Association of Parent Involvement in School and Chronic Absence By Sixth Grade

Introduction: As many schools focus on average daily attendance, chronic absence (i.e. missing 10% or more of scheduled school days considering un/excused absences (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012)) is often overlooked. However, chronic absenteeism is a major threat to children’s school success. By 6^th grade, chronic absence begins to predict high school dropout rates. Children who are chronically absent miss critical instruction time in the classroom. Chronic absenteeism begins to rise in middle school and continues climbing through 12^thgrade. Identifying alterable mechanisms that are associated with chronic absence is a key strategy in promoting better attendance patterns for children, increasing the time they spend in school and the instructional time that they receive. One such potential mechanism is parent involvement in school. School parent involvement has been associated with increased achievement, student academic motivation, and reductions in maladaptive behaviors. The present study investigates the association of school parent involvement with chronic absenteeism by sixth grade.

Methods: We used data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (Reynolds, 2000), a large study of economically disadvantaged children living in an urban context (n=1539). Data on 4^th~6^th grade chronic absenteeism was reported by parents and teachers. Parent involvement was rated by teachers in 1^st~6^thgrade.  Using logistic regression, we examined the odds that a child will be chronically absent by sixth grade, when controlling for a rich set of covariates (e.g. gender, mother’s education status, poverty status), as well as for achievement, motivation, and special education placement.

Results: Preliminary findings suggest that children with above average parent involvement were 46% (Adjusted Odds Ratio .54; 95% CI, .31- .97) less likely to be chronically absent by sixth grade than children whose parents were not as involved in school. Additional predictors of chronic absence were sex and home environment risk factors. Of note, males with parents who were highly involved were almost 62% (Adjusted Odds Ratio .38; 95% CI, .16-.89) less likely to be chronically absent by sixth grade than their male peers with parents who were less involved.

Conclusions: These findings have significant implications for education policy, as they suggest a possible alterable mechanism to improve children’s school attendance – emphasizing parent involvement in children’s education throughout the elementary years.