Absenteeism and Academic

Performance in Core Subjects

of Grades 9 and 10

In Partial Fulfilment

of P.A.S.S.

Academic Year 2018 – 2019

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Approval Sheet

In partial fulfillment of the P.A.S.S. requirements to graduate from

grade school, a P.A.S.S. research paper entitled Absenteeism and
Academic Performance in Core Subjects of grades 9 and 10

Ms. Karren Joy D. Napal

P.A.S.S. Research Adviser

Board of Panelists

Mr. Gerald B. Gamboa Ms. Lyza Mae Ritz A. Choa

Member Member

Mr. Carlson A. Lomotan

Chairman

Mr. Gerald B. Gamboa

P.A.S.S. Research Coordinator

Ms. Jennifer C. Pre Mr. Rolly S. Donato

Deputy Principal Principal
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Acknowledgment

First and foremost, the researcher would like to thank our Almighty God for

his blessings and guidance throughout this research journey. She would like to

extend her deepest gratitude to her loving parents for their moral support,

motivation, encouragement and financial assistance in this study.

The researcher would also like to express her sincere appreciation to

P.A.S.S. Research Adviser Ms. Karren Joy D. Napal, for her untiring assistance

and patience.

P.A.S.S Research Teacher Sir Amiel, for his valuable comments and suggestions

in the improvement of this research.

P.A.S.S Coordinator, Sir Gerald Gamboa, for his guidance and motivation. The

research will not be possible without their help and supervision.

Lastly the researcher would like to thank the Grade 9 and 10 students for

their cooperation especially during the conduct of questionnaires.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL SHEET

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

CHAPTERS

I. THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction 1

Review of Related Literature 4

Statement of the Problem 9

Significance of the Study 11

Definition of Terms 11

II. METHODOLOGY

Research Design 12

Respondents of the Study 12

Research Instrument 12

Data Gathering Procedure 13

Statistical Treatment 13

III. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Specific Question No.1 14

Specific Question No.2 15

Specific Question No.3 15

IV. MAJOR FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

Major Findings 16

Conclusions 16

Recommendations 16

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX
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Chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

Absenteeism is one of the major factors that can affect the academic

performance of students. Absenteeism can affect the student’s achievements and

can increase the risk of dropping out of school. In the context of the school it will

be a habit from being away from school. It can’t be denied that every now and

then that students won’t get to experience activities and lessons held by the

school. It becomes a problem if the student is away from school for more than 3

or more days. Students who are usually away from school are all placed on a

disadvantage academically. Students would also have a big negative impact on

their academic performance due to this.

Academic performance is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution

has achieved their short or long-term educational goals. Completion of

educational benchmarks such as school diplomas and bachelor's degrees represent

academic achievements. Academic achievement is commonly measured

through examinations or continuous assessments but there is no general

agreement on how it is best evaluated or which aspects are most important

procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts.

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Academic success is important because it is strongly linked to the positive

outcomes we value. Adults who are academically successful and with high levels

of education are more likely to be employed. The relationship between

absenteeism and academic performance was investigated among 56 students.

Finally, the number of days absent was found to be the second most important, in

predicting student performance on the final exam. These findings suggest there

may be some value in adopting intervention strategies designed to encourage

attendance.

The relationship between absenteeism and academic performance was

investigated among 56 students enrolled in an Introduction to Business course.

The students who were absent from class on the random days attendance was

taken performed significantly lower on subsequent tests. In addition, the total

number of days absent from class was negatively correlated with performance on

a comprehensive final exam. Finally, the number of days absent was found to be

the second most important factor after GPA, in predicting student performance on

the final exam. These findings suggest there may be some value in adopting

intervention strategies designed to encourage attendance.

The researcher did research on absenteeism and how it affects students’

academic performance. To find out the main causes, effects and impacts on their

academic performance. This research can also help future researchers for further

information. In addition the research can also help the students on how to avoid
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being absent, and the impact it can have on their academic performance. It can

also help the teachers and parents to identify possible solutions and help the

students overcome absenteeism.

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Review of Related Literature

It is not possible for a student to do his or her best if they are not in school to

control class work, take notes and to interact with teachers and classmates

regarding course curriculum. When a student misses multiple days of school it is

called absenteeism. Absenteeism is defined as missing ten percent of the school

year.This includes both excused and unexcused absences. It is a routine practice

for parents or guardians to receive a cautionary letter or phone call when their

student’s absenteeism approaches ten percent.

Often times these same parents or guardians question the validity of these

notifications if their student has been absent due to chronic illness, vacation, or

family emergency. However, it is not why a student is absent, but how much a

student is absent that really matters. Absenteeism not only affects student

achievement, it can affect a student’s attitude and behavior at school. It’s helpful

for schools to have clear policies and procedures on how to respond to

absenteeism and to practice consistent communication with students and parents

when concerns arise. Through the data that schools are required to collect on

absenteeism we are able to assist students and their families in improving

absenteeism by promptly addressing it.

Schools can also help students improve attendance through education about

the effects of absenteeism. Parents can help improve their child’s attendance by

working with the school to identify why their child is missing school, to address
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underlying concerns and to establish concrete expectations of attending school

and not to negotiate away from these expectations. Satisfying the basic needs of a

good night’s sleep, a proper breakfast and getting to school on time can greatly

impact a child’s attendance. Students with good homework habits are to miss

school rarely. While others who are irresponsible may miss school normally.

It also includes getting suspended. Missing a certain number of days—for

any reason—triggers schools to start a truancy process. This involves

documenting attendance and filing a report with a state agency, local school

district and law enforcement. Indiana: and Achievement 2014) Kamla-Raj quoted

in his article in 2011, the continue absenteeism or poor academic achievement

among the students leads to drop out from the University. It is indicating by one

author that absenteeism is act as crime which is more commonly among the

student who got low grades, have spotted attendance and they dropped from class

Robbins and Coulter 2007 said that students who missed the class on specific

date, they are more likely to respond wrongly to question related to material

covered in that day than those student who were present.

It is given in the hypothesis that there is correlation between the students

learning which had empirically in educational literature. Its most surprisingly,

there are inverse relation between the course performance and absenteeism in

most of the studies. Kamla-Raj quoted in his article in 2011.Absenteeism is the

most important factors which impact on the assembly line function in the
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development of administration of University. These absenteeism levels decrease

the level of production because of work specialization.

One analysis given that, absenteeism brings out hundreds of cases of

negative impact on the building of future of students. Empirical evidences

confirm that absenteeism produce the high level of problems and failure. There is

decline in value of specialization among the students and significant decrease the

achievements of students. Students who attend school regularly also feel more

connected to their community, develop important social skills and friendships,

and are significantly more likely to graduate from high school, setting them up

for a strong future.

But when kids are absent for an average of just two days of school per

month even when the absences are excused it can have a negative impact. These

absences can affect kids as early as Kindergarten. For example, young elementary

school students who miss an average of just two school days per month often

have difficulty keeping up with their peers academically and tend to fall behind in

reading. Which is when kids transition from learning to read to reading to learn,

they are three to four times possibilities to graduate high school and attend

college, post-graduate, or professional development classes than their peers who

struggle with reading.

Kids who are frequently absent miss all that background experience," she

said. "They can make it up in paper and pencil, but they can't make up that
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background, those conversations and the participation." The conversations, labs,

discussions and interactions provide a layered education that chronically absent

students can miss — and those social interactions can be key to a quality

education, Quistorf explained. She said students have a tendency to remember

and attach to the experiences in the classroom that help them understand topics

being studied. Attendance habits should be established early.

Children who establish poor habits in kindergarten through second grade can

carry those poor attendance habits throughout their school years, "students with

low attendance in the early grades are to possibly have low attendance and lower

academic performance throughout their elementary and middle school years.

"Missing school can also lead to achievement gaps. Quistorf used the example of

early childhood reading to illustrate how an achievement gaps can manifest early

in a child's education. A child who reads twenty minutes at home or at school

would likely develop better reading skills and a better vocabulary than a kid who

missed a lot of school and read only four minutes a day, she explained. "They can

never make up that information they missed," she said. "Every time a student

misses a day throughout a school year, they lose that day of information."

Students who attend school regularly are able to learn more, have fewer

discipline problems, develop better study habits and often are more successful

than students who do not. The Fonda-Fultonville Central School District

recognizes that good attendance is essential to academic success. Good

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attendance includes arriving to school on time and ready to learn. But too many

students are at risk academically because they are missing too much school.

When students are absent, they miss valuable educational experiences and

opportunities. Attendance in school is important because students are supposed to

succeed in academics when they attend school consistently (Pascopella, 2007). It

is difficult for teachers and students to build skills and progress if large numbers

of students are frequently absent.

In addition to falling behind in academics, students who are not in school on

a regular basis have a high chance to get into trouble with the law and cause

problems in their communities(Hocking, 2008). What factors lead to student

absenteeism and would the implementation of an incentive program motivate

students to come to Campus regularly in last semester students of faculty of

business and accountancy in SIMAD University are carried out in accordance of

established goals, policies and procedures‖ An increasing number of individuals

seek a high level of education to secure their future and improve their economic

possibilities. Academic performance is an essential factor in the success of the

post-education period with respect to employment.

The knowledge regarding expected academic performance is also a valuable

input for educators and school administrators, as this information can be used to

identify and target vulnerable students at risk of dropping out or in need of

additional attention. However, gathering information about attendance levels

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using conventional methods (surveys or self-reports) is subject to inherent biases

and moreover, can be costly to gather at the scale of schools or universities.

Absence from classes among students nowadays is a global issue. Various

researches on absenteeism only focused on the absenteeism but lack on the

relationship between students’ class attendance and academic performance.

Thus, this study aimed to find the relationship between class attendance and

academic performance of the students. differences between class attendance and

academic performance (t-test = 23.45, p <0.05). The study also revealed that there

was a negative correlation between absence from class with the academic

achievement (r = -0.611). Regression model was developed to determine the

impact of class absenteeism on student academic performance.

The result showed that the most important finding was that once the students

do not attend Calculus classes, there will be a reduction of 2.11% in the final

exam scores of the students. The findings of this study can benefit the university

in the planning to have students who are graduating on time. In addition, this

study can also create awareness to students about the disadvantages of not

attending classes on their academic achievement.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to identify the effects of absenteeism to the academic

performance in core subjects of Grades 9 and 10

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Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the attendance record of the students in the first term?

2. What is the academic performance of the students in the following

subjects;

a. ECA

b. Science

c. Math

3. How does absenteeism affect the academic performance of the

students?
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Significance of the Study

The outcome of this study may benefit the following personalities or sectors

of society:

Students. Students can know the effects of being absent in school and learn

how to avoid it through certain ways mentioned in this mini research thesis

Parents. Parents can help their child avoid being absent in school with

helping them with daily routines

Teacher. Teachers can benefit from this by not having any difficulties in

monitoring the students from missing any topics or exams as well in participating

students in fun activities done by the school

School. Schools can benefit from this by completing all the tasks on time as

planned

Future Researchers. Future researchers can benefit from this by getting

information or a reference about absenteeism.

Definition of Terms

Absenteeism- this refers to the practice of regularly staying away from work

or school without good reason.

Academic Performance- this refers to academic achievement or

performance is the extent to which a student, teacher or institutional has achieved

their short- or long-term educational goals.

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Chapter 2

Methodology

Research Design

A descriptive method was used in the study. Descriptive method is used to

describe a characteristic of a population or phenomenon being studied. A survey

is used as a brief interview or discussion with an individual about a specific topic.

This technique fits the study the most. The researcher’s study is different from the

others because the title aims to know the effects of absenteeism to the academic

performance of the grades 9 and 10 students while the others aim to have

different topics or title.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study were the Grades 9 and 10 students. There were

fifty six (56) respondents. Twenty-eight (28) students from Grade 9 Integrity and

Grade 10 Resilience have twenty-eight (28) participants. They all have been part

of the development of the paper. This population was chosen because they will be

able to answer the survey questionnaire diligently

Research Instrument

A self-made questionnaire was used to gather all the necessary information

for the study. It has a set of questions intentionally designed to produce responses

from the respondents for information.

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Data Gathering Procedure

The survey questionnaires are distributed by the researcher to the Grades 9

and 10. They were given ample time to answer all the questions. All the data

collected were tallied, analyzed and interpreted by the researcher.

Statistical Treatment of Data

Data gathered by the researcher were sorted, tabulated and summarized in

tables. The researcher made use of the following statistical tools:

P = (f/N) x 100 %

Where:

Percentage (P) – a rate, number or amount in each hundred

Frequency (f) – the rate at which something occurs or is repeated over a

particular period of time or in a given sample

Number of response (N) – is the total number of numerical values,

calculated by adding them together and dividing by the number of terms in

the set.
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Chapter 3

Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data

This chapter presents the data gathered by the researcher to be able to

answer the following specific questions:

Specific Question No.1 What is the attendance record of the students in the first
term?

Table1.0 Attendance Record

Days Missed No. of Students Percentage

1–5 42 75.00%
6 -10 6 10.71%
11 -20 5 8.92%
21 – 30 2 3.57%
31 – 40 1 1.80%

Table No. 1 shows that out of 56 respondents, 75.00% or 42 respondents

have rarely been absent.

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Specific Question No.2 What is the students’ academic performance in the first
term?

Table No.2 : Academic Performance in ELA, Science and Math

Numerical ECA % Math% Science %

Grade
96 - 100 1 6 4

91 – 95 25 15 17

86 – 90 25 14 16

80 – 85 5 21 19

76 – 79 0 0 0

70 – 79 0 0 0

Table No.2 shows that out of 56 respondents, 42.85% or 24 respondents has AA

on their grades.

Specific Question No. 3 How does absenteeism affect the academic performance
of the students?

According to table no.1 and 2 the fewer the absences of the respondents, they tend to

perform better in their academics in the major subjects.

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Chapter 4
Major Findings and Conclusions

Major Findings

Based on the data gathered, the following are the major findings:

1. 75% of the respondents are rarely or never absent

2. 42.85% of the respondents have AA as their academic performance

3. Most of the respondents who have less absences have academic

performance in their core subjects which is above average.

Conclusions

Based on the following data, the following are concluded:

1. Most of the grade 9 and 10 students are rarely absent during school

days.

2. Most of the grade 9 and 10 students have AA as their academic

performance.

3. Better academic performance is achived through complete attendance

or few absences

Recommendations

Based on the conclusion and results of the study, the following are the

recommendations to all those in significance of the study

1. For future students, the researcher recommends that the students would

have a healthy breakfast, right amount of sleep and would be ready for
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school to avoid being absent.

2. For future parents, the researcher recommends that the parents would

help their child/children by keeping track of their attendance and

making sure their child/children is ready for school.

3. The researcher recommends that the school should continue to keep

track or monitor the student’s attendance and the impact to their

academic performance improving the academic performance of the

students.
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Bibliography

https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Students-Absenteeism-F3PW2N936ZZA

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307088341_The_School_Absenteeism_
among_High_School_Students_Contributing_Factors

https://www.academia.edu/3307957/A_Qualitative_Research_Study_on_School_
Absenteeism_Among_College_Students

https://owlcation.com/academia/action-research-on-student-absenteeism

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1130748.pdf

https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/10309611111163718

https://www.google.com/search?ei=e_dxXPeRNpK0mAX2j5DgBg&q=absenteei
sm+research+paper&oq=absenteeism+&gs_l=psy-
ab.1.8.0l10.61606.68117..117943...0.0..0.182.1706.

https://www.slideshare.net/nishaambalan/a-study-on-the-factor-of-student-
absenteeism-at-faculty-of-business-unisel-shah-alam
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Appendix

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

I am currently working on my P.A.S.S research entitled ―The Effects of

Absenteeism to the Academic Performance of the Grades 9 and 10‖ I am
humbly asking for your time and cooperation to answer this survey. Your
honest response will be treated with outmost confidentially.
Thank you and God bless!

Part I: Demographic Profile

Name:

Part II: Attendance Record

Check the best description that applies to you.

1. How many times were you absent in the first term?

1-5

6-10

11-15

16-20

21-25

26-30

30-35

36-40
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2. What are your reasons for being absent?

I’m never away

Illness/Appointments

Family/Personal reasons

Shopping/Fun

Problems at school

Others, please specify

3. What are your final grades in the first term?

ELA SCIENCE MATHEMATICS

VS VS VS

S S S

AA AA AA

A A A

LA LA LA

P P P