Class Attendance and Performance in Principles of Economics

A sample of 347 students, enrolled in principles of economics classes during the period 1997-2001, is used to examine the relation between class attendance and student performance on examinations. Among the questions examined are: Is attendance related to performance, with and without controls for other factors? Do only substantial levels of absence matter? Do low test scores cause more frequent subsequent absences? Do the results change when individual heterogeneity (in addition to controls for differences in SAT and GPA) is considered in the context of random-effects and fixed-effects models, using panel data? Can overall attendance be proxied by attendance at six meetings at the end of the semester, and does such a proxy yield the same relation to performance as overall attendance? We also study the factors that appear to contribute to improved classroom attendance.