Below is a list of research related to attendance

The reports on this page are listed chronologically and examine the issue of chronic absence nationwide and in selected communities. Use the search box to find research using the first few words of the paper title. See the early education, elementary, secondary and other research categories on the right. To submit new research, please contact us.
Gradual Disengagement: A Portrait of the 2008-2009 Dropouts in Baltimore City Schools
Mac Iver, Martha A. Baltimore Education Research Consortium, August 2010. The majority of students who eventually drop out of high school enter 9th grade with a pattern of chronic absenteeism that goes back at least several years, the study shows. Many have been retained and are behind at least one grade. It is critical to begin interventions in middle school.…
The Relationship Between School-Based Health Centers, Rates of Early Dismissal From School, and Loss of Seat Time
Van Cura, Maureen. Journal of School Health, Vol. 80, No.8, August 2010.This researcher studied two high schools in New York – one with a school-based health center and one without. Controlling for race, gender, age, poverty, and presence of a pre-existing illness, this study shows that school-based health centers have a direct impact on educational outcomes such as attendance.
Evaluating the Relationship Between Student Attendance and Achievement in Urban Elementary and Middle Schools: An Instrumental Variables Approach
Gottfried, Michael A. American Educational Research Journal, June 2010, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 434-465. This study evaluates the connection between student attendance and positive learning outcomes. The researcher uses a comprehensive data set of elementary and middle schools in the Philadelphia school district to explore the causal impact of attendance on multiple measures of achievement, including grade-point average and…
Healthier Students Are Better Learners: A Missing Link in Efforts to Close the Achievement Gap
Basch, Charles. Equity in Education Forum Series, Spring 2010, Teachers College, Columbia University. This report concludes that “six educationally relevant disparities”—vision problems, asthma, teen pregnancy, aggression and violence, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and concentration problems—have negative academic outcomes for minority students in urban settings. The piece hits also on data about the relationship between health and school attendance: “Compared with…
Maintaining High Achievement in Baltimore: An Overview of the Elementary School Trajectories of Four Recent City Schools First Grade Cohorts
Durham, Rachel and Stephen B. Plank. Baltimore Educational Research Consortium, March 2010.The results from this study of four elementary schools show increased academic achievement and reduced chronic absence. It suggests that many recent reform efforts–among them improved developmental conditions from birth to age five, universal prekindergarten, reduced class sizes in the early grades, and standardized curricula–are succeeding in keeping Baltimore…
Unaffordable Dental Care Is Linked to Frequent School Absences
Pourat, Nadereh and Gina Nicholson. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, November 2009. Tooth decay is the single most common chronic disease of childhood and affects nearly 60% of children in the United States. In 2007, approximately 7% of school-age children in California missed at least one day of school due to a dental problem. The ability to afford needed…
Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families: Community Strategies to Reverse Chronic Absenteeism in the Early Grades and Improve Supports for Children and Families
Nauer, Kim, Andrew White and Rajeev Yerneni. Center for New York City Affairs at the New School, October 2008. The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School conducted its own an analysis of chronic absence in New York City public schools. It found that more than 90,000 children in grades K through 5 (more than 20 percent…