Does the presence of a classmate with emotional/behavioral disabilities link to other students’ absences in kindergarten?

•Tested for an association between classmates with emotional/behavioral disabilities and other students’ absences in kindergarten.•Used ECLS-K:2011, a national sample of children in school that contains information on absences as well as other contextual factors.•Students with classmates with emotional/behavioral disabilities were more likely to be absent.•Key individual, teacher, and classroom contextual factors moderated the size of this correlation, providing insight for policy and practice.

In recent decades, there has been a policy push for including students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Little is known, however, on the effects that this classroom compositional change may have on other students. This study focuses on the increased presence of classmates with emotional/behavioral disabilities (EBDs), as these children often exhibit behavioral disruptions. Given that classroom disruptions are associated with decreased school engagement, we tested for an association between the presence of classmates with EBDs and other students’ absences. Using a national dataset and relying on within-school variation in classrooms that do and do not have a classmate with an EBD as well as a rich set of control variables, we found that annual student absences increased when students had a classmate with an EBD. Further, the likelihood of being chronically absent was higher when students had a classmate with an EBD. Importantly, we examined what malleable factors might support inclusion for more successful classroom environments. We found an array of teacher and classroom characteristics that could create more supportive classrooms for all children. Implications for how compositional changes to inclusive classroom contexts might address all children’s needs are discussed.