ATTENDANCE IS SUPER IMPORTANT... or is it?

It’s something they drill into our tiny little brains from day 1. “Little Timmy! Why weren’t you at school yesterday? Attendance is the most important factor in ensuring that you’ll graduate/go to college/succeed in life!”
A fundamental aspect of any statistics course is analyzing causation. Two variables are said to be confounded when their effects on a response variable cannot be distinguished from each other.
I don’t believe that attendance deserves the importance that it receives. I don’t think it’s as clear cut as ATTENDANCE -> SUCCESS. Rather, a large part of it may come down to the fact that those more likely to succeed are also the ones that are more likely to attend class.
I’m not denying the importance of attendance. I just think administration and teachers believe that fixing attendance problems is the key to ensuring success. And clearly this is a more nuanced issue than it seems.
Thoughts?

I think that when people say that attendance is important, they’re targeting those who are chronically absent and at risk of not graduating; they aren’t saying that you need to go to school literally every day to be successful, just that you need to attend school a majority of the time. Obviously if you’re not in class most of the time, your grades will suffer.

Of course there’s more to success than just attendance, but it definitely helps to attend class.Sure, you can make up any assignment that’s due and grab the notes from a friend, but you’ll miss exactly what the teacher said, which, depending on the class, can be important. And there’s [url=<a href=“http://www.nassp.org/tabid/3788/default.aspx?topic=A_Focus_on_Attendance_Is_Key_to_Success%5Dresearch%5B/url”>http://www.nassp.org/tabid/3788/default.aspx?topic=A_Focus_on_Attendance_Is_Key_to_Success]research[/url] that shows those who attend class more have greater chances of success. So yeah, it is important. Especially for those who might have trouble in school; if they struggle, attendance is even more important in order for them to understand what’s being taught. It’s not as easy for those who struggle with school to catch up after absences as it is for the typical high achievers on CC.

Also, by “success”, I’m pretty sure in most cases they just mean graduating high school, not getting-into-Ivy success.

Sure, there is both correlation and causation. In college, the students who skip the most classes are also the least likely to put much effort into teaching themselves the material. In policy analysis, we care about whether there is any causal impact of a policy or action (like missing class) and the fact that you think there are some “confounders” doesn’t mean that a causal relationship doesn’t exist or is not of meaningful magnitude.

Attendance is stupid. I had a doctor’s appointment and I didn’t bring some slip or proof, so the secretary, one of my good friend’s mom, marked me with an unexcused tardy. Why the hell does school start at 7:35 am anyway?

Keep in mind that, in the US, school attendance is compulsory under state laws.

Attendance is definitely important, but obviously it is not the only factor. One could attend every single day of school, or go to every single meeting, but not contribute or learn anything.

I’ve been a teacher since 1980. And over the years, I’ve had any number of kids-- including at least 2 this year-- with chronic attendance issues.

(I’m not talking about kids with a medical issue. I’m one of those who HATE the perfect attendance award. I cannot see any merit in giving an award for coming to school sick.)

But a long time ago I came to the realization that I can’t make kids come to school. I will happily teach those who show up. But more than that I cannot do.

If you’re absent from my class, you’ll miss material. And, sure, you can get the notes from someone. But getting the notes is absolutely NOT the same as being in class. After all this time, I’m confident that I’m good at what I do. My explanations, my examples, they’re all crafted to help my students understand and remember the material. The notes give a much dryer version of the material.

I don’t think that “attendance = success.” But I do think that chronic absenteeism brings on a far greater risk of failure, either numerical failure or the failure to internalize the material.

But, as I said: I teach those who show up. More than that I cannot do.

As far as needing a note confirming your absence, that’s a different matter entirely. It’s because the school is acting in loci parentis and needs to know where you are.

A few years ago, I got a phone call at school, reminding me that I had forgotten to call my 5 year old in sick. I hadn’t; the babysitter had put her on the bus. After some investigation, they realized that the young teacher had accidentally marked her absent. No big deal, just 20 minutes of worry.

But in another incident, a few years later, one of the freshmen in my high school planned to run away. He came to school to get his girlfriend, and talk her into joining him, but they never went to homeroom. Fortunately, both were marked absent, both phone calls were made, and they were picked up at the local train station. Half an hour later, and they would have been enroute to NYC, and at much greater risk.

And if school didn’t start early, when would there be time for extra curricular? Lots of schools don’t have fields with lights, and dusk comes early for a good part of the school year.

It’s kind of weird to talk about this in the context of high school, where attendance is usually required. (On the other hand, I’m taking an education reform class where we’re learning about [this school](http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/) in the UK, which doesn’t require attendance at any age.) From personal experience, it’s definitely possible to get good grades with an awful attendance record, but you don’t learn as much.

At the high school level, I would look at each individual situation and figure out the reason behind a student’s poor attendance. This reason might keep them from getting good grades, even if their lack of attendance doesn’t cause bad grades in itself. (Maybe they’re absent because they’re sick; that could cause bad grades. Maybe they have some sort of family problem; that could cause bad grades. Maybe they’re irresponsible; that could cause bad grades.)

I feel very passionate about this particular issue. So far this year as a junior I have had >11 unexcused absences and plan to have several more. I had a similar issue in my sophomore year as well. However, I have also been my class’s valedictorian since the beginning of freshmen year, with a significant gap between my GPA and that of the salutatorian’s. The fact is that I feel as if we never do anything of value in any of my classes. I myself am an independent learner and am able to concentrate and learn 5x better alone at home than in the classroom. School has become a huge drag for me; I have grown to believe that it is actually inhibiting rather than facilitating my education. My school, however, is not very advanced or competitive. Many of the students in my AP classes do not deserve to be in there due to the new “everybody can take AP” program that my school has recently adopted. The effect? Students like me get held back reviewing the same material for the 6th time in class instead of learning new necessary material for the exam. Last year, for example, I stopped coming to school as one of my AP tests approached. I would stay home and use the time that I would have been in school to study for the exam instead. Me and this other girl got a 5 while everybody else in the class got a 3 or below. While my experience may be somewhat of a special case, it shows that under circumstances the opposite claim can be true.

I cannot stress the importance of attendance for academic achievement. I’m currently a junior who had chronic absenteeism in freshman and sophomore years. I missed so much school because I was depressed after the death of my sister but nothing can excuse it - it was sorely my own responsibility. And I failed miserably.

Due to missing school so much, my grades are not good whatsoever. My GPA freshman year was around 2.0 while my sophomore GPA was around 3.0. When you miss school, you fall behind very quickly. While you think that notes will help you, they do not. You cannot replace the precious time where you can ask a teacher for help or better understand what is being taught by the teacher.

My junior year is different and my first semester GPA was 4.0 while my second semester GPA is so far about 3.8. Unfortunately, junior year is a little bit too late - my college choices are limited because of my low GPA. I’m lucky that I live in California and UC’s calculate their GPA differently than other schools. I have a small chance to attend a good UC now but my chances are close to zero for any other good school that I’d be interested in such as Georgetown and Tufts.

In the end, you have to take responsibility for your own actions. It is an important part of growing up and I learned the lesson too late. I’m not going to tell you that you should never skip school, it is not my place. Just remember that skipping one day can lead to another day… and another day. You will have to face the consequences, though.