Linking Getting to School With Going to School

“Therefore, chained multiple imputation was employed (Royston, 2004).”

“…with lower socioeconomic youth who experience barriers to attending school such as domestic and neighborhood violence, unstable housing conditions, lack of school supplies, housing and transportation problems, and safety concerns coming to school (Flaherty et al., 2012; Gottfried, 2017).”

“Exosystem factors such as a parent’s employment (Ingul et al., 2012), school start times (Bowers and Moyer, 2017; McKeever and Clark, 2017), and transport options (Gottfried, 2017) might also exert an influence on proximal processes.”

“…Nolan et al., 2013), exposure to environmental hazards (Chen, Jennison, & Yang, 2002; Gilliland et al., 2001), run-down school facilities (Durán-Narucki, 2008), reduced access to public transport (Gottfried, 2017; Stein & Grigg, 2019) and exposure to crime (Burdick-Will, Stein, & Grigg, 2019).”

“In highpoverty neighborhoods with high crime rates, safety concerns may further discourage students from commuting to school when safe transit options are unavailable (Gottfried, 2017; Hamlin, 2019).”

“Numerous studies have measured the impact of chronic absenteeism on student performance, and these studies have shown a correlation between achievement and attendance (Gottfried, 2017; Roby, 2004).”

“More recently, Gottfried (2017) examined the association between transit mode and school attendance among kindergarteners and found that students who took a school bus were less likely to miss school than children who took other modes of transit (predominately private car).”

“…school-based efforts with coordinated strategies for addressing social and economic inequality, including safe and reliable school transportation (Gottfried, 2017), stable and affordable housing (Erb-Downward & Watt, 2018; Evangelist & Shaefer, 2020), and more effective poverty reduction and…”

“Accordingly, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners should pay much closer attention to transportation and the ways in which preschool-aged children get to school as a way of reducing the barriers that exist in families’ access to high quality ECE (see also, Gottfried, 2017).”

“According to Gottfried [57], when schools provide transportation, truancy is reduced.”

“In related fashion, marginalized children who do not take a bus to school, or who must walk longer distances to school, are at greater risk of absenteeism (Gottfried, 2017).”

“Yet, two studies found that rural kindergarten students who took the bus to school had fewer absences than their peers who took other modes of transportation or those from urban and suburban areas (Gottfried, 2017; Gottfried et al., 2021).”

“Among elementary grades, absenteeism is highest in kindergarten (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012; Gottfried, 2017) and the prevalence is greater in low-income or urban schools (Chang & Romero, 2008).”

“Students with stronger school attendance (Gottfried, 2017) and more positive academic beliefs (Yeager & Walton, 2011) tend to demonstrate better academic performance.”

“Others have examined the presence or rollout of school programs (Gottfried, 2015, 2017a; Gottfried & Hutt, 2019), mentoring (Childs & Grooms, 2018), peer consistency (Kirksey & Gottfried, 2018), therapy (Gandy & Schultz, 2007), and transportation (Gottfried, 2017c).”

“Furthermore, riding the school bus in kindergarten is associated with increased attendance, especially for students living in rural communities (Gottfried 2017; Gottfried, Ozuna, and Kirksey 2021).”

“Other research has suggested that school buses (Gottfried, 2017), school-based health”

“Consistent with this, Cordes et al. (2019) and Gottfried (2017) report that students taking the bus have lower absenteeism.1 That said, none of these papers examine the length of the bus ride or how students with long bus rides perform relative to other bus riders with shorter commutes.”

“Even if parents are aware and connected, they may still face other barriers, such as interfering work schedules and transportation challenges, which lead them to keep their children out of school (Gottfried, 2017; Hancock et al., 2018).”

“For example, a few studies have shown that schools’ communication with parents and provision of health services and transportation are linked with better school attendance (Allen, 2003; Chang & Romero, 2008; Epstein & Sheldon, 2002; Gottfried, 2013, 2017).”

“Structural barriers such as the distance from a family ’ s home to Head Start may also in fl uence children ’ s school attendance (Gottfried, 2017; Romero & Lee, 2008; Susman-Stillman, Englund, Storm, & Bailey, 2018).”

“One such study, Gottfried (2017), utilized the ECLS-K:2011 dataset to find that kindergarteners who rode the school bus were less likely to be chronically absent than students who used alternative modes of transit.”

“Longer commutes are also associated with higher absenteeism (Blagg, Rosenboom, and Chingos 2018; Cordes, Rick, and Schwartz 2021; Gottfried 2017; Stein and Grigg 2019) and an increased likelihood of switching schools, which can adversely affect test scores, discipline, and dropout (Blagg et al.…”

“School programs that have been associated with less absenteeism included mentoring, transportation, meals, and texting (Childs & Grooms, 2018; Gottfried, 2017; Kirksey & Gottfried, 2021; Page & Smythe-Leistico, 2019).”

“…and Purtell, 2018; Ehrlich et al., 2018; Fuhs et al., 2018; Rhoad-Drogalis and Justice, 2018); and (b) the more often children are absent in the early years, the more likely they were to be absent later on (Connolly and Olson, 2012; Dubay and Hollar, 2016; Gottfried, 2017; Ansari and Pianta, 2019).”

“…to the importance of transportation and its relationship to AUGUST 2023 515 families’ school-choice participation (Edwards 2021; Jochim et al. 2014; Teske et al. 2009), school transfer rates (Stein et al. 2021), attendance (Edwards 2022; Gottfried 2017), and student achievement (Edwards 2022).”

“For example, fairly robust research notes the importance of reliable school transportation in ensuring students can get to school (Cordes & Schwartz, 2019; Gottfried, 2017; Gottfried, Ozuna, & Kirksey, 2021).”

“…data, the lower end of this range is over twice the size of the association between school bus taking and attendance using propensity score models (Gottfried, 2017), larger than the estimated teacher effect on student absenteeism (Gershenson, 2016), and similar to the association between a school…”

“…buses improve attendance and enable students to attend schools farther from home – which may be higher quality, more integrated, or better suited to the student ’ s needs – regardless of neighborhood school quality (Blagg et al., 2018; Cordes et al., 2019; Cordes & Schwartz, 2019; Gottfried, 2017).”

“…transportation can potentially support –or obstruct – the development of both the academic mindset and social capital depending on its quality and accessibility; research associates transportation inaccessibility with absenteeism and lower achievement (Gottfried 2017; Chingos and Blagg 2017).”

“This is not surprising and corresponds to prior research (Gottfried, 2017a; Gottfried & Kirksey, 2017).”

“…are essential to substantially reduce absenteeism, these approaches face significant challenges: they tend to be costly (Cordes et al., 2022; M. A. Gottfried, 2017), are vulnerable to political fluctuations that can impede implementation (Milner, 2015; Noguera & Wells, 2011), and often center…”

“Of further importance, school bus use has been shown to be associated with lower rates of chronic absenteeism for all students ( 41 ), which is a critical part of reducing levels of educational inequality and the Black–White achievement gap ( 26 ).”

“For example, highly involved parents might be sending their children to full-day kindergarten and may ensure their children would be at school each day (Cannon et al., 2006; Gottfried, 2017a).”

“…(Robinson, Lee, Dearing, & Rogers, 2017; Rogers & Feller, 2018; Smythe-Leistico & Page, 2018), going to full-day kindergarten (Gottfried, 2017a), mentoring (Childs & Grooms, 2018), participating in school breakfasts (Wass, McGuire, & Gallagher, 2015), and transportation (Gottfried, 2017b).”

“The most evident benefits of increased school attendance are related to cognitive and academic skill development (Klein et al. 2022; Ansari and Pianta 2019; Gottfried 2017).”

“…barriers focuses specifically on the relationship between transportation and absenteeism and other school withdrawal behaviors (Blagg et al., 2018; Burdick-Will et al., 2019; Cordes et al., 2022; Edwards, 2024; Gottfried, 2017; Gottfried et al., 2021; Stein et al., 2021; Stein & Grigg, 2019).”

“Descriptive studies of absence abound, and these contribute the host of data which indicate how, when, and why students miss school (Gottfried, 2017; Moonie et al., 2006).”

“Reliable transportation has been shown to be essential for regular school attendance, with limited access associated with increased absenteeism, particularly among younger students [8].”

“And yet, given its ubiquitous nature and historical roots in U.S. education, it is surprising that so little research focuses on school transportation and its link to students’ actually getting to school more frequently (Gottfried, 2017; Stein & Grigg, 2019).”

“…of chronic absenteeism than their more experienced counterparts in early elementary years, this may not be sufficient to help curtail gaps in absenteeism in the early years of school among vulnerable populations (e.g., Gottfried et al., 2017; Morrissey et al., 2014; Van Eck et al., 2017).”

“Enhanced mobility may also lead to the integration of public transportation in the slum, and public transportation access can lower absenteeism (Gottfried, 2017) 8 .”

“Perhaps most relatable to this study, there has been a link found between adequate school bus transportation and improved attendance (Gottfried, 2017; Gottfried et al., 2021).”

“Access to student transportation is also associated with lower rates of chronic absenteeism (Burdick-Will et al., 2019; Cordes et al., 2019; Gottfried, 2017; Gottfried et al., 2021) and increased likelihood of attending a higher performing school of choice (Cordes & Schwartz, 2019).”

“…school climate, lack of language accessibility, student health, community structure, and family structure (Ansari & Pianta, 2019; Bealing, 1990; Chang & Davis, 2015; Got-tfried, 2013, 2014, 2017; Gottfried & Gee, 2017; Kearney and Benoit 2022; Lehr et al., 2004; Ready, 2010; Van Eck et al., 2017).”

“…of multiple systems including healthcare (both physical and mental), family support services, early childhood education, transportation, after-school programs, food services, housing, and community development initiatives (Anyon, 2005; Gottfried, 2017; Lenhoff et al., 2022; Welner & LaCour, 2021).”