The Effect of Suspensions on Student Attendance in a High-Absenteeism Urban District

Abstract

I examine the effect of out-of-school suspensions (OSS) on attendance in a large midwestern urban district with high rates of chronic absenteeism. I do so from an ecological perspective and using daily attendance and discipline data. Out-of-school suspension has a modest and persistent negative effect on subsequent attendance, particularly for students who were not chronically absent and in schools with harsher discipline climates. I find not only that reducing OSS rates can improve attendance but also that addressing in-school factors such as OSS alone will not be sufficient for substantially reducing high-absenteeism rates in the context of broader social and economic inequalities.