PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Liu, Jing AU - Loeb, Susanna TI - Engaging Teachers AID - 10.3368/jhr.56.2.1216-8430R3 DP - 2021 Mar 31 TA - Journal of Human Resources PG - 343--379 VI - 56 IP - 2 4099 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/56/2/343.short 4100 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/56/2/343.full SO - J Hum Resour2021 Mar 31; 56 AB - On average, secondary school students in the United States are absent from school three weeks per year. For this study, we are able to link middle and high school teachers to the class-attendance of students in their classrooms and create measures of teachers’ contributions to student class-attendance. We find systematic variation in teacher effectiveness at reducing unexcused class absences. These differences across teachers are as stable as those for student achievement, but teacher effectiveness on attendance only weakly correlates with their effects on achievement. A high value-added to attendance teacher has a stronger impact on students’ likelihood of finishing high school than does a high value-added to achievement teacher. Moreover, high value-added to attendance teachers can motivate students to pursue higher academic goals. These positive effects are particularly salient for low-achieving and low-attendance students.