The more than 500,000 children currently in foster care are among the most at-risk children in American society. Research shows that adults who were formerly in foster care are more likely than the general population to succumb to poor life outcomes. Many of these problems are at least in part a product of problems in the classroom, where foster…

The first part of this study examined class attendance of 959 students in 17 sections of undergraduate psychology classes. It was found that class attendance decreased from the beginning to the end of the semester. An investigation of 117 of the students found that attendance displayed moderate correlations with course grades. Students missed…

For the 1982-83 school year, the Austin (Texas) Public Schools adopted a high school attendance policy allowing a maximum of 10 absences per semester for course credit to be earned. Under this policy, Austin's high school attendance rose to an all-time high of 93.5 percent in 1983-84. In 1984-85, education reform mandated by the Texas Legislature…

Absenteeism is expensive in terms of academic achievement, economic loss to school districts, and teacher efficiency. Most importantly, however, truancy is expensive because it is a lost opportunity to rehabilitate a large number of distressed youngsters. A number of studies have demonstrated that schools are not equipped in either organization or…

The aim of the research was to assess the economic, educational and cultural predictors of the TIMSS 2003 science test results in Lithuania and Estonia. The data for the research were received from the TIMSS 2003 User Guide for the International Database. The Spearman rank correlation coefficients, calculated on the students' level and the schools…

Findings of a paper that examined the effect of different attendance policies on student attendance and achievement are presented in this paper. Analysis of class records of 401 college students enrolled in four child development courses taught from fall 1989 to spring 1990 indicated that there were significantly more absences if attendance was…

The primary objective of this research was to provide fundamental information about the relationship between social milieu, preschool experience, and children's ability to perform logical thinking tasks, and also about the implications of these factors for educational programs pertaining to the development of preschool teachers and administrators.…

This study investigated the degree to which at-risk, urban, African American high school students' coping strategies and grade point average (GPA) would predict attendance. Data were collected from 100 high school freshmen using the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences. Students' GPAs were identified through school records.…

Data from public and private sectors reveal that few persons stay in psychotherapy long enough to be classified as "long-term" clients. Those who do remain in psychotherapy for a long time are rarely studied because attention has generally been focused on terminators. Demographic, treatment, and psychometric characteristics of 64 long-term…

This study explored the relationship between classroom instructional processes and the average number of student absences in first and third grades. The data were collected in a total of 166 classrooms as part of the Follow Through Planned Variation Program. The Classroom Observation Instrument, developed by Stanford Research Institute, was used…

Thirty-six students at a continuation high school were identified as predelinquents and selected as subjects on the basis of their poor attendance and academic records. Pretreatment and posttreatment data were collected on the following variables: attendance figures and academic credits. Following preliminary assessment, the subjects were randomly…

Findings of a study that examined the effect of a computer-assisted absence registration system (ARS) on student truancy are presented in this paper. A pre- and post-test group design compared the truancy levels of 30 secondary schools in 4 large cities in western Holland who participated in the ARS program with those of 19 nonparticipating…

A study at South Carolina State College examined the psychosocial effects of relaxation training on student dropout, disruptive behavior,and absenteeism of rural preadolescents between 10 and 14 years of age. Phase 1 of the study was composed of 62 preadolescents selected randomly from 167 middle school students with no previous instruction in…

This paper describes a program intended to increase student attendance in a Savannah, Georgia, inner city high school. The author maintains that shifting the accountability for attendance to the students through peer pressure was perhaps the most significant reason for gains in attendance. He believes that a successful attendance increase program…

Elementary school attendance and achievement data were collected from the records of a random sample of 1,200 Chicago students. There were complete longitudinal data sets for 333 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Student absence was highest in kindergarten and decreased until fourth grade; absence rates were approximately constant…