The Demographics of our Chronically Absent Kindergartners
Related Indicators for page Chronic Absenteeism in Kindergarten: Page 8:
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% Free Lunch
% Free Lunch Students as of October 1 (130% of Federal Poverty Guidelines)
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% Free or Reduced Lunch
% free or reduced lunch students as of October 1 (up to 185% of Federal Poverty Guidelines)
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% Reduced Lunch
% Reduced Lunch Students as of October 1 (185% of Federal Poverty Guidelines)
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% Free Lunch Chronically Absent (30day min)
% Free Lunch Students Chronically Absent (10% or More of a Minimum 30 Days Enrolled)
High absenteeism correlates closely with poverty. Nearly two thirds of the chronically absent children in our cohort were eligible for subsidized lunch.
In their 2008 report, Present, Engaged and Accounted For, researchers examined a national sample of 21,000 children and concluded: "Going to school regularly in the early years is especially critical for children from families living in poverty who are less likely to have the resources to help children make up for lost time in the classroom." By 5th grade, the sample's chronically-absent kindergartners scored significantly lower in reading and math than peers who had attended regularly. Bear in mind that the spotty attendance of children who need much catching up is disruptive to the other students.
In the graphs above, click around the "select indicator" to find the worrisome fact that almost one third of our Chronically-Absent cohort are Hispanic, when only 18% of children in our cohort are Hispanic. Black children had the next highest rate, 13.5% (9% of our cohort). Likely, certain families and cultures are not yet convinced of the importance and value of early schooling.
Notice also in that graph that Chronic Absenteeism is associated with the need for special education (the indicator is IEP) and more than doubles the likelihood of being retained in grade.
English-language learners were only slightly more likely to be absent, and gender made little difference at all. See these details here.
