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)¶

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 three-quarters of students two or more years below grade level in eighth grade reading and math were moderate to extreme truants in at least one major subject by the end of ninth grade. → Roderick 1997 q2 i? Forty-two percent of the highest-achieving ninth graders (on or above grade level) were moderate to extreme truants in at least one major subject when class cutting is counted. → 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

Observational analysis linking eighth grade ITBS reading and math scores to ninth grade attendance. The brief reports 60 percent of students two or more years below grade level missed two or more weeks of school by ninth grade's end.

"Over three-quarters of the stu- dents who had reading and math test scores two or more years below grade level were moderate to extreme truants in at least one major subject by the end of ninth grade"

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 ITBS-linked attendance analysis showing truancy among top students is almost twice as high when class cutting is factored in. The brief attributes this, citing a 1986 Chicago Panel study, to a "culture of cutting" in schools with weak norms.

"Forty-two percent of the top Chicago students, those with achievement skills that place them on or above grade level for national norms, can be considered moderate to extreme truants in at least one major subject by the end of ninth grade."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Ninth grade truancy rates do not differ much by gender, undercutting the hypothesis that gang activity primarily drives absenteeism — 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 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
• 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
• Unexcused absences quadruple from eighth to ninth grade, explaining most of the drop in grades and pass rates across all student groups — related