School attendence is a prerequite for a student in universial secondary educa...Komakech Robert Agwot
The study explored the effects of students’ absenteeism on student academic and school performance in Uganda. The study also assessed the effectiveness of class attendance monitoring tool; the challenges faced by the school administration in dealing with absentee student(s); and established the relationship between students’ absenteeism and academic performance of students. The relevant literature was reviewed to anchor the methodology and the findings. The study adopted descriptive cross-sectional survey design. A combination of stratified and purposive sampling was applied to accommodate the variety of respondents from Serere, Soroti, Kumi and Ngora districts in Teso sub-region; North Eastern Uganda. The study used questionnaires and interview schedules to collect primary data from 349 respondents who participated in the study out of the expected 384 obtained from a target population of 100,000 giving a response rate of 90.89%. The findings shows that the monitoring tools used for students’ attendance are effective (good) and there is a very positive relationship between student attendance and academic performance. The researcher also found that school attendance affects both the students and the school performance. To the students; it leads to poor academic performance, students drop out, graduating half-baked students, poor curriculum coverage and loss of interest in learning whist to the school; it affects the school image, lower the students’ enrollment, transfer of students by parents, wastage of teachers’ and administrators’ time and affects the university/tertiary enrolment. However, the school administration faces challenges of; interruption of lessons, students being hostile/belligerent to teachers, and parents defending their children whilst dealing with absenteeism students. The study also provides the practical and most effective strategies to improve students’ attendance. These staregies include; promoting Zero Tolerance to Students Absenteeism, parental involvement and participation, developing students’ mentoring programmes, improving “rich” student’s programmes, promoting guidance and counseling, promote good communication, reward students with regular attendance, and need to monitor and supervise school attendance. The researcher concludes that, to support students academically in and out of school; administrators, teachers, and families need to have a shared understanding of their children’s learning and work as partners to meet their academic and social-emotional needs.
Keywords: School Attendance, Academic Performance, Excused and Unexcused Absenteeism, Universal Secondary Education
Students' abesenteeism a silent killer of universal secondary education in ug...Komakech Robert Agwot
Education has a huge impact on any human society and it can safely be assumed that no society is optimally functional until it is properly educated. In the global perspective, it is an undeniable fact that the progress of a nation is very much dependent on the education of its citizens. Similarly, in Uganda education is a fundamental human right and it is the duty of the state to promote free and compulsory education to the citizens. This constitutional mandate gave birth to free education from primary to secondary under Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) since 1997 and 2007 respectively. The purpose of this study was to investigate the major causes of students’ absenteeism; and the possible solutions to the vices in Universal Secondary Education Schools in Uganda. The study applied a descriptive cross sectional research design. The study also employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches/methods. Data was collected using secondary and primary sources. Secondary sources consisted of publications, reports and literature related to students’ absenteeism whist primary data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics from the study population of one thousand (1000) constituting a sample of 278 respondents of which 226 returned their fully completed questionnaires giving a response rate at 81.3%; obtained from 17 out of 36 USE schools in the four (4) districts of Serere, Ngora, Soroti and Kumi comprised of 07, 04, 03, and 03 USE schools respectively. The four districts were considered because they have all categories of secondary schools in Uganda.
The study findings showed that; Lack of scholastic requirements, ...
Impact of Stressors on Academic Performance among Female Students’ in Saudi A...dbpublications
This study examines the impact of stressors on academic performance among female students’ in Saudi Arabia. The problem was interpreted through the female students who are currently studying in a private colleges. The main objectives of this study were; to develop a causal model to identify the relationship between causes of stressors and its impact on academic performance among Saudi female students; to identify the type of stressors on undergraduate students’ academic performance and to test the develop model empirically to determine whether there is a relationship between stresses among undergraduate students with their academic performance. This study is a survey research, mainly relying on the collection and analysis of primary data through a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics especially mean and standard deviation used to identify level of the stressors and multiple regression model has used to analyze effects of stressors on academic performance. This study has fulfilled all these objectives as specified. The developed model has statistically tested and modified. Two hypotheses among three were accepted and third hypothesis was rejected. However, some variables have been eliminated from the models as a result of the lack of significance with the dependent variable, the students’ performance.
School attendence is a prerequite for a student in universial secondary educa...Komakech Robert Agwot
The study explored the effects of students’ absenteeism on student academic and school performance in Uganda. The study also assessed the effectiveness of class attendance monitoring tool; the challenges faced by the school administration in dealing with absentee student(s); and established the relationship between students’ absenteeism and academic performance of students. The relevant literature was reviewed to anchor the methodology and the findings. The study adopted descriptive cross-sectional survey design. A combination of stratified and purposive sampling was applied to accommodate the variety of respondents from Serere, Soroti, Kumi and Ngora districts in Teso sub-region; North Eastern Uganda. The study used questionnaires and interview schedules to collect primary data from 349 respondents who participated in the study out of the expected 384 obtained from a target population of 100,000 giving a response rate of 90.89%. The findings shows that the monitoring tools used for students’ attendance are effective (good) and there is a very positive relationship between student attendance and academic performance. The researcher also found that school attendance affects both the students and the school performance. To the students; it leads to poor academic performance, students drop out, graduating half-baked students, poor curriculum coverage and loss of interest in learning whist to the school; it affects the school image, lower the students’ enrollment, transfer of students by parents, wastage of teachers’ and administrators’ time and affects the university/tertiary enrolment. However, the school administration faces challenges of; interruption of lessons, students being hostile/belligerent to teachers, and parents defending their children whilst dealing with absenteeism students. The study also provides the practical and most effective strategies to improve students’ attendance. These staregies include; promoting Zero Tolerance to Students Absenteeism, parental involvement and participation, developing students’ mentoring programmes, improving “rich” student’s programmes, promoting guidance and counseling, promote good communication, reward students with regular attendance, and need to monitor and supervise school attendance. The researcher concludes that, to support students academically in and out of school; administrators, teachers, and families need to have a shared understanding of their children’s learning and work as partners to meet their academic and social-emotional needs.
Keywords: School Attendance, Academic Performance, Excused and Unexcused Absenteeism, Universal Secondary Education
Students' abesenteeism a silent killer of universal secondary education in ug...Komakech Robert Agwot
Education has a huge impact on any human society and it can safely be assumed that no society is optimally functional until it is properly educated. In the global perspective, it is an undeniable fact that the progress of a nation is very much dependent on the education of its citizens. Similarly, in Uganda education is a fundamental human right and it is the duty of the state to promote free and compulsory education to the citizens. This constitutional mandate gave birth to free education from primary to secondary under Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) since 1997 and 2007 respectively. The purpose of this study was to investigate the major causes of students’ absenteeism; and the possible solutions to the vices in Universal Secondary Education Schools in Uganda. The study applied a descriptive cross sectional research design. The study also employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches/methods. Data was collected using secondary and primary sources. Secondary sources consisted of publications, reports and literature related to students’ absenteeism whist primary data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics from the study population of one thousand (1000) constituting a sample of 278 respondents of which 226 returned their fully completed questionnaires giving a response rate at 81.3%; obtained from 17 out of 36 USE schools in the four (4) districts of Serere, Ngora, Soroti and Kumi comprised of 07, 04, 03, and 03 USE schools respectively. The four districts were considered because they have all categories of secondary schools in Uganda.
The study findings showed that; Lack of scholastic requirements, ...
Impact of Stressors on Academic Performance among Female Students’ in Saudi A...dbpublications
This study examines the impact of stressors on academic performance among female students’ in Saudi Arabia. The problem was interpreted through the female students who are currently studying in a private colleges. The main objectives of this study were; to develop a causal model to identify the relationship between causes of stressors and its impact on academic performance among Saudi female students; to identify the type of stressors on undergraduate students’ academic performance and to test the develop model empirically to determine whether there is a relationship between stresses among undergraduate students with their academic performance. This study is a survey research, mainly relying on the collection and analysis of primary data through a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics especially mean and standard deviation used to identify level of the stressors and multiple regression model has used to analyze effects of stressors on academic performance. This study has fulfilled all these objectives as specified. The developed model has statistically tested and modified. Two hypotheses among three were accepted and third hypothesis was rejected. However, some variables have been eliminated from the models as a result of the lack of significance with the dependent variable, the students’ performance.
STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF NINTH STANDARD STUDENTSThiyagu K
The main aim of the study is to find out the relationship between the study habits and academic achievement of ninth standard students. Survey method is employed for this study. The investigator has randomly chosen 210 ninth standard students for the study. The investigator has used the standardized tool for the study habits variable. The investigator has used the some of the statistical calculation for analyzing the data. The findings of the study are (1) there is no significant difference in the mean scores of study habits of ninth standard students with respect to their gender, locality and residency. And there is significant difference in the mean scores of study habits of ninth standard students with respect to their type of school. There is significant difference in the mean scores of academic achievement of ninth standard students with respect to their locality, type of management and residency. There is no significant relationship between study habits and academic achievement of ninth standard students with respect to their gender, locality and residency.
Across the country schools face a multitude of challenges related to student discipline and school climate that potentially impact social and academic outcomes for students. Schools are continually changing and the demands that students face daily have increased at a rapid rate. When students are ill-equipped to face such demands, and traditional reactive approaches to discipline are employed, there is an increased likelihood that they will drop out, or will face punitive measures that do not ultimately improve behaviors (Morrissey et al., 2010). Choosing to dropout of high school may cause serious repercussions for students, their communities and families. Although many interventions currently used to decrease the number of dropouts do not have strong evidence to support their effectiveness (Freeman et al., 2015), several studies conducted in the past 20 years indicate that improved outcomes for students graduating high school have occurred through various interventions. School of Life (SOLF) is a intervention offered as an alternative to in school detention and suspensions. Although other dropout prevention programs have been evaluated, SOLF is a time and resource efficient method for targeting dropout and students who have participated in this intervention over the past three years have seen positive results, including higher rates of graduation (Baggaley, 2015). The purpose of the current study was to answer the following three research questions: 1. What is the effect of the SOLF on grade advancement/dropout rates? 2. What is the effect of SOLF on attendance? 3. What is the effect of SOLF on school connectedness and student motivation?
Jones fayettevvile principals and counselors perceptions of freshmen academy ...William Kritsonis
NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS are a group of national and international refereed, blind-reviewed academic journals. NFJ publishes articles academic intellectual diversity, multicultural issues, management, business, administration, issues focusing on colleges, universities, and schools, all aspects of schooling, special education, counseling and addiction, international issues of education, organizational behavior, theory and development, and much more. DR. WILLIAM ALLAN KRITSONIS is Editor-in-Chief (Since 1982). See: www.nationalforum.com
Against All Odds: Increasing College Access & Retention for First Generation ...Naviance
Krystal Ferguson, Hobsons K-12 Consultant, presents on the unique challenges that first-generation and minority students face in enrolling and persisting in college. Krystal also discusses strategies for school systems to best support these students to reach their post-secondary goals.
The Influence of Parents on the Persistence Decisions of First-generation Col...William Kritsonis
The Influence of Parents on the Persistence Decisions of First-generation College Students by Dr. Steven B. Westbrook and Dr. Joyce A. Scott - NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS - www.nationalforum.com - Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Editor-in-Chief, Houston, Texas
STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF NINTH STANDARD STUDENTSThiyagu K
The main aim of the study is to find out the relationship between the study habits and academic achievement of ninth standard students. Survey method is employed for this study. The investigator has randomly chosen 210 ninth standard students for the study. The investigator has used the standardized tool for the study habits variable. The investigator has used the some of the statistical calculation for analyzing the data. The findings of the study are (1) there is no significant difference in the mean scores of study habits of ninth standard students with respect to their gender, locality and residency. And there is significant difference in the mean scores of study habits of ninth standard students with respect to their type of school. There is significant difference in the mean scores of academic achievement of ninth standard students with respect to their locality, type of management and residency. There is no significant relationship between study habits and academic achievement of ninth standard students with respect to their gender, locality and residency.
Across the country schools face a multitude of challenges related to student discipline and school climate that potentially impact social and academic outcomes for students. Schools are continually changing and the demands that students face daily have increased at a rapid rate. When students are ill-equipped to face such demands, and traditional reactive approaches to discipline are employed, there is an increased likelihood that they will drop out, or will face punitive measures that do not ultimately improve behaviors (Morrissey et al., 2010). Choosing to dropout of high school may cause serious repercussions for students, their communities and families. Although many interventions currently used to decrease the number of dropouts do not have strong evidence to support their effectiveness (Freeman et al., 2015), several studies conducted in the past 20 years indicate that improved outcomes for students graduating high school have occurred through various interventions. School of Life (SOLF) is a intervention offered as an alternative to in school detention and suspensions. Although other dropout prevention programs have been evaluated, SOLF is a time and resource efficient method for targeting dropout and students who have participated in this intervention over the past three years have seen positive results, including higher rates of graduation (Baggaley, 2015). The purpose of the current study was to answer the following three research questions: 1. What is the effect of the SOLF on grade advancement/dropout rates? 2. What is the effect of SOLF on attendance? 3. What is the effect of SOLF on school connectedness and student motivation?
Jones fayettevvile principals and counselors perceptions of freshmen academy ...William Kritsonis
NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS are a group of national and international refereed, blind-reviewed academic journals. NFJ publishes articles academic intellectual diversity, multicultural issues, management, business, administration, issues focusing on colleges, universities, and schools, all aspects of schooling, special education, counseling and addiction, international issues of education, organizational behavior, theory and development, and much more. DR. WILLIAM ALLAN KRITSONIS is Editor-in-Chief (Since 1982). See: www.nationalforum.com
Against All Odds: Increasing College Access & Retention for First Generation ...Naviance
Krystal Ferguson, Hobsons K-12 Consultant, presents on the unique challenges that first-generation and minority students face in enrolling and persisting in college. Krystal also discusses strategies for school systems to best support these students to reach their post-secondary goals.
The Influence of Parents on the Persistence Decisions of First-generation Col...William Kritsonis
The Influence of Parents on the Persistence Decisions of First-generation College Students by Dr. Steven B. Westbrook and Dr. Joyce A. Scott - NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS - www.nationalforum.com - Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Editor-in-Chief, Houston, Texas
Hi Friends
This is supa bouy
I am a mentor, Friend for all Management Aspirants, Any query related to anything in Management, Do write me @ supabuoy@gmail.com.
I will try to assist the best way I can.
Cheers to lyf…!!!
Supa Bouy
ILO/UNESCO Recommendations on teachers laxman sharma
UNESCO has recommendations on the teaches or the teaching professions half a century ago. Still teachers are struggling for the rights on the professional. These slides in Nepali language for the seminar purposes.
नेपाल सरकार, शिक्षा मन्त्रालयद्वारा बनाई लागू गरिएको विद्यालय क्षेत्र विकास कार्यक्रम (२०७३-२०८०) को अन्तिम मस्यौदाको अंग्रेजी भर्सन यहाँ अपलोड गरिएकोछ।
Background - It is the movement of highly skilled and qualified people towards a country where they can work in better conditions and earn more money. It is also termed as “human capital flight” because it resembles the case of capital flight.
Objectives – The objective of the study is to analyze the causes and effects of brain drain of Nepalese students.
Methodology – Due to the specific nature of the research objectives, descriptive cum analytical research design has been used.
Findings – Brain drain is a serious problem in Nepal. It creates both a positive effect and a negative effect directly or indirectly in the economic development of the country.
America’s education system is based on the assumption that barring illness or an extraordinary event, students are in class every weekday. So strong is this assumption that it is not even measured. Indeed, it is the rare state education department, school district or principal that can tell you how many students have missed 10 percent or more of the school year or in the previous year missed a month or more school − two common definitions of chronic absence.
Brown, sidney l. the impact of middle schools health on dropout rates schooli...William Kritsonis
Dr. Kritsonis has traveled and lectured extensively throughout the United States and world-wide. Some international travels include Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Monte Carlo, England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Switzerland, Grand Cayman, Haiti, St. Maarten, St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Lucia, Puerto Rico, Nassau, Freeport, Jamaica, Barbados, Martinique, Canada, Curacao, Costa Rico, Aruba, Venezuela, Panama, Bora Bora, Tahiti, Latvia, Spain, Honduras, and many more. He has been invited to lecture and serve as a guest professor at many universities across the nation and abroad.
BROOKINGS | December 2011
`
Starting School at a
Disadvantage:
The School Readiness of Poor Children
Julia B. Isaacs, Brookings Institution
THE SOCIAL GENOME PROJECT
The author expresses appreciation to Jeffrey Diebold for invaluable assistance with
data analysis and to Brian Levy, Katherine Magnuson, Emily Monea, Stephanie Owen,
Isabel Sawhill for their helpful comments.
MARCH 2012
Executive Summary
Poor children in the United States start school at a disadvantage in
terms of their early skills, behaviors, and health. Fewer than half (48
percent) of poor children are ready for school at age five, compared to 75
percent of children from families with moderate and high income, a 27
percentage point gap. This paper examines the reasons why poor
children are less ready for school and evaluates three interventions for
improving their school readiness.
Poverty is one of several risk factors facing poor children. Mothers
living in poverty are often unmarried and poorly educated, they have
higher rates of depression and poor health than more affluent mothers,
and they demonstrate lower parenting skills in certain dimensions. In fact,
the gap in school readiness shrinks from 27 percentage points to 7
percentage points after adjusting for demographic, health, and behavioral
differences between poor and moderate- and higher-income families.
Even so, poverty remains an important influence on school readiness,
partly through its influence on many of the observed differences between
poor and more affluent families. Higher levels of depression and a more
punitive parenting style, for example, may result from economic stress
and so models controlling for these factors may understate the full
effects of poverty on school readiness.
In addition to poverty, key influences on school readiness include
preschool attendance, parenting behaviors, parents’ education, maternal
depression, prenatal exposure to tobacco, and low birth weight. For
example, the likelihood of being school ready is 9 percentage points
higher for children attending preschool, controlling for other family
characteristics, and is 10 percentage points lower for children whose
mothers smoke during pregnancy and also 10 percentage points lower for
children whose mothers score low in supportiveness during parent-child
interactions. These findings suggest a diverse set of policy interventions
that might improve children’s school readiness, ranging from smoking
cessation programs for pregnant women to parenting programs,
treatments for maternal depression, income support programs and
expansion of preschool programs.
Preschool programs offer the most promise for increasing children’s
school readiness, according to a simple simulation that models the
effects of three different interventions. Expanding preschool programs
for four-year olds has more direct eff ...
Starting on track_to_career_and_college_readinessalester1025
Slides from my presentation at Assemblywoman Barbara Clark's Career & College Readiness Education Workshop at the NYS Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, February 2011. The presentation can be found at: http://bit.ly/P9o1vv
Two major policy initiatives now include chronic absence as an accountability measure for schools in California, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). This session will feature Attendance Works,the nation’s leading expert on chronic absence, California education policy leaders, and school health experts who will provide an overview of the accountability measures, how they can be used to reinforce the importance of health for attendance, and how school-based health providers can support efforts to address chronic absence.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty,
International FDP on Fundamentals of Research in Social Sciences
at Integral University, Lucknow, 06.06.2024
By Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
for beginners, providing thorough training in areas such as SEO, digital communication marketing, and PPC training in Noida. After finishing the program, students receive the certifications recognised by top different universitie, setting a strong foundation for a successful career in digital marketing.
3. Executive Summary
America’s education system is based on the assumption that barring illness or an extraordinary
event, students are in class every weekday. So strong is this assumption that it is not even
measured. Indeed, it is the rare state education department, school district or principal that can
tell you how many students have missed 10 percent or more of the school year or in the previous
year missed a month or more school − two common definitions of chronic absence.
Because it is not measured, chronic absenteeism is not acted upon. Like bacteria in a hospital,
chronic absenteeism can wreak havoc long before it is discovered. If the evidence in this report is
borne out through more systematic data collection and analysis, that havoc may have already
undermined school reform efforts of the past quarter century and negated the positive impact of
future efforts.
Students need to attend school daily to succeed. The good news of this report is that being in
school leads to succeeding in school. Achievement, especially in math, is very sensitive to
attendance, and absence of even two weeks during one school year matters. Attendance also
strongly affects standardized test scores and graduation and dropout rates. Educators and
policymakers cannot truly understand achievement gaps or efforts to close them without
considering chronic absenteeism.
Chronic absenteeism is not the same as truancy or average daily attendance – the attendance rate
schools use for state report cards and federal accountability. Chronic absenteeism means missing
10 percent of a school year for any reason. A school can have average daily attendance of 90
percent and still have 40 percent of its students chronically absent, because on different days,
different students make up that 90 percent.
Data from only six states address this issue: Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska, Oregon and
Rhode Island. How these states measure chronic absenteeism, however, differs by number of
days and by whether or not data include transfer students.
Such limited data produce only an educated guess at the size of the nation’s attendance
challenge: A national rate of 10 percent chronic absenteeism seems conservative and it could be
as high as 15 percent, meaning that 5 million to 7.5 million students are chronically absent.
Looking at this more closely sharpens the impact. In Maryland, for instance, there are 58
elementary schools that have 50 or more chronically absent students; that is, two classrooms of
students who miss more than a month of school a year. In a high school, where chronic
absenteeism is higher, there are 61 schools where 250 or more students are missing a month or
more of school.
3
4. The six states reported chronic absentee rates from 6 percent to 23 percent, with high poverty
urban areas reporting up to one-third of students chronically absent. In poor rural areas, one in
four students can miss at least a month’s worth of school. The negative impact chronic
absenteeism has on school success is increased because students who are chronically absent in
one year are often chronically absent in multiple years. As a result, particularly in high poverty
areas, significant numbers of students are missing amounts of school that are staggering: on the
order of six months to over a year, over a five year period.
Chronic absenteeism is most prevalent among low-income students. Gender and ethnic
background do not appear to play a role in this. The youngest and the oldest students tend to
have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism, with students attending most regularly in third
through fifth grades. Chronic absenteeism begins to rise in middle school and continues climbing
through 12th grade, with seniors often having the highest rate of all. The data also suggest that
chronic absenteeism is concentrated in relatively few schools, with 15 percent of schools in
Florida, for example, accounting for at least half of all chronically absent students.
Missing school matters:
• In a nationally representative data set, chronic absence in kindergarten
was associated with lower academic performance in first grade. The
impact is twice as great for students from low-income families.
• A Baltimore study found a strong relationship between sixth-grade
attendance and the percentage of students graduating on time or within a
year of their expected high school graduation.
• Chronic absenteeism increases achievement gaps at the elementary,
middle, and high school levels.
• Because students reared in poverty benefit the most from being in school,
one of the most effective strategies for providing pathways out of poverty
is to do what it takes to get these students in school every day. This alone,
even without improvements in the American education system, will drive
up achievement, high school graduation, and college attainment rates.
Students miss school for many reasons. These can, however, be divided into three broad
categories:
• Students who cannot attend school due to illness, family responsibilities,
housing instability, the need to work or involvement with the juvenile
justice system.
• Students who will not attend school to avoid bullying, unsafe conditions,
harassment and embarrassment.
4
5. • Students who do not attend school because they, or their parents, do not
see the value in being there, they have something else they would rather
do, or nothing stops them from skipping school.
Despite being pervasive, though overlooked, chronic absenteeism is raising flags in some schools
and communities. This awareness is leading to attendance campaigns that are so vigorous and
comprehensive they pay off quickly. Examples of progress nationally and at state, district, and
school levels give hope to the challenge of chronic absenteeism, besides being models for others.
In addition to these efforts, both the federal government, state departments of education, and
school districts need to regularly measure and report the rates of chronic absenteeism and regular
attendance (missing five days or less a year) for every school. State and district policies need to
encourage every student to attend school every day and support school districts, schools, non-
profits, communities, and parents in using evidence-based strategies to act upon these data to
propel all students to attend school daily. Mayors and governors have critical roles to play in
leading inter-agency task forces that bring health, housing, justice, transportation, and education
agencies together to organize coordinated efforts to help every student attend every day.
5