Profiles of School Climate Associated with Student Chronic Absenteeism

School administrators face the continued challenge of improving attendance and preventing dropout. Chronic absenteeism is poorly understood and is a significant risk factor for school dropout, which is closely associated with academic underachievement, delinquent behavior, and limited economic opportunity. School climate is a strong predictor of student’s social, emotional, and academic functioning, including school attendance, making it an important avenue for intervention. A multi-faceted construct, school climate reflects myriad domains associated with different student outcomes. For example, student perceptions of safety, the school’s physical environment, and social connectedness to teachers and peers impact students’ experience of school and may affect chronic absenteeism. Understanding which facets of school climate are associated with chronic absenteeism will allow school administrations to make effective decisions to enhance school climate and reduce chronic absenteeism. The current study seeks, first, to identify unique profiles of relevant school climate factors among adolescents, and, second, to determine how these profiles relate to concurrent rates of chronic absenteeism.

The School Survey was administered annually to students in all district schools from 2007 to 2012. Participants were 25,556 students in grades 6-12 (41.3% male). These schools served a diverse student body (African American: 6.3-100%; Free/Reduced Meals: 15-97%; Special Education: 0.4-100%). Current analyses used the 2007 survey, which had 93 items hypothesized to represent eight constructs: value of education, safety, physical environment, learning climate, teaching quality, school resources, parent involvement, and school satisfaction. Schools tracked student attendance and absences daily; rates are based on the entire school year. A multi-level latent class profile analysis was conducted with climate items selected based on theoretical relevance for attendance; the association between individual-level profiles and school-level chronic absence rates were then examined.

Chronic absence rates ranged from 0 to 87.9% across schools (M=33.12, SD=20.68). Three classes of school climate emerged: positive, mixed, and negative school climate. Among the facets of school climate, relationship with teacher, effectiveness of teaching, and overall satisfaction with school demonstrated the greatest discrimination among classes. Students in the negative climate class were more likely to attend schools with higher rates of chronic absenteeism, whereas youth in the positive climate class were more likely to attend schools with lower chronic absenteeism.

Findings have implications for prevention and intervention approaches intended to improve school climate to reduce chronic absenteeism.