Tardiness in Early Educatioon.MJR (1) · 2020. 2. 21. · In Kindergarten, half of the children...
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Tardiness in Early Education: Incidence, Predictors, and Consequences Mariajosé Romero, PhD Associate Professor LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York
Transcript of Tardiness in Early Educatioon.MJR (1) · 2020. 2. 21. · In Kindergarten, half of the children...
Tardiness in Early Education: Incidence, Predictors, and Consequences
Mariajosé Romero, PhD Associate Professor LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York
Overview o Little research on student tardiness in
schools o Early Childhood Longitudinal Study,
Kindergarten Cohort, provides data on late school arrivals among children who entered Kindergarten in 1998
In Kindergarten, half of the children were late to school at least once
o Children were tardy 3.5% of the school year (or six days) o Tardiness ranged between less than 1% (or one day) and
60% (or 108 days)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Per
cent
Never Tardy >0% - <3.3% >=3.3% - <6.6% >=6.6% - <10% >=10%
Children were more often tardy in Kindergarten if they were o Hispanic or Black o Enrolled in full-day programs o Repeating kindergarten
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%
WhiteBlac
k
Hipanic
Morning
Afterno
on
All Day
First T
ime i
n K
Repea
ting K
Race Program Type Repeating Grade
Perc
ent
Never Tardy Tardy
Children were more often tardy in Kindergarten if they o Received Head Start or non-relative care in the year prior to K
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Parental Care Head Start Relative Care Center Care NonRelative Care
Tardiness in Kindergarten
Per
cent
Never Tardy Tardy
Children who were more often tardy in Kindergarten o Were described by teachers at the beginning of K as having
socio-emotional difficulties
1.251.451.651.852.052.252.452.652.853.053.25
Approaches toLearning
Self-Control InterpersonalRelations
ExternalizingBehaviors
InternalizingBehaviors
Sco
re
Never Tardy >=10%
Other things being equal, the odds of being chronically late in K were
o 3.5 times higher if children were Black, when compared to white children
o Almost double if children were Hispanic, when compared to white children
o 40% less if they attended a morning program
compared to a full day program o 50% less if they attended an afternoon
program compared to a full day program
Poor and low income children were more often tardy in K
o Than their middle and upper income peers
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Below 100% FPL 100% - 200% FPL 200% - 300% FPL 300% or More FPL
Tardiness in Kindergarten
Per
cent
Never Tardy Tardy
Tardiness was related to other maternal and family characteristics,
o Particularly risk exposure
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
Teen Mother Single Parent AssistanceReceipt
Large Family Food Insecurity Poor MaternalHealth
Tardiness in Kindergarten
Per
cent
No Risk Risk
Other things being equal, the odds of being chronically late were
o Tripled if mothers were Black versus white
o Doubled if mothers were Hispanic versus white
o More than doubled (x2.3) if mothers were single parents
o Almost tripled if mothers had become parents as teenagers
Being chronically tardy (>=10%) in Kindergarten increased the odds of being chronically absent
o x10 chances of being a chronic absentee (>=10%) in K o x10 chances of being a chronic absentee (>=10%) in 1st Gr. o x3 chances of being a chronic absentee (>=10%) in 3rd Gr. o x3 chances of being chronically absent (>=10%) in 5th Gr.
0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%40%
Kindergarten First Grade Third Grade Fifth Grade
Chronic Absence
Perc
ent
Never Tardy in K >0% - <3.3% >=3.3% - <6.6% >=6.6% - <10% >=10% Tardy in K
Children who were chronically tardy in K had poor academic performance
40.00
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Kindergarten First Grade Third Grade Fifth Grade
Mathematics
Score
Never Tardy >=10%
40.00
42.00
44.00
46.00
48.00
50.00
52.00
54.00
Kindergarten First Grade Third Grade Fifth Grade
Reading
Score
Never Tardy >=10%
40.00
42.00
44.00
46.00
48.00
50.00
52.00
54.00
Kindergarten First Grade Third Grade Fifth Grade
World Know ledge Science
Score
Never Tardy >=10%
What do we know from research in preschools?
o As part of the Perfectly Punctual Campaign, Learning & Leadership in Families, Inc., has embarked on efforts to collect data
o Site survey of n Attendance and absenteeism n Professionals’ perspectives n Parents’ perspectives
o National Survey of HS professionals
How easy is it to gather attendance and tardiness data in HS programs? o Attendance and tardiness data are collected everyday
by staff in all HS programs but not stored in ways that are easy to use
o Substantial mobility across programs => to collect accurate data, it is important to understand when children:
n Join the program n Leave the program n Are disenrolled because of excessive absence
o Sites may have classes that offer different types of programs:
n part-day in the morning n part-day in the afternoon n full-day n with early drop-off or late-pick up services n To collect accurate data, it is important to know clearly when children
are supposed to arrive and leave, and when they actually do
Absenteeism and tardiness seem to be rather common in HS programs o Different groups of children emerge depending on whether and how
often they are absent and tardy
HighTardiness
LowTardiness
LowAbsenteeism
HighAbsenteeism
Seldomabsent,butoftenlate
Seldomabsentandseldomlate
Oftenabsent,andoftenlatewhentheyshowup
Oftenabsent,butseldomlatewhentheyshowup
Professionals in one site believe that tardiness is
13%
20%
67%
Serious problem Not a serious problem Neither
Nationally, the majority of HS professionals report that 3-6 children in their groups are late every week
Source: LLF / NHSA survey, March 2009
HS professionals agree that punctuality
o Creates a positive parent-teacher relationship
o Helps children do better in school o Is one way parents can support
learning o Helps young children develop
friendships o Is one way parents and teachers can
work together
But HS professionals seem to be more permissive towards lateness o One-quarter to one-third of professionals surveyed feel
neutrals towards or disagree with the claim that lateness
0
10
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S lows academic progres s Makes itharderfo rtheteacherto do job
Keeps childrenfromconcentratingonlearning
Makes ithardfo rchildrentointegrates o c iallywitho ther
children
D is agreeo rS tronglyD is agree NeitherA greeo rdis agree S tronglyA greeo rA gree
To have or not to have a punctuality policy? o Staff in centers that have an articulated
punctuality policy more often believe that believe n The Center Director can shape children’s
attitudes about punctuality n Neighborhood values can potentially shape
children’s attitudes about punctuality
o What seems to make a difference is not whether centers have a punctuality policy, but whether or not they use it consistently n Staff report less punctuality problems in centers
where the policy is consistently invoked
Professionals see parents as the primary influence on young child’s punctuality
Source: LLF / NHSA survey, March 2009
Professionals disagree on whether parents understand the punctuality policy
o But 90% parents claim that they understand it
40%
20%
41%
Understand the policy Do not understand the policy Neither
Parents are divided on whether punctuality at their child’s program is
36%
24%
39%
Serious problem Not a serious problem Neither
Parent attitudes: Punctuality versus Lateness
Source: LLF / Morgan State University Head Start survey, May 2010
In conclusion, tardiness… o May begin, along with absenteeism, well before
children enter formal schooling o Has serious consequences for early learning and
development o Affects the most vulnerable children o Elicits different perspectives and practices among
professionals and parents
o These perspectives and practices need to be reconciled to provide a sustained and consistent, high quality early education program
