Below is a list of research related to attendance
The reports on this page are listed alphabetically and examine the issue of chronic absence nationwide and in selected communities. Use the search box to find research using the author name. See the early education, elementary, secondary and other research categories on the right. To submit new research, please contact us.
The Arts Advantage: Impacts of Arts Education on Boston students
Bowen, Daniel H., and Kisida, B., EdVestors. This scholarly investigation finds that access to arts education in Boston Public Schools has consistent positive effects on student attendance with effects notably stronger for students who have a history of chronic absenteeism. The study found that arts education increases student and parent school engagement, and has modest effects on student achievement, particularly…
The Attendance Imperative: How States Can Advance Achievement by Reducing Chronic Absence
Attendance Works. Released in September 2013 and updated in September 2014, this brief describes the steps that states can take to reduce chronic absence including: building public awareness, tracking and publicly reporting chronic absence rates for schools and districts, using attendance as a metric in school improvement efforts, sharing best practices with educators and parents, and enabling interagency efforts among…
The Connection Between Missing School and Health: A Review of Chronic Absenteeism and Student Health in Oregon
Henderson, Tia. Upstream Public Health, October 2014. Upstream Public Health looks “upstream” at factors in communities, at home, and at schools that lead to chronic absenteeism. The report reviews data and research on student absences — finding that unexpected factors such as unstable housing, fear of bullying, and punitive school discipline policies as well as health conditions such as hunger,…
The COVID-19 slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement
Kuhfeld, Megan and Beth Tarasawa, NWEA Collaborative for Student Growth, April 2020. This brief leverages research on summer loss and uses a national sample of over five million students in grades 3–8 who took assessment tests in 2017–2018. The authors examined growth trajectories of a standard school year compared to projected COVID-19 school closures and slowdown.
The Detrimental Effect of Missing School: Evidence from Urban Siblings
Gottfried, Michael A. There is evidence suggesting that missing school negatively relates to academic achievement. However, it is a difficult task to derive unbiased empirical estimates of absences in their influence on performance. One particular challenge arises from the unobserved heterogeneity in the family environment, which may relate to both absence behavior and school performance. This article provides the first…
The Effect of Serving “Breakfast After-the-Bell” Meals on School Absenteeism: Comparing Results From Regression Discontinuity Designs
Kirskey, J. Jacob and Michael A. Gottfried. The University of California, Santa Barbara, No Kid Hungry Campaign, February 2021. An analysis of longitudinal statewide datasets in Colorado and Nevada containing school breakfast information and national data on chronic absenteeism rates finds that schools serving ‘Breakfast After the Bell’ reported declines in chronic absenteeism.
The Effects of Absenteeism on Academic and Social-Emotional Outcomes: Lessons for COVID-19
Santibañez, Lucrecia and Cassandra Guarino. Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), October 2020. An evaluation of six large CORE school districts in California suggests that if students missed more than a few weeks of instruction — which is likely, particularly among low-income and other disadvantaged students — their test scores and social, emotional learning (SEL) outcomes are likely to be…
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