al, 2014;Gottfried, 2014). As this study has shown, attending center-based prekindergarten care linked to lower chronic absenteeism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…A first attempt at reducing any omitted variable bias coming through at the school, county, or state levels was through a fixed effects strategy: the mechanics of such an approach are described in detail in Schneider, Carnoy, Kilpatrick, Schmidt, & Shavelson (2007) and in other studies on absenteeism using ECLS-K (e.g., Gershenson, Jacknowitz, & Brannegan, 2014).…”

Section: Fixed Effects Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can center-based childcare reduce the odds of early chronic absenteeism?

Gottfried

2015

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Fixed Effects Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can center-based childcare reduce the odds of early chronic absenteeism?

Gottfried

2015

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

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“…Notable exceptions include Gershenson, Jacknowitz, and Brannegan (2014), Goodman (2014), and Gottfried (2009;. 16 However, relative to these papers, we additionally control for teacher and school fixed effects.…”

Section: Absencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the effect of school days and absences on test score performance

Aucejo

Romano

2016

Economics of Education Review

157

125

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While instructional time is viewed as crucial to learning, little is known about the effectiveness of reducing absences relative to increasing the number of school days. In this regard, this paper jointly estimates the effect of absences and length of the school calendar on test score performance. Using administrative data from North Carolina public schools, we exploit a state policy that provides variation in the number of days prior to standardized testing and find substantial differences between these effects. Extending the school calendar by ten days increases math and reading test scores by only 0.8% and 0.2% of a standard deviation, respectively; a similar reduction in absences would lead to gains of 5.8% and 3% in math and reading. We perform a number of robustness checks including utilizing u data to instrument for absences, family-year fixed effects, separating excused and unexcused absences, and controlling for a contemporaneous measure of student disengagement. Our results are robust to these alternative specifications. In addition, our findings indicate considerable heterogeneity across student ability, suggesting that targeting absenteeism among low performing students could aid in narrowing current gaps in performance.

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“…The few studies that have examined the variation between reasons for being absent and student outcomes have been based on large administrative datasets which have predominantly examined the effects of authorised versus unauthorised absences (Gottfried, 2009;Hancock et al, 2013;Aucejo & Romano, 2014;Gershenson et al, 2017). However, even within these broad categories there are multiple reasons underlying both authorised absences (e.g.…”

Section: A Taxonomy Of Absencementioning

confidence: 99%

Does the reason matter? How student‐reported reasons for school absence contribute to differences in achievement outcomes among 14–15 year olds

Hancock

Gottfried

Zubrick

2018

British Educational Res J

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While an emerging body of research has examined the effects of school absences on student outcomes, there is comparatively little research examining the different reasons contributing to school absence, how common these reasons are, and the extent to which different types of absences are differentially associated with achievement. To address these gaps, we used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine the reasons for school absence as reported by 14-15 year olds and how these reasons relate to achievement outcomes in Year 9. Only 7% of 14-15 year olds indicated they had been absent in the previous six months without parental consent, of which 46% indicated the most recent absence was due to problems at school. Of the 90% of students who had been absent with parental consent, only 6% said the most recent absence was due to problems at school. After controlling for student, family and school characteristics and Year 7 achievement, Year 9 achievement was most strongly associated with absences related to student-or family-level reasons. While schools typically bear the responsibility for monitoring and responding to absenteeism, the drivers of absence may not be related to factors that schools can realistically address. For schools, addressing absenteeism requires a dual approach of preventing avoidable absences and mitigation strategies for when either avoidable or unavoidable absences occur.

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Are Student Absences Worth the Worry in U.S. Primary Schools?

Cited by 173 publications

References 47 publications

Can center-based childcare reduce the odds of early chronic absenteeism?

Can center-based childcare reduce the odds of early chronic absenteeism?

Assessing the effect of school days and absences on test score performance

Does the reason matter? How student‐reported reasons for school absence contribute to differences in achievement outcomes among 14–15 year olds

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