Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Policymakers and educational leaders have invested considerable effort in identifying factors that contribute to student absenteeism. While research has extensively examined environmental and school-level influences, less attention has been given to how classroom dynamics shape attendance patterns. This study examined the impact of peer absenteeism on individual student attendance in four Texas school districts, leveraging daily-level attendance data. Findings indicate that classmates’ absences increase a student's likelihood of being absent the following day, and these effects persist even after removing absences attributed to illness. We did not find differences based on peer achievement levels. Lastly, we found that peer absences correspond to student absences not just the following day but for several days into the school week, reinforcing the broader role of classroom disruptions in shaping attendance behavior.

Keywords

educational policy elementary schools longitudinal studies peer interaction/friendship quasi-experimental analysis secondary data analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abadie

Athey

Imbens

G. W.

Wooldridge

J. M.

(2023). When should you adjust standard errors for clustering?. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 138(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac038

Allison

M. A.

Attisha

, & Council on School Health. (2019). The link between school attendance and good health. Pediatrics, 143(2), e20183648. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3648

Attendance Works. (n.d.). Attendance awareness month. https://www.attendanceworks.org/our-blog/attendance-awareness-month/

Aucejo

E. M.

Romano

T. F.

(2016). Assessing the effect of school days and absences on test score performance. Economics of Education Review, 55, 70–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.08.007

Balfanz

Byrnes

(2018). Using data and the human touch: Evaluating the NYC inter-agency campaign to reduce chronic absenteeism. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 23(1–2), 107–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2018.1435283

Brault

M. C.

Janosz

Archambault

. (2014). Effects of school composition and school climate on teacher expectations of students: A multilevel analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education, 44, 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.08.008

Broadhurst

Paton

May-Chahal

(2005). Children missing from school systems: Exploring divergent patterns of disengagement in the narrative accounts of parents, carers, children and young people. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26(1), 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142569042000292743

Chang

H. N.

Davis

(2015). Mapping the early attendance gap: Charting a course for school success. Attendance Works.

Chang

H. N.

Bauer

Byrnes

(2018). Data matters: Using chronic absence to accelerate action for student success. Attendance works. ERIC. https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Attendance-Works-Data-Matters_010919.pdf

10.

Chen

Stevenson

H. W.

(1995). Motivation and mathematics achievement: A comparative study of Asian-American, Caucasian-American, and East Asian high school students. Child Development, 66(4), 1214–1234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00932.x

11.

Childs

Grooms

A. A.

(2018). Improving school attendance through collaboration: A catalyst for community involvement and change. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 23(1–2), 122–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2018.1439751

12.

Cohen

J. F.

Hecht

A. A.

McLoughlin

G. M.

Turner

Schwartz

M. B.

(2021). Universal school meals and associations with student participation, attendance, academic performance, diet quality, food security, and body mass index: A systematic review. Nutrients, 13(3), 911. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030911

13.

Connolly

Olson

L. S.

(2012). Early elementary performance and attendance in Baltimore City schools’ pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Baltimore Education Research Consortium. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED535768

14.

Doobay

A. F.

(2008). School refusal behavior associated with separation anxiety disorder: A cognitive-behavioral approach to treatment. Psychology in the Schools, 45(4), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20299

15.

Edwards

D. S.

(2023). Another one rides the bus: The impact of school transportation on student outcomes in Michigan. Education Finance and Policy, 19(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00382

16.

Ekstrom

Goertz

Pollack

Rock

(1986). Who drops out of high school and why? Findings from a national study. The Teachers College Record, 87(3), 356–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146818608700308

17.

Espelage

D. L.

Hong

J. S.

Rao

M. A.

Low

(2013). Associations between peer victimization and academic performance. Theory into Practice, 52(4), 233–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2013.829724

18.

Fiese

B. H.

Winter

M. A.

Wamboldt

F. S.

Anbar

R. D.

Wamboldt

M. Z.

(2010). Do family mealtime interactions mediate the association between asthma symptoms and separation anxiety? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(2), 144–151. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02138.x

19.

Finn

J. D.

(1993). School engagement and students at risk. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/93470a.pdf

20.

Finn

J. D.

(1989). Withdrawing from school. Review of Educational Research, 59(2), 117–142. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543059002117

21.

Fujiyama

Kamo

Schafer

. (2021). Peer effects of friend and extracurricular activity networks on students’ academic performance. Social Science Research, 97, 102560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102560

22.

Gee

K. A.

(2018). Minding the gaps in absenteeism: Disparities in absenteeism by race/ethnicity, poverty and disability. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 23(1–2), 204–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2018.1428610

23.

Gee

K. A.

Gottfried

M. A.

Freeman

J. A.

Kim

(2024). Explaining disparities in absenteeism between kindergarteners with and without disabilities: A decomposition approach. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 67, 295–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2024.01.002

24.

Gershenson

(2016). Linking teacher quality, student attendance, and student achievement. Education Finance and Policy, 11(2), 125–149. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00180

25.

Gershenson

Jacknowitz

Brannegan

(2017). Are student absences worth the worry in U.S. primary schools? Education Finance and Policy, 12(2), 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1162/EDFP_a_00207

26.

Goodman

J. S.

(2014). Flaking out: Student absences and snow days as disruptions of instruction time (NBER Working Paper No. 20221). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w20221

27.

Gottfried

Kirksey

J. J.

Fletcher

T. L.

(2022). Do high school students with a same-race teacher attend class more often? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 44(1), 149–169. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737211032241

28.

Gottfried

M. A.

(2014). Chronic absenteeism and its effects on students’ academic and socioemotional outcomes. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 19(2), 53–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2014.962696

29.

Gottfried

M. A.

Ansari

(2019). Do teachers’ instructional practices change when more students are absent? Teaching and Teacher Education, 86, 102888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102888

30.

Gottfried

M. A.

Kirksey

J. J.

(2017). “When” students miss school: The role of timing of absenteeism on students’ test performance. Educational Researcher, 46(3), 119–130. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x17703945

31.

Gottfried

M. A.

Kirksey

J. J.

Ozuna

C. S.

(2020). Exploring the links between student and classmate chronic absenteeism. Teachers College Record, 122(12), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812012201205

32.

Gottfried

M. A.

Ozuna

C. S.

Kirksey

J. J.

(2021). Exploring school bus ridership and absenteeism in rural communities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 56, 236–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.03.009

33.

Green

DeFosset

Kuo

(2019). Residential mobility among elementary school students in Los Angeles County and early school experiences: Opportunities for early intervention to prevent absenteeism and academic failure. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2176. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02176

34.

Hancock

K. J.

Shepherd

C. C. J.

Lawrence

Zubrick

S. R.

(2013). Student attendance and educational outcomes: Every day counts. Telethon Kids Institute. https://www.thekids.org.au/globalassets/media/documents/research-topics/student-attendance-and-educational-outcomes-2015.pdf

35.

Hollon

Malkus

Winchell Lenhoff

Singer

(2025, October). What stories does daily attendance tell? Student attendance patterns before and after the COVID-19 pandemic [Repor]). American Enterprise Institute. https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/What-Stories-Does-Daily-Attendance-Tell.pdf

36.

Holt

S. B.

Gershenson

(2019). The impact of demographic representation on absences and suspensions. Policy Studies Journal, 47(4), 1069–1099. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12229

37.

Hutt

E. L.

(2018). Measuring missed school: The historical precedents for the measurement and use of attendance records to evaluate schools. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 23(1–2), 5–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2018.1438899

38.

Jordan

P. W.

Miller

(2017). Who’s in: Chronic absenteeism under ESSA. https://www.future-ed.org/whos-in-chronic-absenteeism-under-the-every-student-succeeds-act/

39.

Kearney

C. A.

(2008). School absenteeism and school refusal behavior in youth: A contemporary review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(3), 451–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2007.07.012

40.

Kearney

C. A.

Dupont

Fensken

Gonzálvez

(2023). School attendance problems and absenteeism as early warning signals: Review and implications for health-based protocols and school-based practices. Frontiers in Education, 8, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1253595

41.

Kirksey

J. J.

(2025a). Everyone is missing more school: How student attendance patterns have shifted over time. American Enterprise Institute. https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/everyone-is-missing-more-school-how-student-attendance-patterns-have-shifted-over-time/

42.

Kirksey

J. J.

(2025b). Transforming education through teacher quality in the Permian Basin: The impact of Texas Tech University residency programs. Texas Tech University, Center for Innovative Research in Change, Leadership, and Education. https://hdl.handle.net/2346/102377

43.

Kirksey

J. J.

(2024). Amid rising number of uncertified teachers, previous classroom experience proves vital in Texas [Brief No. 1]. Texas Tech University, Center for Innovative Research in Change, Leadership, and Education. https://hdl.handle.net/2346/98166

44.

Kirksey

J. J.

(2019). Academic harms of missing high school and the accuracy of current policy thresholds: Analysis of preregistered administrative data from a California school district. AERA Open, 5(3), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419867692

45.

Kirksey

J. J.

(In press). Weeks after the raid: The immediate and sustained changes in student attendance rates following immigration arrests. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737241288838

46.

Kirksey

J. J.

Elefante

(2023). A crisis in the opportunity to learn: Addressing the causes and consequences of missing school. In Matson

J. L.

(Ed.), Handbook of clinical child psychology: Integrating theory and research into practice (pp. 217–231). Springer Cham.

47.

Kirksey

J. J.

Elefante

(2024). Familiar faces in high school: How having the same peers from year-to-year links to student absenteeism. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 29(1), 23–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2022.2102982

48.

Kirksey

J. J.

Gottfried

M. A.

(2021). The effect of serving “breakfast after-the-bell” meals on school absenteeism: Comparing results from regression discontinuity designs. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 43(2), 305–328. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373721991572

49.

Kirksey

J. J.

Gottfried

M. A.

(2018). Familiar faces: Can having similar classmates from last year link to better school attendance this year? The Elementary School Journal, 119(2), 223–243. https://doi.org/10.1086/700236

50.

Ladd

H. F.

Sorensen

L. C.

(2017). Returns to teacher experience: Student achievement and motivation in middle school. Education Finance and Policy, 12(2), 241–279. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00194

51.

Larsen

Helland

M. S.

Holt

(2022). The impact of school closure and social isolation on children in vulnerable families during COVID-19: A focus on children's reactions. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(8), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01758-x

52.

Liu

Loeb

(2019). Engaging teachers: Measuring the impact of teachers on student attendance in secondary school (EdWorkingPaper No. 19-01). Annenberg Institute at Brown University. http://annenberg.brown.edu/ai19-01

53.

Miller

R. T.

Murnane

R. J.

Willett

J. B.

(2008). Do teacher absences impact student achievement? Longitudinal evidence from one urban school district. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 181–200. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373708318019

54.

Monk

D. H.

Ibrahim

M. A.

(1984). Patterns of absence and pupil achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 21(2), 295–310. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312021002295

55.

Newmann

F. M.

(1981). Reducing student alienation in high schools: Implications of theory. Harvard Educational Review, 51(4), 546–564. http://proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=19723785&site=eds-live

56.

Presler

J. L

. (2022). You are who you eat with: Academic peer effects from school lunch lines. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 203, 43–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2022.08.029

57.

Rimm-Kaufman

S. E.

Chiu

Y. J. I.

(2007). Promoting social and academic competence in the classroom: An intervention study examining the contribution of the responsive classroom approach. Psychology in the Schools, 44(4), 397–413. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20231

58.

Robinson

C. D.

(2018). Reducing student absenteeism in the early grades by targeting parental beliefs. American Educational Research Journal, 55(6), 1163–1192. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218772274

59.

Romero

Lee

Y. S.

(2008). The influence of maternal and family risk on chronic absenteeism in early schooling. National Center for Children in Poverty.

60.

Santibanez

Guarino

C. M.

(2021). The effects of absenteeism on academic and social-emotional outcomes: Lessons for COVID-19. Educational Researcher, 50(6), 392–400. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x21994488

61.

Schmitt

. (n.d.). Schmitt pediatric patient education handouts [Web page]. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://publications.aap.org/patiented/pages/schmitt

62.

Singer

(2025). The effect of suspensions on student attendance in a high-absenteeism urban district. Urban Education, 60(2), 628–659. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859231192084

63.

Southworth

(1992). Psychological and social characteristics associated with persistent absence among secondary aged school children with special reference to different categories of persistent absence. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 367–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(92)90116-7

64.

Stein

M. L.

Grigg

J. A.

(2019). Missing bus, missing school: Establishing the relationship between public transit use and student absenteeism. American Educational Research Journal, 56(5), 1834–1860. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219833917

65.

Sugrue

E. P.

Zuel

LaLiberte

(2016). The ecological context of chronic school absenteeism in the elementary grades. Children & Schools, 38(3), 137–145. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdw020

66.

Tran

Gershenson

(2021). Experimental estimates of the student attendance production function. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 43(2), 183–199. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720984463

67.

Van Eck

Johnson

S. R.

Bettencourt

Johnson

S. L.

(2017). How school climate relates to chronic absence: A multi–level latent profile analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 61, 89–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.10.001

Missing Classmates and Attendance Patterns in Elementary Schools

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References