Attendance Works: The Effects of Truancy on High School Students Success

Abstract

Chronic absenteeism effects 5 to 7.5 million students in the United States. Students who are chronically absent are developmentally behind, suffer academically, and have increased negative behaviors in school. This results in students receiving lower academic marks affecting their GPA, receiving more referrals, and being retained. Chronic absenteeism is defined as students who are absent from school 20 or more days, 10 percent of the year, or 3 days in a month both excused and unexcused. The purpose of the study was to review chronic absenteeism at Brockport High School and determine the correlation between students GPA, the referrals they received, and retention rate. Brockport High School reported having 140 students (e.g. 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders) chronically absent from school during the 2014-2015 school year. The findings in the results displayed that there was a correlation between chronic absenteeism and the three variables (GPA, Referrals, and Retention). The results are further discussed as well as those limitations and implications of the research. Recommendations for further studies are explored as well.