Elementary School Attendance as an Index of Guidance Needs

Abstract

The attendance records of 235 second‐grade students were studied. Each child was classified by his teacher either into one of two problem groups (Learning‐Educational or Personal‐Social) or into one of two non‐problem groups (Enrichment or Average‐Normal). The teachers are represented in one of four groups: either being from a school serving a higher or a lower economic area and as having extended or limited classroom experience. Three types of absences were studied: single day, multiple day, and total days absent. Single day absences were expected to be most closely related to guidance needs. Multiple classification analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in the average number of days absent among the four pupil groups, and the four teacher groups or among their interactions, regardless of whether the data were single day, multiple day, or total days absent. Whether the data were studied in terms of pupil or teacher groups, the average number of days absent was never significantly different from zero. No support was found for the idea that school attendance is an index of pupil achievement or adjustment.