“Showing Up: Chronic Absenteeism Disparities Between Students with and without Disabilities”

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School of Education Guest Lecture
“Showing Up: Chronic Absenteeism Disparities Between Students with and without Disabilities”
Presented by Michael A. Gottfried, PhD, Associate Professor
Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, UC Santa Barbara

Thursday, January 19, 2017
11:30 am – 12:45 pm
MPAA-130
Open to the public.

Abstract: Chronic absenteeism hurts the performance and development of students, particularly in urban schools. One articulated concern is that students with disabilities (SWDs) have absence rates disproportionately higher than students from the general education population (GENs). Unfortunately, as a country, we have little empirical evidence regarding the SWD-GEN disparity in absenteeism, or what school factors may be contributing to this. My study addresses these gaps through two research questions. First, how do absence rates compare between SWDs and GENs in a large urban district? Second, do more inclusive special education services (i.e., more time spent with GEN classmates) moderate the size of this gap? Utilizing student-level, longitudinal data from the New York City Department of Education, I find statistically-significant evidence that SWDs miss more school than GENs. Importantly, however, SWDs who receive more inclusive services have fewer absences than those who receive less-inclusive services. I observe differences by disability in both questions. My findings should prove useful to policymakers as they consider which school contexts might be most supportive in reducing this academically-damaging behavior for students with disabilities.

Bio: Michael Gottfried is an associate professor of education in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Gottfried’s research focuses on the economics of education and education policy. Using the analytic tools from these disciplines, he has examined issues pertaining to peer effects, classroom context, and STEM. His research extends across the K-16 pipeline. Dr. Gottfried has published numerous articles in these areas, with multiple publications in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, American Journal of Education, Journal of Educational Research, and Elementary School Journal, among others. He has been the Principal Investigator on funded research grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health (NICHD), American Educational Research Association, and the Haynes Foundation. Dr. Gottfried received his BA from Stanford University in Economics and his MA and PhD in Applied Economics from the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. He received his Certification in Education Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and the US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences.

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