The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences in student chronic absenteeism between schools with high positive scores for perceptions of central components school climate and schools with low positive scores for perceptions of central components of school climate. This study assessed the difference in student chronic absenteeism among elementary schools rated high positive or low positive as well as among high schools rated high positive or low positive for perceptions of school engagement, school safety, and school environment. A series of chi square analyses were used to analyze data to determine if there were significant differences in student chronic absenteeism among schools with high positive ratings for central components of climate and schools with low positive ratings for central components of climate. The data that were analyzed included the number of students who were chronically absent, the number of students who were not chronically absent, and responses concerning perceptions of school climate provided by licensed school personnel on annual state-wide educator surveys administered by the Tennessee Department of Education. The results of the quantitative study revealed, that for both elementary and high schools, there was a significant difference in student chronic absenteeism between schools rated high positive and schools rated low positive for perceptions of school engagement. In addition, the results revealed, that for both elementary and high schools, there was a significant difference in student chronic absenteeism between schools rated high positive and schools rated low positive for perceptions of school 3 safety. Finally, the results revealed, that for both elementary and high schools, there was a significant difference in student chronic absenteeism between schools rated high positive and schools rated low positive for perceptions of school environment. In general, students who attended elementary or high schools rated high positive for perceptions of engagement, safety, and-or environment were significantly less likely to be chronically absent than students who attended elementary or high schools rated low positive for perceptions of engagement, safety, and-or environment.

Chronic absenteeism is a growing concern nationwide. Millions of students are absent from school, with the number summing to one month's worth of absences per student per year. As a result of Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA), many states have included chronic absenteeism as part of their school quality indicator. For the 2018-2019 school year, attendance was included in standards of accreditation. Reducing chronic absenteeism has long been a goal for many public principals at each grade level nationwide. The purpose of this study was to identify what interventions and strategies principals were implementing to decrease chronic absenteeism. This study further identified principals' perceptions of the interventions and strategies with the greatest and least effect on decreasing chronic absenteeism. A qualitative research design was used with semi-structured interviews to determine principals' perceptions of interventions and strategies to decrease chronic absenteeism. Participants were principals from secondary schools in one urban school district, located in the Southeastern region of Virginia. Findings from the research revealed that principals in this district are implementing interventions and strategies that include: positive behavioral interventions and supports, parent contacts, community partnerships, district supports, and professional development to decrease chronic absenteeism. The findings also suggested that interventions and strategies that help build relationships between the school, students, and parents are being most effective in decreasing chronic absenteeism in this district. Implications for continued decrease in chronic absenteeism at all level of practice are recommended and suggestions for future research / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to identify what interventions and strategies principals were implementing to decrease chronic absenteeism. This study further identified principals' perceptions of the interventions and strategies with the greatest and least effect on decreasing chronic absenteeism. The study included principals from secondary schools in one urban school district, located in the Southeastern region of Virginia. Principals were interviewed using interview questions designed by the researcher (see Appendix E). The research findings identified principals are implementing positive behavior interventions and supports in their schools to decrease chronic absenteeism. They are also implementing parent contacts, community partnerships, district supports, and professional development. The interventions and strategies principals find most effective in decreasing chronic absenteeism are interventions and strategies that help build relationships with students and parents. Future interventions and strategies should include additional efforts to contact parents, an increase in staff to make home visits and students being able to recover or buy back time lost from school due to absenteeism. Implications for practice in the continued decrease of chronic absenteeism are recommended, as well as suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a school-wide attendance and truancy intervention and universal procedures (ATI-UP) on student attendance. Student attendance was measured through average daily attendance and the percentage of students who would be considered chronically absent, i.e., missing 10% or more of school. The sample included 27 elementary schools in Oregon implementing school-wide positive behavior intervention and supports (SWPBIS) with varying levels of fidelity. Results indicate that schools can have a moderate effect on increasing average daily attendance (ADA) and a small effect on decreasing chronic absenteeism, although these results were not statistically significant. SWPBIS implementation did not act as a statistically significant moderator on the ATI-UP effects, although the treatment effect on ADA decreased with higher SWPBIS implementation.

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to explore a possible relationship between the number of students in grades 9-12 classified as chronically absent and the inclusion of the Chronically Out of School indicator in Tennessee’s accountability model for schools and school districts. Using publicly available data from the Tennessee Department of Education, the research study examined 6 years of data from the 2014-2015 to 2019-2020 school years. Data were divided into 3 years before and 3 years after implementation. Results of the study indicated that the mean number of chronically absent students in grades 9-12 were significantly lower during the 3 years after implementation of the Chronically Out of School indicator. Data was further disaggregated and analyzed based on the following subgroups: Black/Hispanic/Native American, Economically Disadvantaged, and Students with Disabilities. Results indicated a significant difference in the number of chronically absent Black/Hispanic/Native American subgroup after implementation, but there were no significant differences found in the Economically Disadvantaged and Students with Disabilities subgroups. In addition to a summary of the research findings, implications, and recommendations for future research and current practice are discussed.

This quantitative study explored the interplay among school culture, chronic absenteeism rates for English Learners (ELs), and overall English language proficiency (ELP) progress, as indicated by the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 test, in suburban Virginia middle schools. Utilizing the Virginia Framework for Cultural Competency, which encompasses learning environment, pedagogy and practice, community engagement, and self-reflection, the research aimed to determine the relationships among these domains, school culture, and student outcomes. The overarching research question addressed the interaction between school culture, chronic absenteeism rates for ELs, and ELP progress. Supporting questions examined the connections between school culture and ELP progress, the four cultural competency domains and ELP progress, and school culture and chronic absenteeism rates for ELs. Data for school culture ratings were sourced from the Department of Criminal Justice Services' school climate survey. The information on chronic absenteeism rates for ELs and ELP progress came from the Virginia Department of Education School Quality Profile. Analyses employing single and multiple linear regressions were conducted on existing archival data to identify statistical significance and correlations. The study yielded seven significant findings, highlighted three implications for practice, and revealed one policy implication. The findings from this research could assist current and future school leaders in Virginia middle schools by pinpointing specific aspects of school culture that could potentially enhance chronic absenteeism rates and academic progress in ELs. Additionally, division leaders might use these insights to tailor professional development for middle school principals and other educational leaders, emphasizing the critical role of a positive school culture. Furthermore, this study could support broader research efforts asserting the impact of school culture on academic success among ELs, identifying vital cultural elements that influence student achievement irrespective of their absenteeism or academic progress rates. / Doctor of Education / Principals of Virginia middle schools are tasked with ensuring that all students feel welcome in their building, attend school regularly, and make adequate progress. This quantitative study explored the interplay among school culture, chronic absenteeism rates for English Learners (ELs), and overall English language proficiency (ELP) progress, as indicated by the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 test, in suburban Virginia middle schools. Utilizing the Virginia Framework for Cultural Competency, which encompasses learning environment, pedagogy and practice, community engagement, and self-reflection, the research aimed to determine the relationships among these domains, school culture, and student outcomes. The overarching research question addressed the interaction between school culture, chronic absenteeism rates for ELs, and ELP progress. Supporting questions examined the connections between school culture and ELP progress, the four cultural competency domains and ELP progress, and school culture and chronic absenteeism rates for ELs. The study yielded seven significant findings, highlighted three implications for practice, and revealed one policy implication. The findings from this research could assist current and future school leaders in Virginia middle schools by pinpointing specific aspects of school culture that could potentially enhance chronic absenteeism rates and academic progress in ELs. Additionally, division leaders might use these insights to tailor professional development for middle school principals and other educational leaders, emphasizing the critical role of a positive school culture.

There is an abundance of research on chronic absenteeism as well as the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) approach, specifically the element of positive behavior intervention strategies (PBIS), at the elementary school level. A clear understanding of MTSS and PBIS at the high school level and how those approaches may impact chronic absenteeism of high school students is lacking in the recent research. The literature review provided the reader with an overview on PBIS and chronic absenteeism through the theoretical lens of Cooper’s (1982) Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) theory and explained the influence that PBIS has on chronic absenteeism at the elementary school level. The argument supporting utilizing successful policies already in place to address chronic absenteeism at the high school level is presented. This study identifies PBIS within the current research, as a means to understand how these promising practices may support improved attendance for the chronically absent high school student. The research suggests that positive behavior intervention strategies have tangentially decreased chronic absenteeism by reducing suspension rates at the elementary school level. This study sought to understand how effective, evidence-based positive behavior intervention strategies (PBIS), which have addressed and improved challenging student behavior schoolwide, can be repurposed to combat the causes associated with chronic absenteeism at the high school level. The causes associated with chronic absenteeism at the high school level fall into four categories termed school, family, environmental and personal. The objective of this quantitative program evaluation study was to evaluate the PBIS interventions that a local, small public high school used for targeted chronically absent high school students to see if their chronically absenteeism rate decreases. This study hypothesizes that the PBIS approach to behavior intervention can successfully transfer to decrease chronic absenteeism at the high school level. Additionally, this study discusses the extent to which results may be generalized to high school students across school districts. The results of this research study affirm the research questions that PBIS strategies can be repurposed to address chronic absenteeism at the high school level and having an effective attendance intervention program can improve attendance rates between and within attendance tiers in high school students, resulting in reduced chronic absenteeism. The most effective tier in improving attendance rates and reducing chronic absenteeism was both Tier 3 and Tier 4, with each tier resulting in 50% of participants increasing their attendance rates and reducing chronic absenteeism.

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What does it mean to be a school leader trying to improve chronic absenteeism at the high school level? Intervening with chronically absent high school students entails adapting existing practices designed for students in attendance, finding alternate ways to motivate students who simply are not there, and affording educational opportunity equitably to students whose voices and stories have largely been silenced, all against a landscape of increasingly rigorous and conflicting accountability pressure associated with chronic absenteeism, graduation rate, suspension rate and student achievement. While scholarship and dialogue pertaining to leadership responses to chronic absenteeism at the high school level generally support an emphasis on outreach and engagement with families, building relationships with students, affording students opportunities to recover credit, and connecting them to experiences that relate to the world of work after high school, scarce research focuses on the complex, dynamic role identities of the school leaders who innovate and implement these ad hoc responses, often without guidance from policy, and in turn, influence the experiences, outcomes and possibilities for chronically absent students. This current study investigated the ways that role identity components influenced the motivated actions of school and district leaders towards chronic absenteeism at the high school level. The study’s guiding questions were: (a) how do school leaders’ role identity components (i.e.., ontological and epistemological beliefs; purpose and goals; perceived action possibilities; self-perceptions and definitions) emerge and interact with each other to inform their actions regarding chronically absent high school students? (b) to what extent do the beliefs and perceptions of school leaders about supporting chronically absent students compare and contrast to the lived experiences of adults who were chronically absent students in high school? (c) to what extent do the beliefs and perceptions of school leaders about supporting chronically absent students compare and contrast to the lived experiences of parents and guardians of adults who were chronically absent students in high school? The guiding theoretical frame for this study is the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI; Kaplan & Garner, 2017). The DSMRI conceptualizes motivated action to be influenced by an actor’s dynamic and contextualized interpretation of his or her social cultural role, or role identity. According to the model, four multi-elemental components comprise an actor’s role identity: ontological and epistemological beliefs, purpose and goals, perceived action possibilities, and self-perceptions and definitions. These components are interdependent, irreducible, and reciprocally influencing each other, the behaviors and their meanings to the actor, and the future iterations of the actor’s role identity system. The study employed a narrative approach to investigate the school and district leaders’ motivated actions and the meanings they made of high school student absenteeism. Using Seidman’s (2013) protocol, I interviewed nine school leaders, five former students, and three parents who operated at a small, urban public school district in the Tri-State area about their past and present social-cultural roles concerning the meaning of they made of chronic absenteeism at the high school level. Additionally, I observed the nine school leaders and they provided artifacts and documents relating to chronic absenteeism. Transcribed interviews and the student focus group, as well as observations, documents and artifacts, were analyzed utilizing Saldana’s (2013) pragmatic eclecticism approach and Kaplan and Garner’s (2016) DSMRI Codebook and Analysis Guide. The results demonstrate how each school leader’s meaning of working with chronically absent students at the high school level, amidst an array of accountability pressures, has been incorporated into their dynamic role identity system within the sociocultural context, guiding their experiences, perceptions and actions. Despite their nuanced role identity systems - the participants come very different backgrounds with varied lived experiences and expertise in the domain, and reference different prior role identities and future role identities - the findings also highlighted common processes and content across Participant Roles (e.g., school leader, parent or student). This manifested distinctly in the themes reflecting school leaders’ actions changed in response to the system’s control parameter of accountability pressure, the ways school leaders communicated to parents and students about absenteeism, and the very different cultural meanings that students and parents gave to absenteeism and attendance than the cultural meanings and characteristics that school leaders largely experienced. These findings illuminate a complex, turbulent landscape comprised of school and district leaders, with myriad accountability systems to which they are beholden and their chronically absent students and families, all operating with multiple role identities that integrate with one another. The insights from this study can inform the work of educational leaders, educators and researchers who endeavor to intervene with the elusive problem of chronic absenteeism at the high school level. It may further guide educational leaders and policymakers who made decisions about the utility value of social-emotional learning that emphasizes exploration of identity for students, teachers, and leaders alike, as well as how outreach efforts are regarded and measured in school system outputs such as educator evaluation systems and professional development offerings. Importantly, this research aims to provide leaders with a tool for reflection on the importance of role identity as a lens to view their own professional practices and responses to challenging, complex problems in the domain such as chronic absenteeism. Moreover, when school systems were pressed to shut physically and adapt school services and instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the existing, multidimensional consideration of attending school manifested in new meanings and barriers for students, parents and school leaders grappling with the issue of chronic absenteeism in a changing context. Finally, this research aims to contribute, in a small way, to improve educational opportunity for all students, including those experiencing complex barriers to attending school. / Educational Administration

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The return to in-person schooling post-COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased pressure on educators to ensure academic success for students. This study examines the school climate of 40 elementary and middle schools in California's Central Valley and its impact on academic performance and attendance, comparing pre-pandemic (2018-2019) with post-pandemic (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) data. Additionally, the study explores the influence of positive student-teacher relationships on academic outcomes and chronic absenteeism. Utilizing the PLUS School Climate Survey, this research sought to identify significant differences in survey scores pre- and post-pandemic, as well as examining the predictive power of student-teacher connectedness on academic performance and chronic absenteeism. This research found statistically significant differences among 6th-8th grade students regarding perceptions of school connectedness throughout the years. There was a significant increase from the 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 school years followed by a significant decrease from 2021-2022 to the 2022-2023 school year. The 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 school year data on school connectedness was not significant. Results also indicate there was a significant positive relationship between students and teachers and their academic performance. In the 2022-2012 school year, when the students had a positive view of their relationship with teachers and staff at school, the student’s ELA and math scores increased. This analysis also examined the relationship between the student’s relationship with teachers and their chronic absenteeism. There were not statistically significant results. These findings aim to provide insights for educational stakeholders to implement targeted interventions to improve school climate and enhance student success amidst post-pandemic challenges.