Socioeconomic Disadvantage, School Attendance, and Early Cognitive Development

Abstract

Over the past several decades, research has documented strong relationships between social class and children’s cognitive abilities. These initial cognitive differences, which are substantial at school entry, increase as children progress through school. Despite the robust findings associated with this research, authors have generally neglected the extent to which school absenteeism exacerbates social class differences in academic development among young children. Using growth-curve analyses within a three-level hierarchical linear modeling framework, this study employs data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) to examine the links between children’s social class, school absences, and academic growth during kindergarten and first grade. Results suggest that the effects of schooling on cognitive development are stronger for lower socioeconomic status (SES) children and that the findings associated with theories of summer learning loss are applicable to literacy development during early elementary school. Indeed, although they continue to achieve at lower absolute levels, socioeconomically disadvantaged children who have good attendance rates gain more literacy skills than their higher SES peers during kindergarten and first grade.

Are Student Absences Worth the Worry in U.S. Primary Schools?

“…First, absence rates are higher among socioeconomically disadvantaged students (Morrissey et al 2014;Ready 2010), so such students are exposed to the potentially harmful effects of absences more often. Second, absences may cause greater harm to students who reside in socioeconomically disadvantaged households, as such households may be less able to compensate for lost instructional time than their more advantaged counterparts (Chang and Romero 2008).…”

“…The relationship between student attendance and academic achievement is relatively understudied, particularly at the primary level (Ready 2010). Much of the existing literature on the relationship between attendance and academic performance is correlational and the few studies that have attempted to identify causal effects of absences have limited external validity, as they focus on single urban districts (e.g., Gottfried 2009Gottfried , 2011.…”

Tracing the U.S. Deficit in PISA Reading Skills to Early Childhood

“…It seems logical that more exposure to school would result in more learning. A range of studies concerning teacher strikes (Podair 2004), school year restructuring (Pischke 2007), and student absenteeism (Ready 2010) reveal the detrimental effects of decreased exposure to school on learning outcomes. These contradictions regarding time and learning are a prime example of the complexities of educational research, especially from a cross-national perspective.…”

Association between Allergic Scenario, Nutritional Status and Lung Function of School Children (10-14 years) in the Union Territory of Puducherry

“…It thus adversely affects the psychological wellbeing and quality of life [10]. It can be one of the most common causes for school absenteeism and poor academic achievement among students of all backgrounds, especially those from lower socio-economic status [11,12]. Therefore this study was aimed to find out the association between allergic scenario, nutritional status and lung function of school children (10-14 years) in each of the four regions of the Union Territory of Puducherry taking into account the drastic variation in socio-culture, demography, environment and climate among the geographically diversified regions.…”