Understanding who is absent and what levers may reduce absenteeism is important for promoting not only children's attendance at school but also their learning and development across the school year. The absenteeism literature has primarily focused on socioeconomic status as a key predictor of absenteeism, which ignores the heterogeneity in the lived experiences of children from low-income households that are relevant for their absenteeism. Within a nationally representative sample of children enrolled in Head Start ( = 2,439), this study used latent profile analysis to understand whether and how patterns of household factors predicted children's absenteeism, as well as for whom two school-home connection factors may be more versus less salient levers for reducing absenteeism. Five household profiles emerged in this sample of children enrolled in Head Start. These combinations meaningfully predicted absenteeism above and beyond household income alone. Moreover, parents’ satisfaction with Head Start and programs’ provision of family support services were negatively associated with children's absenteeism, and these associations did not vary by profile. These findings highlight the importance of examining the heterogeneity in the types and combinations of household characteristics children may experience and point to school-home connections as an important focus area for programs.

中文翻译：

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处于领先地位的幼儿家庭经历的异质性以及与缺勤的关联

了解谁缺勤以及哪些措施可以减少缺勤，不仅对于促进儿童的上学，而且对于他们整个学年的学习和发展都很重要。缺勤文献主要关注社会经济地位作为缺勤的关键预测因素，忽视了低收入家庭儿童与其缺勤相关的生活经历的异质性。在参加 Head Start 的全国代表性儿童样本 (= 2,439) 中，本研究使用潜在概况分析来了解家庭因素模式是否以及如何预测儿童缺勤，以及对于哪些人来说，两个学校与家庭的联系因素可能更重要？减少缺勤的不太显着的手段。在参加 Head Start 的儿童样本中出现了五种家庭概况。这些组合有意义地预测缺勤率超出了家庭收入本身。此外，家长对启蒙计划和计划提供的家庭支持服务的满意度与儿童缺勤呈负相关，而且这些关联并没有因情况而异。这些发现强调了检查儿童可能经历的家庭特征类型和组合的异质性的重要性，并指出学校与家庭的联系是项目的一个重要重点领域。