The Wise Man Builds His House Upon the Rock: The Effects of Inadequate School Building Infrastructure on Student Attendance n David Branham, University of Houston Objective. This article looks at the effect of school infrastructure on student at- tendance and drop-out rates. Methods. Using the school as the unit of analysis, Tobit analysis is performed to analyze 226 Houston Independent School District schools. Results. The quality of school infrastructure has a significant effect on school attendance and drop-out rates. Students are less likely to attend schools in need of structural repair, schools that use temporary structures, and schools that have understaffed janitorial services. Conclusions. School districts who wish to maximize attendance and minimize drop-out rates should avoid temporary solu- tions to school building inadequacies and provide students, teachers, and admin- istrators with quality permanent structure schools, and quality janitorial staffs to maintain those schools. Wilson and Kelling (1982) proposed that if a building had a broken window and the window was not replaced, all of the other windows would soon be broken. One broken window indicates that no one cares, so con- tinuing the breakage will come at no cost. Such neglect would then bring about a new culture of disorder, fear, and isolation throughout the locale. Things that appeared to be in chaos would bring the perception of illegal action regardless of whether such action really took place. Participation in neighborhood activities would cease, regardless of how luxurious the com- munity, because one had to risk entering the bedlam that infested the neighborhood. This article hypothesizes that Wilson and Kelling’s theory holds especially true in academic communities and that the condition of school infrastruc- ture has crucial consequences for school performance, specifically attendance and drop-out rates. Children are especially vulnerable to the whims of social disorder. It is rare to find the elders of a community arbitrarily vandalizing property. If walls are being painted with graffiti, if mailboxes are being used n Direct correspondence to David Branham, University of Houston Center for Public Policy, 104 Heyne Building, Houston, TX 77204-5021 h dbranham@uh.edu i . All data and coding information in this analysis will be shared with those wishing to replicate this study. The author thanks Greg Weiher, Christina Hughes, Colleen Barry-Goodman, Rene ´e Cross, San Juanita Garza, and the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable help on this project. SOCIAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY, Volume 85, Number 5, December 2004 r2004 by the Southwestern Social Science Association