CPS has two distinct truancy problems—full-day absenteeism and class cutting—and about 40 percent of extreme truancy occurs through class cutting¶

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? Classifying students by both full-day absences and absences in a major subject raises the extreme-truant share from 26 to 42 percent, with about 40 percent of extreme truancy attributable to class cutting or mixed patterns. → 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

Transcript-based analysis of second-semester ninth grade attendance distinguishing full-day absences from cutting in a major subject. Extreme truants followed three patterns: 26 percent with 20+ full-day absences, 10 percent combining moderate absences with cutting, and 6 percent attending school but cutting frequently.

"The percentage of CPS ninth graders classified as extreme truants increases from 26 to 42 percent when we consider class cutting as well as full day absences."

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