Socioeconomic status, school absenteeism, and academic achievement: A causal mediation analysis

Jascha Dräger*, Markus Klein, Edward Sosu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Working paperWorking Paper/Preprint

Abstract

Significant socioeconomic disparities in children's academic achievement are well established, but the underlying mechanisms are less well understood. We used causal mediation analysis and linked data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and the National Pupil Database (NPD) to determine the extent to which early school absences contribute to socioeconomic achievement gaps. Depending on the achievement measure (reading, writing, math, science, and average), we found that a one standard deviation increase in socioeconomic status is associated with 0.37 to 0.43 standard deviation increases in achievement at the end of key stage 1 (year 1 and 2). School absenteeism is a significant mechanism and accounts for 6.45 to 8.10% of this gap.
Original languageEnglish
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024

Keywords

  • school absence
  • achievement gap
  • socioeconomic status
  • mediation

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