Present and Accounted for: Improving Student Attendance Through Family and Community Involvement
Abstract
Reducing student absenteeism and truancy is a goal of many schools across the country. Surprisingly little research focuses on what schools can do to increase and sustain students' daily attendance, and even fewer studies explore how family-school-community partnerships may contribute to this goal. In this longitudinal study, data were collected on schools' rates of daily student attendance and chronic absenteeism and on specific partnership practices that were implemented to help increase or sustain student attendance. Results indicate that several family-school-community partnership practices predict an increase in daily attendance, a decrease in chronic absenteeism, or both. The data suggest that schools may be able to increase student attendance in elementary school by implementing specific family and community involvement activities.
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Where families felt more empowered to use shared language and tools introduced through the programme, pupils were more likely to generalise their learning across settings.
“Where families felt more empowered to use shared language and tools introduced through the programme, pupils were more likely to generalise their learning across settings”
From Beyond the Classroom: Strengthening Pupil Engagement, Attendance and Belonging through Alternative Education and Community Partnerships (2025) · cites this paper as Epstein & Sheldon, 2002
Cross-system interventions and ecological models of child development support generalisation of learning across settings.
“a pattern aligned with research on cross-system interventions and ecological models of child development”
From Beyond the Classroom: Strengthening Pupil Engagement, Attendance and Belonging through Alternative Education and Community Partnerships (2025) · cites this paper as Epstein & Sheldon, 2002
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- Authors
- Epstein, J. L., & Sheldon, S. B.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Educational Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2002-05
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 308-318
- ISSN
- 0022-0671 (ISSN-L)
- 1940-0675
- OpenAlex
- W2089367302
- Cited by
- 832
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 67 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 60 · 2015: 52 · 2014: 37 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 31
- FWCI
- 34.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Educational Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Youth Substance Use and School Attendance
- Social Sciences › Education › Parental Involvement in Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › School Health and Nursing Education
- Keywords
- student attendance, chronic absenteeism, truancy, school-family-community collaboration, family involvement, community participation, elementary school students
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