Students academic performance is affected by numerous factor including

gender, age, teaching faculty, students schooling, father/guardian social economic

status, residential area of students, medium of instructions in schools, tuition trend,

daily study hour and accommodation as hostelries or day scholar. Many researchers

conducted detailed studies about the factors contributing student performance at

different study levels. Graetz (1995) suggested, a student educational success

contingent heavily on social status of students parents/ guardians in the society.

Considine and Zappala (2002) noticed the same that parents income or social

status positively affects the student test score in examination. According to

Minnesota (2007), thee higher education performance is depending upon the

academic performance of graduate students. Staffolani and Bratti, (2002) observed

that the measurement of students previous educational outcomes are the most

important indicators of students future achievement, this refers that as the higher

previous appearance, better the students academic performance in future

endeavors.

Lot of studies have been conducted in the area of students achievement and

these studies identify and analyze the number of factors that affect the academic

performance of the student at school. Their finding identify students effort,

previous schooling, parents educational background, family income, self motivation

of students, age of student, learning preferences and entry qualification of students

as important factors that have effect on students academic performance in

different setting. The utility of these studies lies in the need to undertake corrective

measures that improve the academic performance of graduate students.

performance in the starting classes of their studies also performed better in future

academic years at degree level. Everyone can be surprised with this assumption if it

could be proved scientifically. From the last two decades it has been noticed

significantly that there is great addition in research literature and review material

relating to indicators of academic achievement with much emphasis on this

dialogue, whether traditional achievement measures of academic performance are

best determinants of future academic gain at university or higher level or innovative

measures. However, it is also observed that many of the researchers are not agree

with this view point or statement. Reddy and Talcott (2006) looks disagree with

these assumptions that future academic gains are resolute by preceding

performance. In their research on the relationship between previous academic

performance and subsequent achievement at university level, they found that

students learning or studying at graduate level and the score secured did not

predict any academic achievement at university level. They also cited Pearson and

Johnson (1978) who observed that on the whole grade association of only 0.28

between graduate level marks and university degree achievement.

Absenteeism in school is the habit of staying away from school without

providing a genuine or any reason for not attending classes. Absenteeism is a truant

behavior that negatively affects the performance among students (Eneza, 2013).
 School absenteeism is an alarming problem for administrators, teachers,

parents, society in general, and pupils in particular. Unaccepted absences have a

negative effect on peer relationships, which can cause further absences (Murcia,

2015).

Chronic absenteeism is not the same as truancy or average daily attendance.

The attendance rate schools use for state report cards and federal accountability.

Chronic absenteeism means missing 10 percent of a school year for any reason. A

school can have average daily attendance of 90 percent and still have 40 percent of

its students chronically absent, because on different days, different students make

up that 90 percent. Gender and ethnic background do not appear to play a role in

this. The youngest and the oldest students tend to have the highest rates of chronic

absenteeism, with students attending most regularly in third through fifth grades.

Chronic absenteeism begins to rise in middle school and continues climbing through

12th grade, with seniors often having the highest rate of all (Balfanz & Byrnes,

2012).

Absenteeism is most prevalent among low-income students, and it is low-

income students who benefit the most from being in school everyday. This indicates

that one of the most effective strategies for providing pathways out of poverty is to

do what it takes to get students who live in high-poverty neighborhoods to attend

school every day (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012).

wake up early, noise inside the classroom, headache, other diseases such as

diarrhea, parents asking them to be absent, preoccupation with household chores,

toothache, no money to buy snacks in school, and bullied by a

classmate/classmates (Murcia, 2015).

Health is the primary reason why students are absent from their classes.

Flu/fever is the leading culprit in this category. Oral health, which according to the

Department of Education is the main reason why pupils are absent, is just third

among the reasons cited by the responding students. Classroom atmosphere,

personal attitude, teacher factor and home-related reasons follow in that order. The

least reason they give is related to their physical environment (Murcia, 2015).

Chronic early absence matters because regular school attendance is important

for academic performance and extended absenteeism can affect significant

numbers of young children during their earliest years of school. Especially when

chronic absence reaches high levels, it is also important to consider the likely

detrimental impact caused by the constant disruption to the learning environment

for regularly attending peers, and the impact of unpredictable classroom dynamics

on teachers working conditions. For several localities, high levels of chronic

absence existed in one or a handful of schools despite generally low levels of

chronic early absence district-wide (Chang & Romero, 2008).

effects of absenteeism on children as: academic under-achievement, difficulty in

making friends which could lead to boredom and loss of confidence, prolonged

absence can have deleterious effects for the child in later life, students who are

absent from school are at the greatest risk of dropping out of school early.

Absenteeism also affects the teachers ability to present classwork in a

sequential and organized way. This can have an effect on the progress of all the

students in the class (Murcia, 2015).

Families of habitually absent students can also suffer. For a poverty-stricken

family, it may mean a continuation of the poverty and unemployment cycle that

may run in the family. This also contributes to family conflicts (Murcia, 2015).

Society also suffers when school-age children are not in school. These children

may hang out on the streets. Since they have nothing to do, they resort to petty

crimes like stealing other peoples belongings and property. Others may become

addicted to drugs or engage in other destructive behavior. Thus, if a student keeps

away from school for too long, he may grow up to be a liability to his community

and his country as a whole (Murcia, 2015).

math, is very sensitive to attendance, and absence of even two weeks during one

school year matters. Attendance also strongly affects standardized test scores and

graduation and dropout rates. Educators and policymakers cannot truly understand

achievement gaps or efforts to close them without considering chronic absenteeism

(Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012).

It is the aim of every school to lessen, if not eradicate, absenteeism among its

students. One way of addressing this problem is to identify the causes of truancy.

Once they are singled out, understood, and analyzed, these issues may be

addressed with specific actions and measures. This will eventually result in the

better performance of the students, teachers, and the school in general (Murcia,

2015).

Attendance is an important factor in school success among children and youth.

Studies show that better attendance is related to higher academic achievement for

students of all backgrounds, but particularly for children with lower socio-economic

status. Beginning in kindergarten, students who attend school regularly score higher

on tests than their peers who are frequently absent (Child Trends, 2015).

Attendance should be addressed before it becomes problematic.High absence

classroom instruction and school climate (Olson, 2014).

School attendance reflects the degree to which schools, communities and

families adequately address the needs of young children. Attendance is higher when

schools provide a rich, engaging learning experience, have stable, experienced and

skilled teachers and actively engage parents in their childrens education. Chronic

absence decreases when schools and communities actively communicate

consistently to all students and their parents, and reach out to families when their

children begin to show patterns of excessive absence. Attendance suffers when

families are struggling to keep up with the routine of school despite the lack of

reliable transportation, long work hours in poorly paid jobs with little flexibility,

unstable and unaffordable housing, inadequate health care and escalating

community violence. At the same time, communities can help lower chronic

absence by providing early childhood experiences that help prepare children and

families for the entry into formal education (Chang & Romero, 2008).

In 2015, students attending schools in cities or towns were more likely to be

absent three or more times a month than were students attending schools in

suburban or rural areas (Child Trends, 2015).

Students attending schools where more than 50 percent of the students were

eligible for free or reduced price lunch (a proxy for community poverty) are more
likely to report missing three or more days of school than are students attending

schools with an eligibility rate of 10 percent or lower (Child Trends, 2015).

Students who missed 2 to 4 days in September were 5 times more likely than

those who missed fewer than 2 days to be chronically absent for the year. Students

who missed more than 4 days were over 16 times as likely to be chronically absent

than students who were absent fewer than 2 days (Olson, 2014).

Students' grades and attendance are particularly better than expected in

schools characterized by two featuressupportive relationships between teachers

and students, and a perception among students that the work they are doing in high

school is preparing them for the future (Allensworth & Easton, 2007).

Early attendance problems, especially if they occur at high rates throughout a

school, could signify that children and their families are ambivalent about or even

alienated from school. Repeated absences could be a response to ineffective

teaching, high rates of staff turnover or teacher absenteeism, chaos in the

classroom or bullying in school premises. Although most of the existing research

documenting the detrimental impact of poor quality education on attendance

focuses on older students, it is likely this situation also applies to younger children,

especially if their parents are aware of the problems in the classroom (Chang &

Romero, 2008).
 While what happens in school matters, school attendance is deeply affected by

family circumstances. Young children depend upon their primary caregivers to

ensure they arrive at school every day. Especially when children are entering

kindergarten, families may not realize that attendance in kindergarten matters.

Kindergarten has historically been viewed as a transition into formal education

rather than the beginning of formal schooling. Many parents may not be aware of

the changes that have occurred in schooling, especially with the onset of No Child

Left Behind (Chang & Romero, 2008).

When families are poor, they lack resources (often taken for granted by many

middle class families) that make regular school attendance much easier. Barriers

also include the lack of reliable transportation, nutritious food and limited access to

health care. Programs addressing chronic absenteeism have also found that children

were too embarrassed to go to school because they lacked clean, suitable clothing

or did not have appropriate shoes (Chang & Romero, 2008).

In addition to being affected by what happens in their own home, childrens

regular school attendance can also reflect community conditions. A community rich

in supports for children and families can help make up for limited resources and

educational opportunities in the home. If an entire community is economically

distressed and plagued by violence, the impact of these conditions and a lack of
positive social norms can make it difficult for even the strongest of families to

ensure their children stay on track for school success (Chang & Romero, 2008).

Schools themselves can contribute to high levels of absence among young

children. Schools play an essential role in promoting attendance by helping parents

understand that coming to school, especially in the early years, is important to a

childs academic success. Personal contact and outreach from schools can help

families understand that attendance, even in the early grades, is important to

childrens academic success. When schools take a supportive and personal

approach to contacting families about absences, they demonstrate that staff are

concerned about the well-being of their children, and encourage parents to send

their young children to school (Chang & Romero, 2008).

There are students who cannot attend school due to illness, family

responsibilities, housing instability, the need to work or involvement with the

juvenile justice system. Also, there are students who will not attend school to avoid

bullying, unsafe conditions, harassment and embarrassment. And lastly, students

who do not attend school because they, or their parents, do not see the value in

being there, they have something else they would rather do, or nothing stops them

from skipping school (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012).

tremendous differences in the prevalence of chronic early absence across

communities. While national data show that chronic early absence affects an

estimated one out of every 10 children during their first two years of school (Chang

& Romero, 2008).

References:

Allensworth, E., & Easton, J. (2007). What Matters for Staying On-Track and

Graduating in

Chicago Public Schools. Retrieved from

http://consortium.uchicago.edu/publicati

ons/what-matters-staying-track-and-graduating-chicago-public-schools

Balfanz, R., & Byrnes V. (2012). The Importance of Being in School: A Report on
Absenteeism in

the Nations Public Schools. Retrieved from

http://new.every1graduates.org/wp-conte

nt/uploads/2012/05/FINALChronicAbsenteeismRep ort_May16.pdf

Bethesda, M.D. (2015). Student Absenteeism. Retrieved from

https://www.childtrends.org/indic

ators/student-absenteeism/

Chang, H., & Romero, M. (2008). Present, Engaged, and Accounted For The Critical

Importance

of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades. Retrieved from

http://www.nccp.

org/publications/pdf/text_837.pdf

Considine, G. & Zappala, G. (2002). Influence of social and economic disadvantage

in the

academic performance of school students in Australia. Journal of Sociology,

38, 129-

148.

Crisol, L.G., & Alamillo, J. B. (2014). A Comparative Study of the Attitudes between
the Students

and Teachers of Two Public Elementary Schools in Northern Mindanao toward

the K to

12 Curriculum Shift. Retrieved from

http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/conferences/dlsu_

research_congress/2014/_pdf/proceedings/LLI-II-012-FT.pdf

Eneza, E. (2013). Absenteeism in School. Retrieved from

http://enezaeducation.com/absente

eism-in-school/

Formoso, C. (2016). Primer: What you should know about the K to 12 senior high

school.

Retrieved from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/782541/primer-senior-high-rolls-

out- k-12-plan-on-monday#ixzz4Zp8mvee5

Graetz, B. (1995). Socio-economic status in education research and policy in John

Ainley et al., Socio-economic Status and School Education DEET/ACER Canberra.

Murcia, L. (2015). Action Research on Student and Pupil Absenteeism in School.

Retrieved

from https://owlcation.com/academia/action-research-on-student-
 absenteeism

Olson, L (2014). Why September Matters: Improving Student Attendance. Retrieved

from http://baltimore-berc.org/wp-

content/uploads/2014/08/SeptemberAttendanceB riefJuly2014.pdf

SUBMITTED BY:

Ma. Toiza Gorantes & Charles Phillip Guirhem