Ninth grade truancy rates do not differ much by gender, undercutting the hypothesis that gang activity primarily drives absenteeism¶

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? Forty-five percent of females versus 47 percent of males were absent more than two weeks of instructional time in the second semester of ninth grade; males were only slightly more likely to be extreme rather than moderate truants. → 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

Comparison of second-semester truancy rates by gender in the CPS ninth grade cohort, used as a test of the gang-recruitment hypothesis since males are more likely to be gang members or targets of harassment. The brief calls the small difference surprising.

"Forty-five per- cent of the females versus 47 percent of the males were absent more than two weeks of instruc- tional time in the second semester of ninth grade."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Gender — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• Students who fail Algebra I show far more signs of ninth-grade disengagement, including higher absenteeism and suspension rates — 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
• 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
• Ninth graders who fail Algebra I are demographically similar to those who pass, but are more likely to be male and African American — related
• Low attendance is linked with lower academic skills, grades, and high school graduation, and high attendance with higher ones — related
• By spring of ninth grade, 64 percent of CPS ninth graders missed two or more weeks of instruction in at least one major subject — related