ORBIS SCHOLAE

The compulsory educational context and school systems within the Nordic countries Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway share fundamental similarities, facilitating comparison across these countries. In this study, we describe and compare existing practices of recording, reporting, and utilizing school attendance data in four countries. In Sweden, Finland, and Norway there is a lack of national guidelines and agreements of how to record, report, and use school attendance data. Municipal autonomy has led to a variety of recording and reporting practices, which then lead to lack of comparable data and wider use of the data gathered. Denmark has a national registry of attendance data, and schools are required to report the data to municipal level. There are more specific guidelines regarding recording and reporting in Denmark compared to Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Problems with school non-attendance are well recognized in the North, but ways of recording and responding to absenteeism are still versatile. This leads to inconsistencies both within and between the countries. Due to variations of the way attendance is recorded, the quality of the national registry of data in Denmark can be questioned. A unified approach to inform research and practice to include formalized definitions of school absence in the Nordic Education Acts are suggested. It requires schools to record and report attendance data within a national register and finding a reliable way to differentiate problematic from non-problematic absenteeism.

1. Appel, C., & Coninck-Smith, N. (2015). Dansk skolehistorie 1−5 [Danish school history 1−5]. Aarhus Universitetsforlag.

2. Bekendtgørelse af lov om folkeskolen [Danish Education Act], LBK no 1396. 28. 09. 2020. (2020). https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2020/1396

3. Bekendtgørelse om elevers fravær fra undervisningen i folkeskolen [Ministerial order on student absence from basic education], BEK no 163. 24. 10. 2019. (2019). https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2019/1063

4. Blossing, U., Imsen. G., & Moos, L. (Eds.). (2014). The Nordic Education Model: 'A School for All' encounters neo-liberal policy. Dordrecht: Springer. CrossRef

5. Danish Ministry of Children and Education. (2019). Vejledning til bekendtgørelse om elevers fravær fra undervisningen i folkeskolen [Guide to the ministerial order on student absence from basic education]. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Qgfmyjn5-l8J:https://www.uvm.dk/-/media/filer/uvm/aktuelt/pdf-19/191029-vejledning-til-bekendtgoerelse.pdf+&cd=1&hl=da&ct=clnk&gl=dk

6. Danish National Agency for IT and Learning. (2021). Uddannelsesstatistik [Education Statistics]. https://www.stil.dk/uddannelsesdata/uddannelsesstatistik

7. Finnish Basic Education Act. (1998). https://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1998/en19980628.pdf

8. Finnish Education Evaluation Centre. (2022). Sitouttava kouluyhteisötyö − arvioinnin väliraportti [Engaging school community work − interim report of the evaluation]. https://karvi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SKY-valiraportti_verkkosivuille.pdf

9. Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. (2021). Sitouttava kouluyhteisötyö [Engaging school community work program]. https://okm.fi/sitouttava-kouluyhteisotyo Finnish National Agency for Education. (2014). Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet [The national core curriculum for basic education]. https://www.oph.fi/fi/koulutus-ja-tutkinnot/perusopetuksen-opetussuunnitelman-perusteet

10. Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2006). Introduction to response to intervention: What, why, and how valid is it? Reading Research Quarterly, 41(1), 93−99. CrossRef

11. Gren-Landell, M. (Ed.). (2021). School attendance problems. A research update and where to go. Jerringfonden.

12. Heyne, D., Gren-Landell, M., Melvin, G., & Gentle-Genitty, C. (2019). Differentiation between school attendance problems. Why and how? Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 26, 8−34. CrossRef

13. Johnsen, D. B., Lomholt, J. J., Heyne, D., Jeppesen, P., Jensen, M. B., Silverman, W. K., & Thastum, M. (2022). Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of youths and parents seeking psychological treatment for school attendance problems. PLoS ONE 17(1), Article e0261449. CrossRef

14. Kearney, C. A. (2016). Managing school absenteeism at multiple tiers. An evidence-based and practical guide for professionals. Oxford University Press. CrossRef

15. Kearney, C. A., & Graczyk, P. (2014). A response to intervention model to promote school attendance and decrease school absenteeism. Child Youth Care Forum, 43, 1−25. CrossRef

16. Keppens, G., & Spruyt, B. (2018). Truancy in Europe: Does the type of educational system matter? European Journal of Education, 53(3), 414−426. CrossRef

17. Lomholt, J. J., Johnsen, D. B., Silverman, W. K., Heyne, D., Jeppesen, P., & Thastum, M. (2020). Feasibility study of Back2School, a modular cognitive behavioral intervention for youth with school attendance problems. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 586. CrossRef

18. Määttä, S., Pelkonen, J., Lehtisare, S., & Määttä, M. (2020). Kouluakäymättömyys Suomessa: Vaativan erityisen tuen VIP-verkoston tilannekartoitus [Student absenteeism in Finland: Report from the VIP network]. Finnish National Agency for Education. https://www.oph.fi/fi/tilastot-ja-julkaisut/julkaisut/kouluakaymattomyys-suomessa

19. Norges offentlige utredninger. (2019). Ny opplæringslov [New Education Act in Norway]. https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/nou-2019-23/id2682434

20. Norwegian Directorate of Education and Training. (2020). Fakta om grunnskolen skoleåret 2019−20 [Facts about elementary school during the school year 2019−20]. https://www.udir.no/tall-og-forskning/finn-forskning/tema/faktaom-grunnskolen-2019-20/

21. Norwegian Directorate of Education and Training. (2021). Regelverkstolkninger. Barn som ikke møter på skolen − for skoler og skoleeiere [Regulatory interpretations. Children who do not attend school − for schools and school owners]. https://www.udir.no/regelverkstolkninger/opplaring/Skoleeiers-ansvar/barn-som-ikke-moter-pa-skolen---for-skoler-og-skoleeiere/?depth=0&print=1

22. Sandhaug, M., Berg, J., Fensbo, L., Friberg, P., Jakobsen, S., Leino, J., Palmér, R., Palmu, I., Sergejeff, J., Solvoll, M., Strömbeck, J., & Thastum, M. (2021). Problematic school absenteeism − Improving systems and tools. A Nordic collaboration [Erasmus+ report]. https://www.statped.no/globalassets/fou/dokumenter/problematic-school-absenteeism-report1_erasmus.pdf CrossRef

23. Swedish Education Act, SFS 2010:800 (2010). https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/skollag-2010800 sfs-2010-800

24. Swedish National Agency for Education. (2008). Rätten till utbildning. Om elever som inte går i skolan [The right to education. About students who do not go to school]. Rapport 309:2008. http://www.skolverket.se/publikationsserier/rapporter/2008/ratten-till-utbildning.-om-elever-som-inte-gar-i-skolan

25. Swedish National Agency for Education. (2010). Skolfrånvaro och vägen tillbaka. Långvarig ogiltig frånvaro i grundskolan ur elevens, skolans och förvaltningens perspektiv [School absence and the way back: Prolonged unexcused absence in compulsory school from the perspective of the student, school, and administration]. Rapport 341:2010. http://www.skolverket.se/publikationsserier/rapporter/2010/skolfranvaro-och-vagen-tillbaka.-langvarig-ogiltig-franvaro-i-grundskolan

26. Swedish National Agency for Education. (2021a). Nationell kartläggning av elevfrånvaro. De obligatoriska skolformerna samt gymnasie- och gymnasiesärskolan [National mapping of student absence. The compulsory school forms, upper secondary school, and upper secondary school for students with learning disabilities]. Rapport 2021:10. https://www.skolverket.se/publikationsserier/rapporter/2021/nationell-kartlaggning-av-elevfranvaro

27. Swedish National Agency for Education. (2021b). Utredning om ett nationellt frånvaroregister [Investigation about a national register of absence]. https://www.skolverket.se/publikationsserier/regeringsuppdrag/2021/utredning-om-ett-nationellt-franvaroregister

28. Swedish Schools Inspectorate. (2016). Omfattande frånvaro. En granskning av skolors arbetemed omfattande frånvaro [Extensive absence. A review of the work of schools with extensive absences]. http://www.skolinspektionen.se/globalassets/02-beslut-rapporter-stat/granskningsrapporter/tkg/2016/omfattande-franvaro/omfattande-franvaro---slutrapport.pdf

29. United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child, November 20, 1989, www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx

30. Öhman, A. (2016). Skolans tomma stolar. Om frånvaro i grundskolan och hur kommuner och skolor arbetar med frågan [The empty chairs of the school. About absenteeism in compulsory school and how municipalities and schools work with the issue]. https://prestationsprinsen.se/publicerat/rapporter