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An Extra Point for Attendance: The Impact of High School Varsity Athletics on Absenteeism
[Key Points]
- Merging day-level attendance data with complete varsity roster data for 262,000 Indiana high school students in 2023-24, we find a consistent “double bump” in attendance for athletes. Varsity athletes have better attendance than other students out of season and still better attendance during their sports seasons.
- Chronic absenteeism is far lower among varsity athletes, and this differential from other students remains large after controlling for numerous other factors.
- The athlete attendance advantage remains substantial after adjusting for student and school characteristics and seasonal attendance variation. We find this attendance advantage is driven primarily by excused absences, with measurable effects on unexcused absences as well.
- We find substantial, plausibly causal in-season effects showing that participation in structured, voluntary extracurricular activities improves attendance and demonstrating the role of student agency in showing up to school.
[Executive Summary]
- Examining day-level attendance records and varsity participation data for roughly 262,000 Indiana high school students, we find a consistent “double bump” effect of varsity sports participation on attendance: Varsity athletes had better attendance outside their sports seasons than their peers and still lower absence rates during their sports seasons. Athletes also showed substantially lower rates of chronic absenteeism.
- Overall, high school absences averaged 6.5 percent statewide, and 23 percent of students played at least one varsity sport. The demographic profile of varsity athletes reflects several advantages that are also associated with better attendance. Nonetheless, after adjusting for key student and school characteristics and weekly variation in absences, varsity athletes’ attendance advantage remains substantial both in and out of their sports seasons.
- Effects appear for excused and unexcused absences, with the overall athlete advantage larger for unexcused absences. Models that include student fixed effects identify an attenuated but large causal in-season effect. Together, the patterns identified in this report suggest that structured, voluntary extracurricular participation can meaningfully improve attendance behavior and that students have meaningful agency over their own attendance.
- Merging day-level attendance data with complete varsity roster data for 262,000 Indiana high school students in 2023-24, we find a consistent “double bump” in attendance for athletes. Varsity athletes have better attendance than other students out of season and still better attendance during their sports seasons.
- Chronic absenteeism is far lower among varsity athletes, and this differential from other students remains large after controlling for numerous other factors.
- The athlete attendance advantage remains substantial after adjusting for student and school characteristics and seasonal attendance variation. We find this attendance advantage is driven primarily by excused absences, with measurable effects on unexcused absences as well.
- We find substantial, plausibly causal in-season effects showing that participation in structured, voluntary extracurricular activities improves attendance and demonstrating the role of student agency in showing up to school.
[Executive Summary]
- Examining day-level attendance records and varsity participation data for roughly 262,000 Indiana high school students, we find a consistent “double bump” effect of varsity sports participation on attendance: Varsity athletes had better attendance outside their sports seasons than their peers and still lower absence rates during their sports seasons. Athletes also showed substantially lower rates of chronic absenteeism.
- Overall, high school absences averaged 6.5 percent statewide, and 23 percent of students played at least one varsity sport. The demographic profile of varsity athletes reflects several advantages that are also associated with better attendance. Nonetheless, after adjusting for key student and school characteristics and weekly variation in absences, varsity athletes’ attendance advantage remains substantial both in and out of their sports seasons.
- Effects appear for excused and unexcused absences, with the overall athlete advantage larger for unexcused absences. Models that include student fixed effects identify an attenuated but large causal in-season effect. Together, the patterns identified in this report suggest that structured, voluntary extracurricular participation can meaningfully improve attendance behavior and that students have meaningful agency over their own attendance.
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