Although educational policy makers uphold that chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more of the school year) is damaging to students' schooling outcomes, there is little empirical research to match. This study considers the role of spillover effects of chronic absenteeism on classmates' achievement. It does so by utilizing a large-scale…

Of all elementary school years, absenteeism is at its peak during kindergarten. Although much has been established about the effects of missing kindergarten school days on achievement, nothing has yet been established on absenteeism and executive function (EF) skills. Yet developing EF skills early in school is critical, and missed in-school time…

Nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 (n = 14,370) were used to examine the grade-level and cumulative outcomes of school absenteeism between kindergarten and fifth grade for students' school performance in the United States. Students who were more frequently absent in any year of…

Student absenteeism is a barrier to learning and an issue that requires policy intervention. Students with disabilities are of particular concern, as they miss school more often than students in any other demographic group. Affecting a key attribute of school structures, policies promoting full-day kindergarten began as an effort to improve…

Recent federal education policies and initiatives in the United States have emphasised the importance of college and career readiness and showing up in school. The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act provides federal funding for career and technical education (CTE) in the country, and key pieces of the act focus on…

Over the past 20 years, the number of teacher's aides in the United States has more than doubled, potentially in response to the growth of special education programs now taking place in general education schools. Surprisingly, little research at all has focused on the role that teacher's aides may play in improving student achievement, and no…

Using a sample of pre-K attendees from 11 states in the United States (n = 2,966), we examined whether early childhood educational experiences contribute positively or negatively to later preschool absences. Although some of the most important predictors of absences were factors external to the school and classroom environment (e.g., poverty and…

This study compares mathematics instructional practices in classrooms that do and do not contain students with high-incidence disabilities (HIDs). To do so, we examined a national data set of responses from kindergarten teachers about instructional practices. We do find that in classrooms with students with HIDs, teachers reported different…

With the rise in the availability of absenteeism data, it is clear that students are missing a staggering amount of school. Policymakers have focused efforts on identifying school programs that might reduce absenteeism. This study examined whether implementing the program "Breakfast After-the-Bell" (BAB) might reduce school absenteeism.…

Over the past decade, identifying how schools might reduce student absenteeism has moved to the forefront of education policy. Yet little research has examined whether school type itself is important. We focus on the influence of Catholic schools using data from the past decade--the most relevant policy context for addressing absenteeism. The…

Within schooling policy and practice, truancy awareness and prevention programs expend much effort on reducing fall absences under the assumption that stopping this behavior early in the year can reduce negative outcomes later on in the year. Little research has focused on whether early absences in the year correlate with later outcomes. No study…

Background/Context: Families have been increasingly utilizing center-based care both during prekindergarten as well as before/after school during kindergarten (CBC-K), and the literature has addressed the relative effectiveness of attending the former on early schooling outcomes. However, missing in the field is an analysis of the efficacy of…

The increased utilization of non-parental pre-kindergarten care has spurred interest by both researchers and policy makers as to what types of care might be effective at boosting school readiness. Under-developed in the research has been an assessment of the influence of pre-kindergarten care on school readiness for English Language Learners…

Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners have recently aligned efforts to reduce school absenteeism, particularly during kindergarten when excessive absences are highest out of all elementary grades. Little is known, however, about whether the way in which students get to school might influence if they go to school. To address this gap, this…

Little is known about the effects of attending full-day versus part-day kindergarten for children with disabilities, and nothing is known about how these settings link to differences in children's school absences. This is concerning, given that children with disabilities have higher absence rates compared to children in the general population. To…