Pre-kindergarten attendance matters: Early chronic absence patterns and relationships to learning outcomes

Ehrlich, Stacy B.; Gwynne, Julia A.

doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.02.012

Cited by 54 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“… 12 , 29 , 30 The importance of school attendance begins before elementary school, because absence from preschool has been associated with lower levels of kindergarten readiness and increased risk of needing reading intervention by second grade. 31 A recent analysis estimated that 5.5 million years of life were potentially lost owing to COVID-19–related school closures during 2020 alone, underscoring the importance of school attendance on health outcomes in adulthood. 32 Importantly, the longer the duration of school absence, the greater the risk of impaired academic achievement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School and Work Absences After Critical Care Hospitalization for Pediatric Acute Respiratory Failure

et al. 2021

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Key Points Question How often and for how long do children and their caregivers miss school or work after critical care hospitalization for acute respiratory failure? Findings In this secondary analysis of the Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure clinical trial, more than two-thirds of children missed school after discharge for a median of 9.1 days. Among primary caregivers, more than half missed work after their child’s hospitalization for a median of 2 days. Meaning These findings suggest that children and their caregivers often miss school or work after critical care hospitalization for acute respiratory failure; these children may be at increased risk of lower educational achievement, economic hardship, and poor health outcomes in adulthood.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School and Work Absences After Critical Care Hospitalization for Pediatric Acute Respiratory Failure

et al. 2021

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“…Chronic absenteeism at kindergarten is associated with a number of deleterious outcomes, including a higher likelihood of being retained (Connolly & Olson, 2012), a higher probability of being chronically absent at first grade and beyond (Ehrlich et al, 2014;Romero & Lee, 2007), a lower probability of meeting state proficiency standards in reading by third grade (Attendance Works, 2014;Ehrlich et al, 2018), and poorer educational and social engagement (Gottfried, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Test-based accountability has resulted in increased pressure for teachers in the early grades to prepare a greater swath of students to meet academic standards (Hatch, 2002). Because chronically absent kindergartners have a significantly lower likelihood of meeting state proficiency standards in future grades (Attendance Works, 2014;Ehrlich et al, 2018), teachers and districts may have devoted additional attention and resources to addressing attendance issues in order to reduce students' risk of academic failure. Indeed, interventions to address chronic absenteeism have proliferated within the past two decades (Center for Education Policy Research, n.d.).…”

Section: Absenteeism In the Face Of Changes In Educational Policies And Practices Increase In Full-day Programs And Academic Content At Kmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disparities Across Time: Exploring Absenteeism Patterns between Cohorts of Students with Disabilities

Gottfried¹,

Le²,

Kirksey³

2020

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background It is of grave concern that kindergartners are missing more school than students in any other year of elementary school; therefore, documenting which students are absent and for how long is of upmost importance. Yet, doing so for students with disabilities (SWDs) has received little attention. This study addresses this gap by examining two cohorts of SWDs, separated by more than a decade, to document changes in attendance patterns. Research Questions First, for SWDs, has the number of school days missed or chronic absenteeism rates changed over time? Second, how are changes in the number of school days missed and chronic absenteeism rates related to changes in academic emphasis, presence of teacher aides, SWD-specific teacher training, and preschool participation? Subjects This study uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), a nationally representative data set of children in kindergarten. We rely on both ECLS data sets— the kindergarten classes of 1998–1999 and 2010–2011. Measures were identical in both data sets, making it feasible to compare children across the two cohorts. Given identical measures, we combined the data sets into a single data set with an indicator for being in the older cohort. Research Design This study examined two sets of outcomes: The first was number of days absent, and the second was likelihood of being chronically absent. These outcomes were regressed on a measure for being in the older cohort (our key measure for changes over time) and numerous control variables. The error term was clustered by classroom. Findings We found that SWDs are absent more often now than they were a decade earlier, and this growth in absenteeism was larger than what students without disabilities experienced. Absenteeism among SWDs was higher for those enrolled in full-day kindergarten, although having attended center-based care mitigates this disparity over time. Implications are discussed. Conclusions Our study calls for additional attention and supports to combat the increasing rates of absenteeism for SWDs over time. Understanding contextual shifts and trends in rates of absenteeism for SWDs in kindergarten is pertinent to crafting effective interventions and research geared toward supporting the academic and social needs of these students.

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“…The lack of proven attendance strategies in early childhood education is especially concerning given that young children with attendance issues often continue patterns of absence throughout elementary school. For example, one-third of chronically absent 4-year-olds are also chronically absent in kindergarten, and one-third of this group remains chronically absent in second grade (Ehrlich, Gwynne, & Allensworth, 2018). Attendance interventions that focus on the child alone may miss the larger ecosystems in which low-income families operate, including significant obstacles like low levels of parent education and family income which may interfere with children's regular school attendance in the short and longterm.…”

Section: Past Interventions To Improve Children's School Attendancementioning

confidence: 99%

A Two‐Generation Education Intervention and Children’s Attendance in Head Start

Sommer¹,

Schneider

Chor

et al. 2020

Child Development

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Two-generation human capital programs seek to promote the education of parents and children simultaneously. This study examines relations between family participation in CareerAdvance, which recruits parents of Head Start children into a workforce training program, and children's Head Start attendance. The sample included 293 children (on average 4 years old) and their parents. After one semester, CareerAdvance children demonstrated higher rates of attendance and lower rates of absence and chronic absence (missing 10% or more of school days) than matched comparison children. These associations were similar across a range of high-and low-risk subgroups at baseline. These findings are discussed in terms of the implications of a family systems approach for improving children's Head Start attendance. Early childhood education, including Head Start, has become a central policy lever for expanding opportunity, especially among low-income children in the United States (

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Pre-kindergarten attendance matters: Early chronic absence patterns and relationships to learning outcomes

Cited by 54 publications

References 29 publications

School and Work Absences After Critical Care Hospitalization for Pediatric Acute Respiratory Failure

School and Work Absences After Critical Care Hospitalization for Pediatric Acute Respiratory Failure

Disparities Across Time: Exploring Absenteeism Patterns between Cohorts of Students with Disabilities

A Two‐Generation Education Intervention and Children’s Attendance in Head Start

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