What Explains Chronic Absenteeism? - PowerPoint Presentation

What Explains Chronic Absenteeism?Understanding the role of children, families and schools Kevin Gee Associate Professor University of California, Davis kagee@ucdavis.edu

“She’s afraid to drive her kids to school because she works 12-hour overnight shifts and she’s afraid she’ll be too tired in the morning to drive them. If she doesn’t work, she can’t support her kids. She has to drive them back and forth so her work is getting in the way of her kids getting to school.” Why Parents keep children home

“I’ve noticed this is a pattern in the Somali community [to which the worker also belongs], for (kindergarten) and first graders, they don’t understand the importance of what the law is. They’ll say, ‘It’s below 10 degrees! That’s ridiculous. How could you send a child to school?’” Why parents keep children home

Two Key Questions What explains chronic absenteeism in early elementary grades at the national level?Sorting out the influence of child and family factors as well as school-related factors.How “much” of chronic absenteeism do these factors explain? Factors that help explain more of absenteeism, can be considered more important. So what? Helps us identify factors that might be manipulable.Helps us prioritize which factors we can address.

Variability in Chronic Absenteeism (missing 10% or more of school, regardless of reason) Health 0% chance 50% chance 90% chance This overlapping section is the proportion that health explains Variability in Chronic Absenteeism

Family Parent-School Involvement (e.g. PTA meeting) ChildNext Approaches to Learning (e.g., pays attention and follows rules) Health Prior Chronic Absenteeism in Kindergarten Classroom & School Teacher Experience & Quality Teacher-Student Relationship (Closeness and Conflict) Aggressive Behaviors Bullying Teacher Absenteeism Theft at School Sample of about 6800 children in 1 st grade Moderate chronic absenteeism If a child experienced 11 or more absences Factors Influencing Absenteeism Factors influencing absenteeism

Whether a child was chronically absent in kindergarten matters the most. Health is important, but explains only about 3.5%. Not a trivial amount, but also not a large amount. Together, these factors help explain about 15%. Key Findings Key findings

Key Findings A parent’s employment status helps explain the most. It explains a bit more than a child’s health did. Together, these family factors help explain about 6%. Involvement does matter, but it only helps explain a very small amount. Family Key Findings

Classroom and school factors explain a negligible amount. Together, classroom factors help explain about <1%. Together, school factors help explain about 1.5%. Key Findings Classroom and School Key findings

Factors together as a whole: 20% Of that, half is attributable to prior absenteeism School Child > Parent > School > Classroom Child > Parent > School > Classroom

1 Multiple factors work in combination to explain absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism is a holistic challenge, requiring holistic solutions. Take Away Implication Pittsburg’s Integrated Data Systems (IDS) Approach to Chronic Absenteeism In Action People (Individual Data) Place (Community/Neighborhood Data) Department of Human Services Public Housing Juvenile Justice School Districts American Community Survey Police Crime Data Property Records [Transportation] Pittsburg’s Integrated Data Systems (IDS) Approach to Chronic Absenteeism

If you’re seeking to address your overall chronic absenteeism rate, start by looking within schools and ask what is happening at the individual student level. 2 Take Away Implication When explaining absenteeism at the individual-level, child factors help explain the most, followed by family, then the classroom/school. In Action Sacramento’s Parent-Teacher Home Visitation Project (PTHVP) Case management approach to understand (1) barriers to school attendance; (2) motivations for attending school Sacramento’s Parent-Teacher Home Visitation Project (PTHVP)

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Prior absenteeism matters the most. Efforts at reducing absenteeism in earliest grades will be critical to prevent chronic absenteeism in future grades. 3 Take Away Implication In Action Baltimore’s Class of 2027: Kindergarten Attendance & Readiness Examining linkages between participation in ECE to Kindergarten chronic absenteeism Baltimore’s Class of 2027: Kindergarten Attendance & Readiness

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Thank you! Kevin Gee Associate Professor University of California, Davis kagee@ucdavis.edu