Examining the relationship between attendance and reading literacy attainment among urban elementary students : An exploratory study

Using a quantitative approach, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between attendance and reading literacy attainment of Grade 4 students in an urban school division in Saskatchewan. The specific research questions were: 1. What is the correlation between attendance and reading literacy rates? 2. Is the relationship between attendance and reading literacy rates the same for FNMI as it is for the general population? The data used for this study were the attendance records and reading literacy scores of N=1141 Grade 4 students. The data were analysed using a non-parametric statistical analysis relying on Spearman’s Correlation Coefficient to assess the relationship between the two variables. Overall, the relationship between attendance and reading literacy rates was negligible as (N=1141) was rs= 0.08, p<0.01. However, a small effect size (N=286 was rs= 0.236, p<0.01) was indicated in the bottom quartile or students, based on attendance percentage. As well, for First Nation Metis and Inuit Students, the relationship between attendance and reading literacy attainment was also found to be small as (N=187) was rs= 0.212, p