Evidence of Student Attendance as an Independent Variable in Education Production Functions

Most studies of student performance that use the production function or input-output approach do not consider student attendance as an independent variable. Data from Baltimore public elementary schools indicate that student attendance is positively and significantly related to standardized achievement test performance. Consistent with other studies, the importance of the socioeconomic status of the students and the lack of a positive influence of school input measures such as the teacher/pupil ratio and expenditure per pupil are apparent.