title: How school climate relates to chronic absence: A multi-level latent profile analysis.
abstract: Chronic absence is a significant problem in schools. School climate may play an important role in influencing chronic absence rates among schools, yet little research has evaluated how school climate constructs relate to chronic absence. Using multilevel latent profile analysis, we evaluated how profiles of student perceptions of school climate at both the student and school level differentiated school-level rates of chronic absence. Participants included 25,776 middle and high school students from 106 schools who completed a district administered school climate survey. Students attended schools in a large urban school district where 89% of 6th through 12th grade students were African-American and 61% were eligible for the federally subsidized school meals program. Three student-level profiles of perceptions of school climate emerged that corresponded to "positive," "moderate," and "negative" climate. Two predominant patterns regarding the distribution of these profiles within schools emerged that corresponded to the two school-level profiles of "marginal climate" and "climate challenged" schools. Students reporting "moderate" and "negative" climate in their schools were more likely to attend schools with higher chronic absence rates than students reporting that their school had "positive" climate. Likewise, "climate challenged" schools had significantly higher chronic absence rates than "marginal climate" schools. These results suggest that school climate shares an important relation with chronic absence among adolescent students attending urban schools. Implications for prevention and intervention programs are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, 624 N Broadway Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205, United States; Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 1800 Orleans Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States. Electronic address: kvaneck1@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Eck
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, 624 N Broadway Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
authors.forename: Stacy R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, 624 N Broadway Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205, United States; Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing, Department of Acute and Chronic Care, 525 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
authors.forename: Amie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bettencourt
authors.affiliation: Arizona State University, Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, 951 Cady Mall #144, Tempe, AZ 85287, United States.
authors.forename: Sarah Lindstrom
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Chronic absence; Multi–level latent class analysis; School attendance; School climate