The relationship between absenteeism and academic achievement among freshman Algebra I and Biology students in Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County Public Schools

Taft H Davis, Tennessee State University

Abstract

This study was a follow up of Dr. Tammy Shutts' (2000) research on the Relationship Between Absenteeism and Academic Achievement in Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County Public Schools. Shutts' study determined that there was a relationship between absenteeism and academic achievement based on scores from achievement tests. However, Shutt only divided the absentees into two groups: Students who missed twelve or fewer days and those who were absent over twelve days. The present study was designed to determine at what point the absenteeism affected academic achievement based on standardized test scores. The sample for this study was 936 freshman students, who took both the Algebra I and Biology Gateway exams, attending 14 public high schools in Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County Public Schools during the 2002–2003 school year. Students who were not enrolled at least 90 days during the school year were eliminated from the study. The relationship between absenteeism and academic achievement was examined for the following variables: (a) sex, (b) ethnicity, (c) school attended, and (d) number of days absent. The absences were divided into three day increments. There was a negative correlation found between the number of days absent and academic achievement as measured by the Algebra I and Biology Gateway exams. The study was conducted to test five hypothesis stated in the null and tested at alpha of .01. There was a statistically significant negative effect on the Algebra I Gateway exam after only three days of absence. This study found that absenteeism affected Black and White students at a statistically significant level while Asian and Hispanic students were not as significantly affected. The difference in achievement between the different levels of absenteeism was found to be basically the same for both male and female students. There were significant differences in the effect of absenteeism among the schools in the study.

Subject Area

Secondary education|Mathematics education|Science education

Recommended Citation

Taft H Davis, "The relationship between absenteeism and academic achievement among freshman Algebra I and Biology students in Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County Public Schools" (2003). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI3116146.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3116146

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