Early Childhood Educational Experiences and Preschool Absenteeism

Using a sample of pre-K attendees from 11 states in the United States (n = 2,966), we examined whether early childhood educational experiences contribute positively or negatively to later preschool absences. Although some of the most important predictors of absences were factors external to the school and classroom environment (e.g., poverty and household structure), there was some evidence to suggest that children who received any out-of-home care at age 3 had fewer absences during the following year with small to moderate effect sizes. However, experiencing multiple care arrangements or multiple years of the same care did not confer any additional benefits. Children who were exposed to higher quality instructional environments and more academic activities were also absent less frequently, although the effect sizes were small in magnitude. These results highlight malleable early educational experiences that can be targeted to help address the absenteeism epidemic.