Elementary School Teacher Workforce Development in Light of the Absenteeism Crisis

• In Event: Unpacking School Absenteeism across the PreKindergarten and Elementary School Years

Abstract

While many studies find promise in the ways that school programs might reduce absenteeism, little is known about the role of teachers. Given ESSA’s 5th indicator, teachers in our schools will likely bear a greater responsibility for addressing absenteeism now more than ever before. In turn, pre-service teacher preparation programs might face increased responsibility to ensure pre-service teachers receive adequate preparation to address this absence epidemic. To this effect, we asked the following research questions:

1. What program characteristics and/or background characteristics contribute to newly-graduating K/1 teachers feeling as if they have sufficient knowledge about chronic absenteeism?
2. What program characteristics and/or background characteristics contribute to newly-graduating K/1 teachers feeling prepared to address absenteeism?

Method
Our surveys were given to teacher candidates across multiple campuses at a single research-focused university system in California. This system prepares on average 800 teaching candidates a year. We surveyed the teaching candidates in the 2017-2018 graduating cohort from these campuses.
From the items in our survey, we used factor analysis to create two outcome scales. These scales included 1) the extent to which candidates believe they have sufficient knowledge of chronic absenteeism, and 2) perceptions of being prepared to address chronic absence in school. As controls, candidates reported on background characteristics. These characteristics include candidates’ gender, race, undergraduate GPA, highest level of parents’ education, whether they attended a private school in K-12, and whether they were pursuing a elementary or secondary credential. We also include information on teachers’ perceptions of their programs.

Analysis
To address the research questions, we employed an OLS regression model with program fixed effects. We regressed each outcome scale related to attendance on the perceptions of program factors, the candidates’ background characteristics, and whether they were receiving an elementary teaching credential. Errors were clustered at the program level.

Results
The most consistent program predictor of perceived preparedness was pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the overall helpfulness of edTPA as a tool for becoming a teacher. In fact, this was the only characteristic associated with pre-service teachers’ perceived knowledge of chronic absenteeism. Thus, it does appear from our study that perceived helpfulness might play a key role in preparing teachers to address absenteeism.

Conclusions
The findings from this study should be situated in the context of edTPA implementation in a time where policymakers and practitioners are placing a greater importance on addressing chronic absenteeism. Our study did not set out to measure or assess the effectiveness of edTPA; rather, this study explored perceptions of various factors related to overall pre-service preparation in California, and many of these perceptions relate to edTPA given its deemed importance and focus in preparation programs. For policymakers, the findings from our study suggest that there exist malleable factors, such as perceptions of teacher preparation, that are also correlated with pre-service teachers’ perceived abilities to address absenteeism in their classrooms.

Authors

• Michael A Gottfried, University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author

• Jacob Kirksey, Texas Tech University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ethan Hutt, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author