The Grade‐Level and Cumulative Outcomes of Absenteeism

Abstract

Nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 (n = 14,370) were used to examine the grade‐level and cumulative outcomes of school absenteeism between kindergarten and fifth grade for students’ school performance in the United States. Students who were more frequently absent in any year of elementary school demonstrated lower academic, executive function, and socioemotional outcomes. Although there was little variation in the magnitude of associations across grade levels, there was evidence of cumulative associations. Specifically, students who were consistently absent throughout elementary school tended to have lower outcomes across developmental domains in the long‐term. The negative links between absenteeism and outcomes were larger for Black than White students, but few other subgroup differences emerged.

Functional impairment guidelines for school attendance problems in youth: Recommendations for caseness in the modern era.

“…With respect to development , impairment definitions for SAPs likely need to be specific to grade sets relevant to preschool and elementary, middle, and high school (Ansari & Gottfried, 2021; Benner & Wang, 2014). School attendance carries several challenges unique to different age groups, such as initial exposure to school routines and rules (preschool, kindergarten), widely expanded social and academic demands (middle school), and readiness preparation for adulthood (high school; Christenson et al, 2012).…”

“…School attendance is associated with many positive aspects of functioning such as academic achievement, physical and mental health, and social connectedness (Allison et al, 2019). Conversely, SAPs are associated with many negative aspects of functioning such as academic failure, impaired socioemotional development, mental health and substance use problems, school disengagement, school dropout, and reduced lifetime earning potential (Ansari & Gottfried, 2021). SAPs remain highly prevalent among youth in general and particularly for students of color, students living in poverty, students with disabilities, and students whose predominant language is not English (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019).…”

Parental perceived immigration threat and children’s mental health, self-regulation and executive functioning in pre-Kindergarten.

“…A better understanding of the impact of the U.S. immigration climate on young children’s well-being—conceptualized here as their mental health, self-regulation, and executive functioning—is necessary to inform health-promoting policies and practices. This is especially urgent for young children given the importance of mental health, executive functioning, and self-regulation for learning and healthy development (Blair & Raver, 2015; Center on the Developing Child, 2010), the cumulative nature of learning (Ansari & Gottfried, 2021; Shuell, 1986), and the harmful sequelae of untreated childhood distress (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2020; Shonkoff et al, 2012).…”

Advancing an Ecological Approach to Chronic Absenteeism: Evidence from Detroit

“…Finally, time plays a role as well: Attendance patterns vary not only by time within a single day (Whitney & Liu, 2016), but also by grade level, and they can be impacted by grade-level transitions (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012;Bealing, 1990). The timing of a student's absences during the school year may have different consequences (Gottfried & Kirksey, 2017), and absenteeism itself may have compounding effects over time (Ansari & Gottfried, 2021;London et al, 2016;Simon et al, 2020). Finally, the effects of the process, person, and context factors described earlier can change over time as students develop and as their life circumstances change or remain the same.…”