Return to Addressing Absenteeism

Indicators and Predictors of Absenteeism

Predicting absenteeism as early as primary school supported by research below.

Failing literacy grades

Here is a great parental resource and Graphic from Living Sky School Division, Saskatchewan illustrating how by Grade 3, 58% of students with absenteeism of only 2 days per month can read at grade level versus 92% of good attenders who read at Grade 3 level. Failing grades in English language is an early indicator …

Failing Mathematics grades

Here is an excellent parent resource and Graphic from Living Sky School Division, Saskatchewan illustrating how by Grade 3, 79% of students with absenteeism of only 2 days per month can do Math at grade level versus 88% of good attenders who can do Math at Grade 3 level. Failing grades in Math is an …

Physical Health

There is a link between school attendance and good health as this publication from the American Academy of Pediatrics points out. “Although students who are truant may be chronically absent, focusing solely on truancy may miss those students who miss excessive amounts of school for “excused” reasons. Regardless of whether absences are unexcused or excused, …

Mental Health

There is a link between school attendance and good mental health as this publication from the American Academy of Pediatrics points out. “Chronic school absenteeism, starting as early as preschool and kindergarten, puts students at risk for poor school performance and school dropout, which in turn, put them at risk for unhealthy behaviors as adolescents …

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

School Absenteeism Among Middle School Students With High Exposure to Violence. From the Abstract “Chronic school absenteeism is linked to failure to graduate high school and poor health in adulthood. Contextual factors associated with absenteeism may be under-recognized in school and clinical settings. We examined the prevalence of self-reported absenteeism and violence exposure and their …

Checklist of Absenteeism Protective Factors and Risk Factors

Some of the  protective factors for students that can mitigate and address absenteeism:(Adapted from CHECK & CONNECT Protective Factors associated with school dropout, Regents of University of Minnesota, 2017) Some of the risk factors or reasons impacting student attendance were:  (check all that apply) (adapted from Dr. Chris O’Connor, Dr. Tyler Frederick Ontario Tech University …

Student behaviour – suspensions

Being suspended for 3 or more times per year is an early indicator by Grade 6 of early school leavers or drop outs in Destination Graduation: Sixth Grade Early Warning Indicators for Baltimore City Schools – Their Prevalence and Impact. Just the Right Mix: Identifying Potential Dropouts in Montgomery County Public Schools Using an Early …

Trauma

Making Space for Learning: Trauma Informed Practice in Schools is an excellent resource from the Australian Childhood Foundation Protecting Children. SPACE means Staged, Predictable, Adaptive, Connected,Enabled. The resources provides helpful definitions of trauma as simple(“experience of being in car accidents, house fires, bushfires, earthquakes and cyclones”), complex,(“child abuse, bullying, domestic violence, rape, war and imprisonment”) …

Student Behaviour – Tardiness

A chronically late student in SK and Grade 1 (>= 10% or 2 days per month) is TEN times more likely to become chronically absent and is a good predictor of future absenteeism. The achievement effects of tardy classmates: evidence in urban elementary schools Michael A Gottfried writes that “students with greater tardiness perform worse …

Past chronic absenteeism predicts future absenteeism

Past chronic absenteeism of 2 days per month is an early indicator by Grade 6 of early school leavers or drop outs in Destination Graduation: Sixth Grade Early Warning Indicators for Baltimore City Schools – Their Prevalence and Impact.

Graduation predictors

Predictors of Educational Attainment in the Chicago Longitudinal Study The strongest predictors of educational attainment were maternal educational attainment, school absences mobility, grade retention, and youth’s educational expectations. Findings indicate that students’ expectation and school mobility are targets of intervention that can promote children’s educational persistence. Destination Graduation: Sixth Grade Early Warning Indicators for Baltimore …

Student mobility and school transition years

Mobility of homeless students impacts and increases absenteeism. Supporting the Attendance of Students Experiencing Homelessness “Students experiencing homelessness are chronically absent from school at a rate at least twice that of the overall student population, and significantly more often than their housed, low-income peers.[i] The mobility, poverty, and trauma associated with homelessness affects students’ emotional …