WWC review of this study

Can We Increase Attendance and Decrease Chronic Absenteeism with a Universal Prevention Program? A Randomized Control Study of Attendance and Truancy Universal Procedures and Interventions

Berg, Tricia Ann-Rees (2018). ProQuest LLC. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED587830

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    10,285
     Students
    , grades
    K-8

Reviewed: November 2021

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards with reservations
School Attendance outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Chronic or Severe Absenteeism

Attendance and truancy intervention and universal procedures (ATI-UP) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
10,285 students

19.45

18.81

No

--

Average Daily Attendance (Berg et al 2018)

Attendance and truancy intervention and universal procedures (ATI-UP) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
10,285 students

93.61

93.43

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • 17% English language learners

  • Female: 49%
    Male: 51%

  • Suburban, Urban
    • B
    • A
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • I
    • H
    • J
    • K
    • L
    • P
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • Q
    • R
    • S
    • V
    • U
    • T
    • W
    • X
    • Z
    • Y
    • a
    • h
    • i
    • b
    • d
    • e
    • f
    • c
    • g
    • j
    • k
    • l
    • m
    • n
    • o
    • p
    • q
    • r
    • s
    • t
    • u
    • x
    • w
    • y

    Oregon
  • Race
    Asian
    3%
    Black
    2%
    Native American
    3%
    Other or unknown
    30%
    White
    63%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    25%
    Not Hispanic or Latino    
    75%

Setting

The study took place in 27 public elementary schools in 17 districts in Oregon. All of the schools were already implementing School Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) with varying levels of fidelity.

Study sample

The schools were mostly White (63 percent) with less than 5 percent in any other racial group (American Indian, 3 percent; Asian, 2.5 percent; Black, 1.5 percent; two or more races, 4.5 percent) and a substantial Hispanic (25 percent) population. Gender was fairly well balanced (49 percent female and 50 percent male), and over half (60 percent) of students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. Less than one-fifth (16.5 percent) of participating students were English language learners. Note that 57 percent of the intervention schools were Title I schools compared to 85 percent of the comparisons schools.

Intervention Group

The intervention, School-wide Attendance and Truancy Intervention (ATI-UP) has five components: 1) publicize the importance of attendance; 2) establish attendance goals and acknowledge improvements; 3) provide an informal and formal focus on attendance; 4) communicate with parents and provide ways for parents to engage with the school; and 5) use motivation systems to generate enthusiasm.

Comparison Group

Schools in the control group continued business as usual during the intervention period. Schools were not required to stop existing practices for reducing absenteeism. Rather, these practices were captured via the ATI-UP fidelity measure.

Support for implementation

Schools sent teams to two-days (12 hours) of training. Ongoing technical support and coaching were also provided through email communication with the researcher. Finally, the researcher held a webinar in early November that served as a refresher and also provided the opportunity for schools to ask questions and share successful strategies.

 

Your export should download shortly as a zip archive.

This download will include data files for study and findings review data and a data dictionary.

Connect With the WWC

loading
back to top