New Study Looks at High School Absenteeism.

The sample for this 2-year study of student absenteeism consisted of 6 comprehensive high schools, 3 from each of 2 urban school districts with 1,000 to 1,600 students and 60 to 70 full-time teachers. Highlights of the first-year findings summarized in this journal are based on the responses of nearly 8,000 students and 350 teachers. Attendance records are neither accurate nor consistent from school to school. Almost a third of the students missed an average of at least one class per day; nearly all students missed some of their classes two to three times more often than other classes. Students named social sciences, English, and math as subjects they cut the most. Penalties seemed to be a poor deterrent; having to make up classwork was the most powerful deterrent. Compared to low-absence students, high-absence students accounted for 84 percent of all grade point averages below 1.5; and 85 percent said they would be satisfied with a C or D grade, compared to 50 percent of the students with fewer absences who said the same. Absences by students in classes they failed were double the overall school rate; they were triple the school rate for those students who failed more than one class. To control chronic absenteeism and prevent more students from dropping out, administrators should improve school curriculum, instructional techniques, and attendance policies. (MLF)