High rates of absence from school are an important predictor of academic risk and dropout. Students who attended City Connects schools in elementary school are significantly less likely to be chronically absent (defined as being absent for 10% or more of the days within the school year) than students who never attended City Connects schools.
This graph presents the longitudinal change (or estimated probabilities) in chronic absenteeism for City Connects students and comparison students. Although City Connects students start out with higher rates of chronic absenteeism in grade 1, rates of chronic absenteeism were significantly lower than comparison students in all middle and high school grades 6-12, except for grade 10.
Beyond chronic absenteeism, City Connects students were found to have a significantly lower total number of days absent than students from the comparison group in grades 4 to 12.
City Connects (2014). The Impact of City Connects: Progress Report 2014. Chestnut Hill, MA: Center for Optimized Student Support.