Browsing by Subject "Absenteeism"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Examining the Impact of Later High School Start Times on the Health and Academic Performance of High School Students: A Multi-Site Study
    (2014-02) Wahlstrom, Kyla; Dretzke, Beverly; Gordon, Molly; Peterson, Kristin; Edwards, Katherine; Gdula, Julie
    The results from this three-year research study, conducted with over 9,000 students in eight public high schools in three states, reveal that high schools that start at 8:30 AM or later allow for more than 60% of students to obtain at least eight hours of sleep per school night. Teens getting less than eight hours of sleep reported significantly higher depression symptoms, greater use of caffeine, and are at greater risk for making poor choices for substance use. Academic performance outcomes, including grades earned in core subject areas of math, English, science and social studies, plus performance on state and national achievement tests, attendance rates and reduced tardiness show significantly positive improvement with the later start times of 8:35 AM or later. Finally, the number of car crashes for teen drivers from 16 to 18 years of age was significantly reduced by 70% when a school shifted start times from 7:35 AM to 8:55 AM.
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    Minnesota School Absenteeism and Truancy Policies: A Report to the Hennepin Country Attorney's Office
    (Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2013-12-05) Bruce, Charles; Hayes, Kallen; Kosek, Kristine; Thompson, Shannon; Miao, Yanquan
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    Physical activity, self-weighing, and absenteeism in a worksite weight physical activity, self-weighing, and absenteeism in a worksite weight gain prevention intervention: the healthWorks trial.
    (2011-01) VanWormer, Jeffrey J.
    INTRODUCTION: Rising obesity rates are a threat to the American public's health. To date, however, few studies have used an environment focused weight gain prevention intervention approach, which is arguably more appropriate than individual weight loss counseling interventions. The HealthWorks trial recently implemented a worksite environment intervention (e.g., modifications to cafeterias/vending, activity social environment) aimed at reducing weight gain over two years among adults. METHODS: This dissertation includes three secondary data analyses from the broader HealthWorks trial in order to: (1) determine if baseline physical activity level is associated with enrollment in worksite walking club events, (2) assess if self-weighing frequency is associated with weight maintenance, and (3) assess if weight change is associated with workplace absenteeism. Physical activity and self-weighing were two of the key lifestyle changes targeted in the HealthWorks trial and reduced workplace absenteeism was one of the economic outcomes believed to result from a successful intervention. Six worksites (N=1,747 individuals) were randomized to either a treatment or control arm. Multivariate regression models were used for all analyses. RESULTS: In paper #1, baseline physical activity level was not a significant predictor of worksite walking club participation, but several covariates (i.e., age, sex, social support, worksite) remained in the final models as significant predictors. In paper #2, there was a significant interaction between follow-up self-weighing frequency and baseline BMI category. Specifically, adjusted weight change ranged from a mean±SE -4.5±0.8 kg among obese daily self-weighers to 2.2±0.4 kg for participants at a healthy BMI who reported self-weighing monthly or less. In paper #3, weight change was not a significant predictor of workplace absenteeism, but several covariates (i.e., sex, depression, smoking, BMI) remained in the final models as significant predictors of workplace absenteeism. CONCLUSIONS: The collective findings suggest that over two years: (1) worksite walking clubs are generally appealing across varying levels of physical activity, (2) self-weighing may be most beneficial for obese individuals who increase their self-weighing frequency over time, and (3) weight loss may not meaningfully decrease workplace illness absence days. More intense efforts on the primary prevention of weight gain that decreases the proportion of newly obese employees, perhaps via broad-based physical activity programs and stronger emphases on frequent self-weighing, may be necessary to achieve long-term weight change and economic benefits for employers.
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    A secondary data analysis of young truants and the interaction of child protection intervention
    (2011-06) Zuel, Timothy Brett
    Young children who experience chronic truancy are associated with a greater risk of school dropout, adolescent delinquency, and very high adult social and financial costs (Bell, Rosen, & Dynlacht, 1994; Caldas, 1993; Hawkins, Herrenkohl, Farrington, Brewer, Catalano, & Harachi, 1998; Huizinga & Jakob-Chien, 1998; Lamdin, 1996; Loeber & Farrington, 2000; Robins & Ratcliff, 1980). Current law requires schools to report to the child protection system any students who have seven or more unexcused absences. Using administrative data and a quasi-experimental design that used propensity score matching to create a comparison group, this study examines the outcomes of students who have missed at least 10% of the school year (at least 18 days) and their associated interactions with the child protection system. Furthermore, this study examines the effect of the child protection process on these students’ attendance. The analysis found no significance for treatment effect of a child protection intervention on the attendance of the sample of chronically truant students. The study revealed that only 5% of the truant cohort had been involved with child protection over the two years of the study. Further, none of the child protection involvement was as a result of missing school. The study suggests a disconnect between the policy of child protection involvement in truant young children and the practice as revealed by the administrative data. Future research into child protection intervention with young truants would need to be carried out at a more local level due to the multiple factors making statewide data sources untrustworthy.