“When” Students Miss School: The Role of Timing of Absenteeism on Students’ Test Performance

Abstract

Policy and practice have charged forward with emphasizing the necessity to reduce school absenteeism in the fall (i.e., Attendance Awareness Month). However, no empirical basis served to bolster these efforts. This study examined whether fall versus spring absenteeism was linked to spring state exam scores for a sample of elementary students over 3 years. Using district data, the findings suggested spring absences were associated with lower testing performance, with the most critical period being the 30-day window leading up to the test. This study illustrates that most is at stake for student test performance by missing school in the days and months leading up to the test date and that different support systems are needed to address subgroups of students.

Mapping inequalities in school attendance: The relationship between dimensions of socioeconomic status and forms of school absence

“…Socioeconomic inequalities in school absenteeism may be more or less pronounced depending on the timing of absenteeism. Recent research has shown that missing days and months leading up to examinations have the most severe impact on children's school performance (Gottfried and Kirksey 2017). Second, we looked at two school cohorts who were in the final year of secondary schooling in 2007 and 2008.…”

Physical Fitness, Grit, School Attendance, and Academic Performance among Adolescents

“…Attending school, particularly in secondary education, remains an issue in the United States, with over 5 million school-aged children missing at least 30 days of school per year [ 27 ]. Of even more concern is when the adolescent may be absent the days leading up to the administration of academic achievement tests [ 28 ]. Missing school represents a critical loss of learning time and test preparation.…”

Masking Attendance: How Education Policy Distracts from the Wicked Problem(s) of Chronic Absenteeism

“…Policy solutions to those issues have typically operated with the assumption that students are attending school regularly, therefore school attendance was often absent when it came to school improvement efforts (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012; Kearney et al, 2019). However, researchers have shown the impact of school attendance on academic achievement and educational opportunities (Gottfried & Kirksey, 2017; Plasman & Gottfried, 2020), and the need for policy responses that recognize the importance of school attendance on students’ well-being.…”