Students who are chronically absent are more likely than other students to drop out of school. Many schools have goals to reduce student truancy and to help chronically absent students attend school regularly. Few studies, however, have focused on whether or how family and community involvement help reduce rates of chronic absenteeism. In this…

To expand and improve after-school opportunities for children, New Jersey After 3 (NJ After 3) has sought to develop and implement a comprehensive system of high-quality after-school programs throughout the state. Specifically, NJ After 3 seeks to increase the number of after-school programs in New Jersey that provide a safe environment for…

This is the 12th annual report on conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District (RUSD). This year, the analysis again focuses on the long-term historical trends in RUSD. The analysis compares RUSD data to data of nine peer school districts as well as statewide data. The peer districts are defined as those Wisconsin districts with…

The tables presented in this document show the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) results for the past two years. Twenty-four tables show results as percent at each performance level and percent passing, as well as percent of students tested. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…

Year after year, the goal of educators, parents, and concerned citizens throughout Alabama is to provide this state's children with the highest level of quality education possible. The future of Alabama's businesses, industries, commerce, labor force, arts, humanities, and countless other areas are determined by the education that is provided to…

This report describes the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and its 4-year outcomes. The program is a targeted private-school subsidy program that provides state aid to member schools in lieu of tuition. Students must come from households with income 1.75 times the poverty line or less, and eligible schools must have no religious affiliations.…

This study examined the effects of school attendance on the grade point averages (GPAs) of 70 regular education and 17 learning disabled fifth-graders in a rural school district. It found that school attendance had a significant positive influence on the regular education and learning disabled students' GPAs, indicating that absenteeism directly…

In 1997, Florida's St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) conducted a study to determine whether students who needed remediation completed their degree programs and, if so, the time that they took to complete their program. The academic records of students who graduated in summer 1995, fall 1995, and spring 1996 were analyzed, with findings compared…

In spring 1994, enrollment began to drop at Virginia's Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC), after having steadily increased between 1986-87 and 1993-94. The number of annual full-time equivalent students dropped 3.5% in 1994-95 to 4,394, another 3.8% in 1995-96 to 4,226, and another 11.3% in 1996-97 to 3,745. The college sought to provide a…

In an effort to provide statistical support for more stringent attendance policies, a study was conducted at McCook Community College (MCC) to determine whether there was a significant relationship between absences and grades in freshman composition classes. A literature review of similar studies conducted at both the secondary and postsecondary…

The purpose of the study described in this report was to ascertain why students in New York City high schools are earning insufficient credits to graduate in four years. Specific objectives of the study include the following: (1) to identify patterns and trends in credit accumulation among high school graduates and dropouts; (2) to determine and…

This study examines the involvement of the 3,234 students who graduated from the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools in 1988 in compensatory education programs funded under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. Program involvement is categorized as either program service or program treatment based on attendance. A student who…

In fall 1985, a study was conducted at Broome Community College (BCC) in Binghamton, New York, to determine whether students who added a class on or after the first class meeting (i.e., late admits) were at greater risk of withdrawing or failing than students who registered on time (i.e., regular admits). Final grades awarded to students in ENG…

A study was conducted at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) to determine the relationship between student educational objectives and retention/attrition rates. The study followed 4,502 students who came to the college for the first time in winter 1985 for five quarters, through winter 1986. The students were asked to indicate their…

This handbook provides guidance to school administrators in setting up an effective school attendance system. After brief introductory sections on the importance of good attendance and on how to recognize whether excessive pupil absences are a problem, the third section discusses how to organize the attendance services: outlining objectives;…