Absent from School: Understanding and Addressing Absenteeism

In Absent from School, Gottfried and Hutt offer a comprehensive and timely resource for educators and policy makers seeking to understand the scope, impact, and causes of chronic student absenteeism. The editors present a series of studies by leading researchers from a variety of disciplines that address which students are missing school and why, what roles schools themselves play in contributing to or offsetting patterns of absenteeism, and ways to assess student attendance for purposes of school accountability. The contributors examine school-based initiatives that focus on a range of issues, including transportation, student health, discipline policies, and protections for immigrant students, as well as interventions intended to improve student attendance.
 
Only in the past two or three years has chronic absenteeism become the focus of attention among policy makers, civil rights advocates, and educators. Absent from School provides the first critical, systematic look at research that can inform and guide those who are working to ensure that every child is in school and learning every day.

Michael A. Gottfried is an associate professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his PhD and MA in applied economics from the University of Pennsylvania and his BA in economics from Stanford University. Gottfried has conducted numerous research studies in the area of school absenteeism, ranging from estimating the effects of absences on achievement and socioemotional development to identifying school factors and programs that can reduce chronic absenteeism, and has lectured domestically and internationally on the subject.

Ethan L. Hutt is an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his MA in history and PhD in the history of education from Stanford University. His research focuses on the historical relationship between quantification, education policy, and the law. In particular, he looks at the numbers and metrics that are used to describe, define, and regulate American school systems and has explored such topics as the history of the GED, grading practices, standardized test use, value-added measures, and longitudinal datasets.