Below is a list of seminal research related to attendance
For the full list of research and reports, please visit the All Research page.
A Better Picture of Poverty: What Chronic Absenteeism and Risk Load Reveal About NYC’s Lowest-Income Elementary Schools
Nauer, Kim. Center for New York City Affairs at the New School, November 2014. This report looks closely at New York City’s schools and documents the risk factors that plague struggling schools. Researchers found that more than 87,000 New York City children from kindergarten through third grade missed 10 percent or more of the school year in 2012-13. That number…
Absences Add Up: How School Attendance Influences Student Success
Ginsburg, Alan, Phyllis Jordan and Hedy Chang. Attendance Works, August 2014. This state-by-state analysis of national testing data demonstrates that students who miss more school than their peers consistently score lower on standardized tests, a result that holds true at every age, in every demographic group, and in every state and city tested. The analysis is based on the results…
Attendance in Early Elementary Grades: Association with Student Characteristics, School Readiness and Third Grade Outcomes
Applied Survey Research, May 2011. A study commissioned by Attendance Works suggests that attendance in the early grades is critical to sustaining the school readiness skills that preschool or Head Start programs can help children to develop. This study conducted by Applied Survey Research examined the progress of 640 young California children in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties where…
Chronic Elementary Absenteeism: A Problem Hidden in Plain Sight
Bruner, Charles, Anne Discher, and Hedy Chang. Child and Family Policy Center and Attendance Works, November 2011. This study confirms the premise that districts and schools may fail to detect high levels of chronic absence because the problem is easily masked by average daily attendance, one of the most commonly calculated attendance measures. While many educators assume a 95 percent…
Data Matters: Using Chronic Absence to Accelerate Action for Student Success
Data Matters Using Chronic Absence to Accelerate Action for Student Success, by Hedy N. Chang, Lauren Bauer and Vaughan Byrnes, September 2018. This report provides a national and state analysis of how many schools face high levels of chronic absence and discusses the implications for state and local action. Based on data released by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office…
Early Elementary Performance and Attendance in Baltimore City Schools’ Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
Connolly, Faith and Linda S. Olson. Baltimore Education Research Consortium, Baltimore, Md., March 2012. This brief looks at attendance in the early grades with particular focus on Pre-Kindergarten (PreK) and Kindergarten (K) and follows these young students over time. The study finds that students with low attendance in both PreK and K often continue to have low attendance, are more…
Mapping the Early Attendance Gap: Charting a Course for Student Success
This report shows how disparities in school attendance rates starting as early as preschool and kindergarten are contributing to achievement gaps and high school dropout rates across the country. The report also highlights the connection between health and attendance and the power of states to tackle absenteeism by tapping key champions, leveraging data, and learning from places that have improved…
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