Pre-K Absenteeism and School Readiness: The Moderating Role of Gender and Classroom Features

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early-Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

School absenteeism is associated with adverse consequences for children’s school performance (Morrissey, Hutchison, & Winsler, 2014). Chronic absenteeism, missing more than 10% of the school days, may be particularly problematic in terms of children’s progress through school (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012). Moreover, there is the potential for spillover effects of absenteeism such that children whose peers were absent may display lower achievement scores (Gottfried, 2015). Much less is known about the effects of individual- and classroom-level absenteeism in the pre-K year. Research using 3- and 4-year old children in Head Start suggested that children who missed more school, and especially those that were chronically absent, demonstrated fewer gains in math and reading during the preschool year (Ansari & Purtell, 2017).

The present study examines individual- and classroom-level chronic absenteeism among a cohort of 4-year-old pre-K students in a universal, school-based pre-K program in a large metropolitan area. In addition to examining the main effects of chronic absenteeism, I examined the moderating role of gender and socioeconomic status (at the individual and classroom level).

The sample consists of 1,247 students and was racially diverse (35% white, 34% African American, 21% Hispanic, and 9% Native American; 77% free/reduced price meals and 48% female). Student achievement (from fall of kindergarten) was assessed by the Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test for letter-word identification, spelling, and applied problems (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2000). Child and family covariates were from administrative data (receipt of free/reduced lunch and race), a parent survey conducted when the students were starting kindergarten (number of books in the home, living with father, marital status, maternal education, internet in the home, speaking English at home, perceived health of child, child care setting, and parent was foreign born), and U.S. Census data on neighborhood median income. Teacher covariates included the number of years teaching pre-K and education level.

Research questions were addressed using multiple regression with 20 multiply imputed datasets. Propensity scores, adjusting for the likelihood of being chronically absent, were derived using boosted regression techniques (McCaffrey et al., 2013). Standard errors were clustered at the classroom level.

Results confirm prior work that individual chronic absenteeism was associated with lower kindergarten pre-reading and math skills. The association between chronic absenteeism and math skills were moderated by gender. As seen in Figure 1, girls’ chronic absenteeism did not differentiate math achievement, but boys who were chronically absent demonstrated lower math skills than similar boys who were not. Classroom-level chronic absenteeism was not associated with children’s test scores, but there was a significant interaction with class-level free/reduced lunch. Among students in classes with high levels of classroom absenteeism, those who were in classes with high rates of free/reduced lunch status demonstrated higher math skills in K compared with those in classes with lower rates of free/reduced lunch status (Figure 2).

Results will be discussed in terms of implications for school-based efforts to curb rates of chronic absenteeism, notably among children in the youngest grades.

Author

• Sara Anderson, West Virginia University