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MSE c INNOVATION ABSTRACTS vx
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CAN Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development
With support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation

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ATTENDANCE AND ACHIEVEMENT

In a previous research study at the City Colleges ‘of Chicago, highly successful students said that they |
thought attendance was the most crucial factor in involvement and success in college work. These highly |
motivated students, who had entered the City Colleges with relatively low reading skills, said that they attended
class all of the time and that they viewed absenteeism as the most common reason why other students do poorly —
in college.

Attendance is one manifestation of involvement in academic work. Our previous research showed that —
very successful students are highly involved in class: they pay attention, ask questions, contribute to discus-
sions, and take notes. Outside of class, they study in quiet environments, avoid distractions, and take advan-
tage of college resources to assist them in their studies. Students must attend class in order to reach these high |
levels of involvement.

How much influence does attendance have on final achievement? In order to obtain an objective answer to +
this question, researchers at the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning requested and collected tS
spring semester 1983 attendance rosters and final grade reports from a small sample of instructors chosen ran- _
domly from business, social science, mathematics, and English departments at two of the City Colleges. The
courses sampled in this study included high enrollment, introductory level courses; they were balanced evenly :
between day and evening sections. We ascertained from the teachers that the grades in these courses were |
based predominantly on achievement measures.

_ From that data, a histogram was constructed; it demonstrated the strong relationship between student at-
tendance and final grades. Students who earned a final grade of A attended nearly 95% of the scheduled class |
sessions during the first five weeks of the semester. On the average, these students missed only one class at the _
beginning of the semester. Many had perfect attendance. At the other extreme, students who eventually failed ©
the course attended only about 75% of the early class sessions. Attendance during the entire semester was ‘i
equally strongly correlated to final grades. : ;

The results of this pilot study indicate that student attendance (at the beginning of and throughout the’
semester) and final grades are highly correlated. The overall achievement Jevel of classes also increases when.
the class attendance rate increases. Many different factors combine to determine student achievement. Atten-.
dance is one of these factors that can be changed. Students who attend classes have greater opportunity to
learn, and they also earn greater teacher recognition.

Researchers suggested that teachers might encourage better attendance by discussing this research project.
and its findings with their students. They cautioned against guaranteeing that high or perfect attendance would -
provide students with good grades; rather, they encouraged them to alert students to the fact that good atten-
dance does indeed increase the likelihood of earning better marks. The researchers further encouraged instructors
to post the following histogram and accompanying remarks on their office doors or in their classrooms, or copy
and distribute it to their students. , f

   

DOUGLAS COLLEGE
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«SD Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712