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Published Version (Advanced Access)CC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
A Decade of Elementary School Improvement Data: Documenting Longitudinal Associations Among Attendance, Suspension, School Climate, and Achievement
Improving Schools, Vol.Advanced access
2025
Abstract
School improvement is generally assessed by the extent to which several indicators show improvement over time. However, much less is known about the ways in which these indicators interact over time. This study analyses 10 years of school-level administrative data from over 896 elementary schools in Queensland, Australia, using a cross-lagged panel model to explore bidirectional associations among school improvement indicators. Descriptive statistics show net improvement over the decade on indicators of academic achievement and student attendance, and an increase in the use of exclusionary discipline. In the cross-lagged panel model, there were associations between unexplained absences and out-of-school suspensions with later declines in achievement data and satisfaction. There was some indication that the reverse was also true, with achievement associated with later non-achievement indicators, though these paths were less consistent. The findings point to potentially modifiable factors within the school context likely to enhance achievement over time.
Details
- Title
- A Decade of Elementary School Improvement Data: Documenting Longitudinal Associations Among Attendance, Suspension, School Climate, and Achievement
- Authors
- Kate E Williams (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary AccessNicole Hayes - Queensland University of TechnologyKristin R Laurens - Queensland University of TechnologyMegan Kimber - Australian Catholic UniversitySuzanne Carrington - Queensland University of TechnologyNerida Spina - Queensland University of TechnologyRebecca Spooner-Lane - Queensland University of Technology
- Publication details
- Improving Schools, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Sage Publications Ltd.
- DOI
- 10.1177/13654802251405912
- ISSN
- 1475-7583; 1365-4802
- Copyright note
- © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
- Data Availability
- The data used for the study was provided by the Queensland Department of Education for this specific study and cannot be shared.
- Grant note
- This study was part of a larger project funded by a Queensland Government Department Education Horizon grant.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Education and Tertiary Access
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991191645702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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