Provide supports to improve attendance in pre-kindergarten and the early elementary years¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The article recommends providing supports to improve attendance in pre-kindergarten and early elementary grades, arguing that improving attendance in these years "has the potential to reduce achievement gaps and redirect struggling students onto the pathway toward educational success." The recommendation follows directly from the study's findings on chronic absence and later outcomes.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• District or school capacity to identify and support students with high pre-k and early-grade absence

Constraints¶

• The article states the benefit as potential, based on associations between absence and outcomes rather than a tested attendance intervention

Target Learners¶

• pre-kindergarten students
• early elementary students

Target Learning Goals¶

• kindergarten readiness
• grade-level reading
• sustained attendance

Claims¶

• Each single prior-year absence is associated with a .010 to .016 SD decrease in fall mathematics starting achievement the following year [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Provide early, proactive, domain-specific interventions to support equitable access to advanced mathematics
• Monitor preschool attendance at student and school levels with watch lists and share records across the preschool-to-kindergarten transition

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Preschool Attendance in Chicago Public Schools: Relationships with Learning Outcomes and Reasons for Absences. (2014). https://www.sciencedirect.com