Poor attendance occurs throughout the school day and across subjects; first period is most often missed but missing it does not explain overall truancy¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 1997 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2002: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Over half of ninth graders missed two or more weeks in first period, yet over 44 percent missed two or more weeks during periods 4 to 6, so tardiness alone does not account for class absences. → Roderick 1997 q2 i? Class absences are relatively uniform across subjects—students are just as likely to be truant in English as in Math—suggesting cutting reflects poor overall school environments. → Roderick 1997 (2)

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 class absences by period of the day for the CPS ninth grade cohort in second semester 1996. The brief reports over half of ninth graders missed two or more weeks in their first class, and "Over 44 percent" missed two or more weeks in periods 4 to 6.

"Over 44 percent of the ninth graders missed two or more weeks of instruction during the middle of the school day—periods 4 to 6."

Roderick 1997 (2)¶

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

Same period-by-period and subject-by-subject analysis of class absences. The brief reports relatively consistent absence patterns across English, Social Studies, Math, and Science, and interprets this as reflecting poor overall school environments.

"Students are just as likely to be truant in English as in Math."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• 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
• 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
• 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
• CPS has two distinct truancy problems—full-day absenteeism and class cutting—and about 40 percent of extreme truancy occurs through class cutting — related
• Schools with strong social-emotional value-added help ninth-grade students stay on track and miss school less often — related
• Average daily attendance and truancy metrics mask chronic absence, which reveals individual students missing 10% of school for any reason — related
• Punitive responses to absence do not improve attendance and can worsen it — related
• The school refusal-truancy dichotomy shows extensive overlap and heterogeneity — a broader claim this one bears on
• Class conditions—period, term, class size and subject—systematically shift grades, largely through attendance — related