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R. Adeboye, C. Flewelling,V. Ogbole, E. O'Sullivan 33 Ethnic studies curricula 19 are supported by a body of research documenting the relationship between racial/ethnic identity of students of color and academic achievement. Studies using different research methodologies, investigating students at middle school through university levels, in different regions of the U.S. consistently find a relationship between academic achievement, high level of awareness of race and racism, and positive identification with one's own racial group. (Sleeter, 2011b, p. 8) Increased student understanding can be credibly linked to improved performance, though the concepts are hard to distinguish Finally, with respect to student understanding, although it is conceptually distinct from student performance, the two are difficult to distinguish in the literature, since performance is often used as a concrete proxy measure. That being said, studies that look at student disengagement or withdrawal from school (e.g., Finn, 1989; Cooper, 2012; Barrat et al., 2012; First Nations Schools Association and First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2024) describe a cyclical pattern whereby students start to withdraw, fall behind in school, then find that their subsequent inability to understand new materials leads to a repeating pattern of ever greater withdrawal and potentially even drop out. Attendance can be credibly linked to student performance and graduation The link between attendance and student outcomes is well established in the literature, with a plethora of sources confirming its impact across age groups and its linkages to student performance 20 (e.g., Finn, 1989; Klein and Sosu, 2024; Gottfried and Kirksey, 2017) and graduation (e.g., Zheng et al., 2023; Kearney, 2008; Robson et al., 2022). Notably, attendance is situated in the evaluation's Program Theory as a medium-term outcome, as a means of capturing chronic or problematic absenteeism rather than occasional absences. However, it should be noted that at least one theory - referred to as the "faucet theory" - posits that attendance has a linear effect, that any amount of absence is detrimental and, conversely, that even small increases in attendance are beneficial. Research conducted by Klein et al. (2022) for example, supported this theory. Relatedly, Whitley et al. (2025) highlight that school attendance is not just about access to curriculum, citing the variety of other school-based interventions that students are deprived of when absent. They use the example of students with disabilities and other diverse students for whom school provides access to essential relationships. There is also an abundance of research supporting the link between student performance and likelihood of graduating. Syntheses by Rumberger (2011), Gubbels et al. (2019), Wood et al. (2024), and Zheng et al. (2023) among others demonstrate that poor academic performance - often evident relatively early in a student's educational trajectory - is a strong predictor of later 19 "Ethnic studies curricula include units of study, courses, or programs that are centered around the knowledge and perspectives of an ethnic or racial group, reflecting narratives and points of view rooted in lived experiences and intellectual scholarship of that group" (Sleeter, 2011b, p. 8). 20 The importance of attendance extends beyond the individual student to the learning environment as a whole. Gottfried and Ansari demonstrate that "when students are in classrooms with a higher typical percent absent, individual achievement tends to be lower," (2022, p.9).