ERIC Number: EJ1158228
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Dec
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3737
EISSN: N/A
Linking Getting to School with Going to School
Gottfried, Michael A.
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, v39 n4 p571-592 Dec 2017
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 study was the first to address the role of school bus-taking on reducing school absences. Using a national large-scale dataset of children (the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011), the findings suggest that children who took the school bus to kindergarten had fewer absent days over the school year and were less likely to be chronically absent compared with children who commuted to school in any other way. Given that many districts are considering cutting or restricting bus services, this study brings to question whether doing so might limit the resources upon which families rely to ensure their children attend school each day. Implications are discussed.
Descriptors: Student Transportation, School Buses, Attendance Patterns, Kindergarten, Longitudinal Studies, Surveys, Children, Correlation, Data Analysis, Family Characteristics, Urban Schools, Rural Schools, Regression (Statistics)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Kindergarten
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A