By spring of ninth grade, 64 percent of CPS ninth graders missed two or more weeks of instruction in at least one major subject¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 1997 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In the second semester of 1996, almost two-thirds (64 percent) of CPS ninth graders missed two or more weeks of instruction in one or more major subjects, and 42 percent missed a month or more. → Roderick 1997

Evidence¶

Roderick 1997¶

Roderick, M., Arney, M., Axelman, M., DaCosta, K., Steiger, C., Stone, S., Villarreal-Sosa, L., & Waxman, E. (1997). Habits Hard to Break: A New Look at Truancy in Chicago's Public High Schools. Student Life in High Schools Project, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/habits-hard-break-new-look-truancy-chicagos-public-high-schools

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Analysis of transcripts and attendance records for the CPS ninth grade class of 1995-96 (about 30,000 students), measuring full-day absences and absences from the student's worst major subject. The brief reports "the majority (64 per- cent)" missed more than two weeks, and 42 percent missed a month or more.

"In the second semester, the majority (64 per- cent) of CPS ninth graders missed more than two weeks of instruction in one or more major subjects— English, Math, Social Studies, or Science."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Ninth grade attendance problems begin early in the year and generally worsen, with 89 percent of first-semester extreme truants ending the year at similar or worse levels — related
• Schools vary widely in attendance and cutting; in the ten worst-attendance schools the average ninth grader is an extreme truant in at least one major subject by second semester — related
• Poor attendance occurs throughout the school day and across subjects; first period is most often missed but missing it does not explain overall truancy — related
• CPS has two distinct truancy problems—full-day absenteeism and class cutting—and about 40 percent of extreme truancy occurs through class cutting — related
• Punitive responses to absence do not improve attendance and can worsen it — related
• Freshmen who miss more than two weeks of school per semester fail at least two classes on average, regardless of incoming test scores — related
• Students with weak eighth grade basic skills have the poorest attendance, but cutting is widespread even among top achievers (42 percent on or above grade level were moderate to extreme truants) — related
• Most Chicago freshmen fail at least one course, miss substantial school, or earn below a C average in their first year — related
• Ninth grade truancy rates do not differ much by gender, undercutting the hypothesis that gang activity primarily drives absenteeism — related