Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of the study was to determine differences between student attendance trends before and after the Accountability Acts of 1999 and 2001. The second purpose of the study was to determine by ethnic group, socioeconomic group, and language acquisition level the differences in attendance trends before and after the Accountability Acts of 1999 and 2001. Methodology. This was an ex post facto study using quantitative seventh- and eighth-grade student attendance data from San Bernardino County in California and qualitative data measuring the attitudes and beliefs of a sample of building principals in relation to the Accountability Acts. Statistical analysis was conducted with t tests of significant differences. Findings. The crisis in confidence in American schools in the latter half of the twentieth century resulted in an accountability movement that culminated in numerous reforms and Accountability Acts designed to improve public education. In 1998 the California Legislature amended Education Code 46300 to establish "actual attendance," the elimination of the monetary apportionment for students who were not physically in school (or a school-sponsored activity) for more than 240 minutes. The next year the California Legislature passed Senate Bill IX (SBIX), an "accountability" bill designed to improve the performance of students as measured by standardized tests. The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), like the California Accountability Act of 1999, mandated school and district evaluation based on standardized test results and measured school effectiveness by a common "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) rating. The goals of these Accountability Acts were laudable, but not realistic and they created substantial hardships on schools. Conclusions. The study established that there was a statistically significant decline in the attendance of seventh and eighth grade students after the Accountability Acts. The most severe decline was the year after the implementation of "actual attendance," and although the decreases in subsequent years were more gradual, they were nonetheless significant. The qualitative data showed a significant difference in the perceptions of principals serving schools with high poverty levels from principals working in schools with lower levels of poverty. The qualitative data also suggested there was a greater negative impact on the attendance of minority students, students living in poverty, and students not fully proficient in English. Recommendations. The study should be replicated in another county to generalize the results, and a quantitative study of the sub-groups would strengthen the conclusions. Policy makers should consider the results of this study when considering the renewal of the Accountability Acts.