What Works to Keep Students in School? A Meta-Analysis of Interventions to Reduce School Absenteeism.

Dan Li, Subhash Singh, Navya Jeldi, Sophie Chang, Mingze Zhu, Kylar Dailey, Aizhan Karabukayeva, Changjie Cai

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Exploratory Longitudinal Associations Between SAPs and Individual and Contextual Variables: Toward the Development of Educational Guidelines.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Dan LiDepartment of Health Promotion Sciences, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Campus, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1603-6182

Subhash SinghDepartment of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Campus, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.

Navya JeldiDepartment of Health Promotion Sciences, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Campus, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.

Sophie ChangSchool of Biological Sciences, Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA.

Mingze ZhuDepartment of Occupational & Environmental Health, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Campus, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7169-4925

Kylar DaileyHonors College, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA.

Aizhan KarabukayevaDepartment of Health Administration & Policy, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Campus, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2976-4277

Changjie CaiDepartment of Occupational & Environmental Health, Hudson College of Public Health, The University of Oklahoma Health Campus, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5189-003X

Funding

EPA R840630

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

(1) Background: Regular school attendance is foundational to students' academic achievement, social-emotional development, and long-term career success. Yet chronic absenteeism continues to affect a substantial proportion of PreK-12 students in the United States, underscoring the urgent need for evidence-based interventions. (2) Methods: This meta-analysis synthesized findings from 13 randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published between January 2020 and March 2025 and identified through six digital databases. All included studies evaluated interventions that reported school absenteeism as an outcome. Effect sizes were calculated using Hedges'

Indexed as

health promotionmeta-analysisquasi-experimental design (QED)randomized controlled trial (RCT)school absenteeism

Identifiers

PMID42193576

DOI10.3390/bs16050697

PMCPMC13203937

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.