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Digest of Education Statistics
2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 145. Tenth-graders' attendance patterns, by selected student and school characteristics: 1990 and 2002 
Attendance pattern All students Sex Race/ethnicity Socioeconomic status1  Control of school attended
Male Female White Black Hispanic Asian/ Pacific Islander American Indian/ Alaska Native Low Middle High Public Catholic Other private
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Percentage of 10th-graders in 1990                                                        
Number of days missed in first half of current school year                                                        
None 13.5 (0.44) 16.1 (0.66) 10.7 (0.53) 12.4 (0.48) 19.5 (1.75) 10.4 (0.90) 22.3 (1.74) 10.2 (2.11) 12.3 (0.95) 14.0 (0.61) 15.0 (0.82) 13.4 (0.47) 18.0 (2.16) 15.5 (2.14)
1 or 2 days 21.6 (0.46) 23.0 (0.72) 20.2 (0.59) 21.5 (0.56) 23.7 (1.41) 19.1 (1.17) 27.4 (1.97) 13.5 (4.21) 16.9 (0.75) 22.2 (0.68) 26.0 (0.98) 21.3 (0.46) 26.0 (2.45) 34.0 (3.92)
3 or 4 days 26.1 (0.52) 25.4 (0.71) 26.8 (0.76) 27.3 (0.60) 23.7 (1.51) 23.3 (1.15) 22.7 (2.07) 26.8 (3.39) 22.6 (0.89) 26.4 (0.73) 29.1 (0.99) 26.5 (0.56) 27.3 (2.23) 26.9 (2.93)
5 or more days 38.8 (0.63) 35.5 (0.87) 42.2 (0.84) 38.8 (0.72) 33.2 (1.98) 47.2 (1.71) 27.7 (2.22) 49.4 (3.32) 48.2 (1.18) 37.4 (0.85) 29.9 (1.20) 38.8 (0.65) 28.6 (2.35) 23.6 (3.14)
Number of times late in first half of current school year                                                        
Never 24.7 (0.60) 24.8 (0.80) 24.6 (0.77) 27.4 (0.70) 18.1 (1.33) 17.3 (1.48) 23.0 (1.94) 16.0 (3.20) 24.4 (1.17) 25.0 (0.78) 25.9 (0.95) 24.9 (0.61) 27.5 (2.70) 18.3 (2.76)
1 or 2 days 38.2 (0.62) 38.0 (0.88) 38.4 (0.83) 38.1 (0.69) 40.4 (2.02) 36.7 (1.54) 38.0 (2.22) 35.4 (3.64) 37.5 (1.10) 38.6 (0.84) 38.4 (1.16) 37.8 (0.63) 40.4 (2.26) 44.6 (3.87)
3 or more days 37.1 (0.72) 37.1 (0.96) 37.0 (0.88) 34.5 (0.77) 41.5 (2.16) 46.0 (2.07) 39.0 (2.35) 48.6 (3.51) 38.1 (1.30) 36.4 (0.88) 35.7 (1.23) 37.3 (0.75) 32.1 (2.68) 37.1 (4.07)
Number of times cut classes in first half of current school year                                                        
Never 62.4 (0.71) 60.6 (0.90) 64.2 (0.91) 64.0 (0.80) 63.5 (2.12) 50.5 (1.69) 66.4 (2.36) 48.8 (3.91) 59.0 (1.30) 62.4 (0.91) 65.9 (1.24) 61.0 (0.77) 78.6 (2.36) 70.3 (3.66)
1 or 2 times 22.0 (0.49) 22.3 (0.71) 21.7 (0.67) 21.3 (0.54) 22.5 (1.82) 24.6 (1.44) 20.3 (2.01) 35.1 (3.97) 23.4 (1.09) 21.5 (0.68) 22.2 (1.05) 22.3 (0.52) 16.6 (1.92) 19.9 (3.44)
3 to 6 times 8.4 (0.33) 9.2 (0.45) 7.7 (0.48) 8.1 (0.40) 7.5 (0.81) 12.6 (1.02) 5.7 (0.87) 8.3 (3.25) 9.6 (0.73) 8.2 (0.44) 7.3 (0.56) 8.8 (0.35) 3.2 (0.87) 6.9 (1.28)
More than 6 times 7.2 (0.35) 8.0 (0.49) 6.5 (0.44) 6.5 (0.38) 6.4 (1.03) 12.2 (1.23) 7.6 (1.21) 7.8 (2.04) 8.1 (0.64) 7.9 (0.50) 4.6 (0.43) 7.9 (0.39) 1.6 (0.55) 2.9 (1.03)
                                                         
Percentage of 10th-graders in 2002                                                        
Number of days missed in first half of current school year                                                        
None 14.3 (0.38) 16.1 (0.51) 12.5 (0.47) 13.0 (0.48) 16.5 (0.84) 14.2 (0.88) 28.3 (1.59) 12.1 (0.14) 13.5 (0.67) 13.9 (0.48) 16.0 (0.79) 14.0 (0.40) 16.1 (1.23) 19.2 (2.22)
1 or 2 days 35.4 (0.52) 36.1 (0.69) 34.8 (0.68) 35.5 (0.66) 38.4 (1.17) 33.5 (1.46) 35.7 (1.58) 25.0 (0.92) 32.8 (0.97) 35.3 (0.72) 38.2 (0.96) 35.0 (0.56) 41.0 (1.62) 39.8 (1.71)
3 to 6 days 33.0 (0.53) 31.9 (0.69) 34.3 (0.69) 34.4 (0.69) 30.7 (1.08) 32.7 (1.01) 24.3 (1.23) 35.5 (1.38) 33.1 (0.87) 32.7 (0.74) 33.8 (0.97) 33.2 (0.56) 33.1 (1.51) 29.9 (2.04)
More than 6 days 17.2 (0.41) 16.0 (0.56) 18.5 (0.59) 17.1 (0.49) 14.3 (0.95) 19.6 (1.09) 11.7 (1.16) 27.4 (0.32) 20.6 (0.90) 18.1 (0.53) 12.0 (0.65) 17.8 (0.44) 9.8 (0.77) 11.1 (1.21)
Number of times late in first half of current school year                                                        
Never 26.0 (0.54) 26.0 (0.73) 26.0 (0.68) 29.8 (0.67) 17.4 (0.86) 20.4 (1.18) 27.4 (1.41) 19.8 (0.65) 24.6 (0.87) 25.8 (0.66) 28.1 (0.94) 25.7 (0.58) 33.3 (1.79) 25.1 (2.28)
1 or 2 days 37.4 (0.54) 36.5 (0.75) 38.4 (0.71) 38.7 (0.66) 36.5 (1.33) 34.9 (1.17) 36.2 (1.52) 35.8 (2.42) 36.9 (0.98) 36.7 (0.72) 39.4 (0.91) 37.3 (0.57) 40.4 (1.32) 38.3 (1.39)
3 or more days 36.5 (0.62) 37.4 (0.82) 35.6 (0.77) 31.5 (0.71) 46.1 (1.48) 44.8 (1.45) 36.4 (1.58) 44.4 (1.89) 38.5 (1.01) 37.5 (0.79) 32.5 (1.05) 37.0 (0.67) 26.3 (1.54) 36.7 (2.11)
Number of times cut classes in first half of current school year                                                        
Never 68.4 (0.70) 68.1 (0.87) 68.8 (0.83) 72.9 (0.75) 64.6 (1.64) 56.3 (1.48) 68.9 (1.76) 70.3 (3.43) 62.4 (1.10) 67.1 (0.86) 77.0 (1.04) 67.1 (0.75) 86.1 (1.39) 80.7 (1.90)
1 or 2 times 18.7 (0.46) 18.8 (0.65) 18.5 (0.58) 16.7 (0.55) 20.2 (1.15) 23.9 (1.01) 17.5 (1.25) 22.2 (3.43) 21.3 (0.79) 19.6 (0.63) 14.2 (0.81) 19.2 (0.49) 11.0 (1.12) 13.7 (1.38)
3 to 6 times 6.8 (0.32) 6.8 (0.40) 6.9 (0.41) 5.7 (0.34) 9.0 (0.76) 9.0 (0.83) 8.2 (1.08) 4.7 (0.29) 7.9 (0.65) 7.1 (0.40) 5.2 (0.47) 7.2 (0.34) 1.8 (0.40) 3.9 (0.57)
More than 6 times 6.1 (0.30) 6.3 (0.40) 5.9 (0.40) 4.7 (0.31) 6.2 (0.67) 10.9 (0.97) 5.3 (0.65) 2.7 (0.32) 8.4 (0.62) 6.2 (0.39) 3.7 (0.38) 6.5 (0.32) 1.0 (0.26) 1.7 (0.47)
1 Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by a composite score on parental education and occupations, and family income. The "low" SES group is the lowest quartile; the "middle" SES group is the middle two quartiles; and the "high" SES group is the upper quartile. Data for 2002 for persons reporting more than one race are not shown separately, but are included in totals.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic origin. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88/90), "First Follow-up Student Survey, 1990"; and Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, Base Year (ELS:02). (This table was prepared November 2005.)

2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest