A 4 page research paper that offers a student a guide for composing the first three chapters of a study proposal that will address the problem of absenteeism and academic success at the elementary grade level. Using the tutorial language, the writer offers suggestions on the direction that the study might take. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_khrsaacs.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
(Sheldon, 2007, p. 267). Furthermore, schools that have high rates of absenteeism also typically have increased risk for more students dropping out of school (Sheldon, 2007). Studies have also found
that when young people attend school regularly, they are less at risk for engaging in "delinquent or destructive behaviors" (Sheldon, 2007, p. 267). Clearly school attendance is an important consideration
for any intervention or program attempting to increase overall academic achievement. Historically, considerations of school attendance have focused on the higher grades, i.e., middle school and high school students,
but have largely ignored the possible relationship between absenteeism and low levels of academic performance in the elementary grades. A small, but growing, body of research indicates that the root
of the absenteeism problem may well lie in these early years. Sheldon (2007) identifies three studies that found that attendance behaviors in elementary school were highly predictive for identifying high
school dropouts versus graduates. A report by H.N. Chang and M. Romero of the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) states that "more than 11 percent of kindergartners
and close to 9 percent of first graders are chronically absent" and that in schools that serve low-income level populations, the "percentages are probably higher" (Jacobson, 2008, p. 1). In
a 2002 paper on improving school attendance in the elementary grades, J.L. Epstein of Johns Hopkins University observed, "Dropping out of school, although identified as a single event, reflects a
long process of disengagement and withdrawal from schooling and educational institutions" (Jacobson, 2008, p. 2). While Epstein maintains that in most school districts and most elementary schools, high absenteeism
is not problematic, Romero observes that in those districts where it is a problem, policymakers and others tend to ignore it and Romero speculates t hat this is due to