ORBIS SCHOLAE
ORBIS SCHOLAE

We inform authors and readers that, following an agreement with the Karolinum publishing house, from 2024 (Volume 18), the journal Orbis scholae will be published only in electronic form.

Orbis scholae is an academic journal published by Charles University, Prague. It features articles on school education in the wider socio-cultural context. It aims to contribute to our understanding and the development of school education, and to the reflection of teaching practice and educational policy.

The journal is indexed in SCOPUS, CEEOL, DOAJ, EBSCO, and ERIH Plus.

ORBIS SCHOLAE, Vol 16 No 2 (2022), 5–26

From Attendance Data to Student Support: International Practices for Recording, Reporting, and Using Data on School Attendance and Absence

David Heyne, Gil Antoine Keppens, Dominik Dvořák

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/23363177.2023.16
published online: 05. 01. 2024

abstract

The recording, reporting, and use of data on school attendance and absence (DSAA) play a crucial role in understanding attendance and addressing absence in educational systems worldwide. However, a comprehensive grasp of the diverse approaches adopted across and within different countries has remained elusive. To address this knowledge gap, the International Network for School Attendance (INSA) facilitated this special issue providing an in-depth investigation into DSAA practices in 13 countries. This opening paper serves two purposes. First, it lays the conceptual groundwork for readers before they delve into the recording, reporting, and use of DSAA in different countries. Second, it presents key insights that emerge from the diverse array of contributions and a discussion of challenges and opportunities for the field. These include the substantial inconsistencies within and across countries; the pressing need for standardised best practices for recording, reporting, and using data; and the importance of embracing technological advancements to enhance the use of data. We envisage that the collective effort of the 40 authors involved in this special issue will enrich knowledge, enhance collaboration, and create real-world impact by enabling interested parties to develop, use, and evaluate data-driven strategies related to attendance and absence. By working together to address challenges and seize opportunities related to DSAA, we help young people access the education they rightfully deserve.

keywords: school attendance; school absence; attendance data; school records; International Network for School Attendance (INSA)

references (70)

1. Allensworth, E., & Balfanz, R. (2019). Foreword. In M. Gottfried & E. L. Hutt (Eds.), Absent from school: Understanding and addressing student absenteeism (p. ix−xi). Harvard Education Press.

2. Anderson, A. R., Christenson, S. L., Sinclair, M. F., & Lehr, C. A. (2004). Check & connect: The importance of relationships for promoting engagement with school. Journal of School Psychology, 42, 95−113. CrossRef

3. Ansari, A., & Gottfried, M. A. (2021). The grade‐level and cumulative outcomes of absentee- 23 ism. Child Development, 92, e548−e564. CrossRef

4. Ansari, A., Hofkens, T. L., & Pianta, R. C. (2020). Absenteeism in the first decade of education forecasts civic engagement and educational and socioeconomic prospects in young adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 1835−1848. CrossRef

5. Ansari, A., & Pianta, R. C. (2019). School absenteeism in the first decade of education and outcomes in adolescence. Journal of School Psychology, 76, 48−61. CrossRef

6. Arbour, M., Soto, C., Alée, Y., Atwood, S., Muñoz, P., & Marzolo, M. (2023). Absenteeism prevention in preschools in Chile: Impact from a quasi-experimental evaluation of 2011−2017 Ministry of Education data. Frontiers in Education, 7, Article 975092. CrossRef

7. Bonell, C., Blakemore, S.-J., Fletcher, A., & Patton, G. (2019). Role theory of schools and adolescent health. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 3, 742−748. CrossRef

8. Bowen, F., Gentle-Genitty, C., Siegler, J., & Jackson, M. (2022). Revealing underlying factors of absenteeism: A machine learning approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 958748. CrossRef

9. Chu, B. (2021). Building early detection systems to prevent chronic absenteeism. In M. Gren Landell (Ed.), School attendance problems: A research update and where to go (pp. 125−137). Jerringfonden.

10. Collie, R. J. (2020). The development of social and emotional competence at school: An integrated model. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 44, 76−87.

11. Collingwood, P., Mazerolle, L., & Cardwell, S. M. (2023). School truancy and welfare receipt dynamics in early adulthood: A longitudinal study. Journal of Criminology, 0(0). CrossRef

12. Dannow, M. C., Esbjørn, B. H., & Risom, S. W. (2018). The perceptions of anxiety-related school absenteeism in youth: A qualitative study involving youth, mother, and father. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 64, 22−36. CrossRef

13. Dwyer, K., Osher, D., & Warger, C. (1998). Early warning, timely response: A guide to safe schools. U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/172854.pdf

14. Eccles, J. S., & Roeser, R. W. (2011). Schools as developmental contexts during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 225−241. CrossRef

15. Frydenlund, J. H. (2022). The many meanings of an empty chair: A critical qualitative study of the constitution of absence as a problem and responses to it in Denmark [Unpublished dissertation]. Aarhus University.

16. Gentle-Genitty, C., Taylor, J., & Renguette, C. (2020). A change in the frame: From absenteeism to attendance. Frontiers in Education, 4, Article 161. CrossRef

17. Gershenson, S., Jacknowitz, A., & Brannegan, A. (2017). Are student absences worth the worry in U.S. primary schools? Education Finance and Policy, 12, 137−165. CrossRef

18. Giménez-Miralles, M., Gonzálvez, C., Klein, M., & Sosu, E. (2022). School attendance problems in Scotland and Spain: Variations in recording, reporting, and using data. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 157−172. CrossRef

19. Ginsburg, A., Jordan, P., & Chang, H. (2014). Absences add up: How school attendance influences student success. Attendance Works. https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Absenses-Add-Up_September-3rd-2014.pdf

20. Gleeson, D. (1992). School attendance and truancy: A socio-historical account. The Sociological Review, 40, 437−490. CrossRef

21. Gottfried, M. A. (2009). Excused versus unexcused: How student absences in elementary school affect academic achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31, 392−415. CrossRef

22. Gottfried, M. A. (2014). Chronic absenteeism and its effects on students' academic and socioemotional outcomes. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 19, 53−75. CrossRef

23. Gottfried, M. A. (2019). Chronic absenteeism in the classroom context: Effects on achievement. Urban Education, 54, 3−34. CrossRef

24. Graczyk, P. A., Gentle-Genitty, C., Patnode, A. H., & Moutlon, S. E. (2022). Searching for consistency in attendance data recording, reporting, and utilization in the USA. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 75−103.

25. Griffiths, S., Franklin, V. E., & Heyne, D. (2022). School attendance and absence in England: Working with data to inform policy and practice beneficial to young people. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 105−124.

26. Heyne, D., & Brouwer-Borghuis, M. (2022). Signposts for school refusal interventions, based on the views of stakeholders. Continuity in Education, 3, 25−40. CrossRef

27. Heyne, D., Gentle-Genitty, C., Gren Landell, M., Melvin, G., Chu, B., GalléTessonneau, M., Askeland, K. G., Gonzálvez, C., Havik, T., Ingul, J. M., Johnsen, D. B., Keppens, G., Knollmann, M., Lyon, A. R., Maeda, N., Reissner, V., Sauter, F., Silverman, W. K., Thastum, M., … Kearney, C. A. (2020). Improving school attendance by enhancing communication among stakeholders: Establishment of the International Network for School Attendance (INSA). European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 1023−1030. CrossRef

28. Heyne, D., Gentle-Genitty, C. S., Melvin, G. A., Keppens, G., O'Toole, C., & McKay-Brown, L. (2023). Embracing change: From recalibration to radical overhaul for the field of school attendance. Frontiers in Education 8, Article 1251223.

29. Ishaq, K., & Bibi, S. (n.d.). IoT based smart attendance system using RFID: A systematic literature review. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2308/2308.02591.pdf

30. Johnsen, D. B. (2020). The Back2School Project: Introducing transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral

31. therapy for youths with school attendance problems [Unpublished dissertation]. Aarhus University.

32. Karel, E., Heyne, D., De Weerd, M., & Halberstadt, R. (2022). The recording, reporting, and use of school attendance data by school personnel in The Netherlands: Toe the line or take a new path? Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 137−156. CrossRef

33. Kearney, C. A., Benoit, L., Gonzálvez, C., & Keppens, G. (2022). School attendance and school absenteeism: A primer for the past, present, and theory of change for the future. Frontiers in Education, 7, Article 1044608. CrossRef

34. Kearney, C. A., Benoit, L., Gonzálvez, C., Heyne, D., Melvin, G. A., O'Toole, C., Gentle-Genitty, C., & Keppens, G. (submitted). School attendance and absenteeism: Toward next-generation common measurement. Theory and Research in Education.

35. Kearney, C. A., & Childs, J. (2022). Improving school attendance data and defining problematic and chronic school absenteeism: The next stage for educational policies and health-based practices. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 67(4), 265−275. CrossRef

36. Kearney, C. A., & Childs, J. (2023). Translating sophisticated data analytic strategies regarding school attendance and absenteeism into targeted educational policy. Improving Schools, 26, 5−22. CrossRef

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

38. Kearney, C. A., & Graczyk, P. A. (2020). A multidimensional, multi-tiered system of supports model to promote school attendance and address school absenteeism. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 23, 316−337. CrossRef

39. Kearney, C. A., & Graczyk, P. A. (2022). Multi-tiered systems of support for school attendance 25 and its problems: An unlearning perspective for areas of high chronic absenteeism. Frontiers in Education, 7, Article 1020150. CrossRef

40. Keppens, G., & Bach Johnsen, D. (2021). The power of school attendance data: Improving policy and practice. In M. Gren Landell (Ed.), School attendance problems. A research update and where to go (pp. 47−54). Jerringfonden.

41. Keppens, G., & Spruyt, B. (2020). The impact of interventions to prevent truancy: A review of the research literature. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 65, Article 100840. CrossRef

42. Kreitz-Sandberg, S., Backlund, Å., Fredriksson, U., Isaksson, J., Rasmusson, M., & Gren Landell, M. (2022). Recording and reporting school attendance and absence: International comparative views on attendance statistics in Sweden, Germany, England, and Japan. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 187−212. CrossRef

43. LeBoeuf, L., Goldstein-Greenwood, J., & Lillard, A. S. (2023). Rates of chronic absenteeism in Montessori and non-Montessori Title 1 schools. Frontiers in Education, 8, Article 1059071. CrossRef

44. Maeda, N. (2022). What does school attendance mean in Japanese compulsory education schools? Analysing the national annual report. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 61−73.

45. McIntyre-Bhatty, K. (2008). Truancy and coercive consent: Is there an alternative? Educational Review, 60, 375−390. CrossRef

46. Muller, J. Z. (2018). The tyranny of metrics. Princeton University Press. CrossRef

47. Musa, A., & Jacob, O. N. (2021). Record keeping management in public secondary school administration in Nigeria: Problems and ways forward. Scholarly Publishing Discourse, 1, 1−12.

48. Myhr, A., Haugan, T., Lillefjell, M., & Halvorsen, T. (2018). Non-completion of secondary education and early disability in Norway: Geographic patterns, individual and community risks. BMC Public Health, 18, Article 682. CrossRef

49. Niemi, S., Lagerström, M., & Alanko, K. (2022). School attendance problems in adolescent with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 1017619. CrossRef

50. Okano, L., Jeon, L., Crandall, A., Powell, T., & Riley, A. (2019). Developmental cascades of social competence, achievement in school, and achievement on standardised assessments during the transition to adolescence and secondary school. Journal of Adolescence, 74, 91−102. CrossRef

51. Palmu, I., Virtanen, T., Markkanen, E.-L., & Sergejeff, J. (2022). Recording, reporting and utilising school absenteeism data in Finland: Work in progress. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 125−136.

52. Panayiotou, M., Finning, K., Hennessey, A., Ford, T., & Humphrey, N. (2021). Longitudinal pathways between emotional difficulties and school absenteeism in middle childhood: Evidence from developmental cascades. Development and Psychopathology, 35(3), 1323−1334. CrossRef

53. Pijl, E. K., Vanneste, Y. T. M., de Rijk, A. E., Feron, F. J. M., & Mathijssen, J. (2021). The prevalence of sickness absence among primary school pupils: Reason to be worried? BMC Public Health, 21, 170. CrossRef

54. Purtell, K. M., & Ansari, A. (2022). Why are children absent from preschool? A nationally representative analysis of Head Start programs. Frontiers in Education, 7, 1031379. CrossRef

55. Reid, K. (2003). A strategic approach to tackling school absenteeism and truancy: The PSCC scheme. Educational Studies, 29, 351−371. CrossRef

56. Rhoad-Drogalis, A., & Justice, L. M. (2018). Absenteeism in Appalachian preschool classrooms and children's academic achievement. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 58, 1−8. CrossRef

57. Rivas, A. (2021). The platformization of education: A framework to map the new directions of hybrid education systems. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377733

58. Rowley, J. (2007). The wisdom hierarchy: Representations of the DIKW hierarchy. Journal of Information Science, 33, 163−180. CrossRef

59. Sandhaug, M., Palmu, I., Jakobsen, S., Strömbeck, J., Nordby, M.-J., Friberg, P., Berg, J., Fensbo, L., Sjöström, J., & Thastum, M. (2022). Recording, reporting, and utilizing school attendance data in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway: A Nordic comparison. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 173−186. CrossRef

60. Schoeneberger, J. A. (2012). Longitudinal attendance patterns: Developing high school dropouts. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 85, 7−14. CrossRef

61. Selwyn, N., Pangrazio, L., & Cumbo, B. (2021). Attending to data: Exploring the use of attendance data within the datafied school. Research in Education, 109, 72−89. CrossRef

62. Smerillo, N. E., Reynolds, A. J., Temple, J. A., & Ou, S. R. (2018). Chronic absence: Eighthgrade achievement, and high school attainment in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Journal of School Psychology, 67, 163−178. CrossRef

63. Soto Uribe, C., Marzolo, M., Alee, Y., & Arbour, M. C. (2022). Chile: Universal collection, open access, and innovation in the use of attendance and absenteeism data. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 45−60. CrossRef

64. UNESCO. (2023a). Global education monitoring report 2023: Technology in education − A tool on whose terms? https://www.unesco.org/gem-report/en

65. UNESCO. (2023b). SDG 4 mid-term progress review. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386852

66. White, M. O. (2022). An analysis of the recording, reporting, and use of school attendance data in Australia. Orbis Scholae, 16(2−3), 27−43. CrossRef

67. Williamson, B., Bayne, S., & Shay, S. (2020). The datafication of teaching in higher education: Critical issues and perspectives. Teaching in Higher Education, 25, 351−365. CrossRef

68. Williamson, B., Macgilchrist, F., & Potter, J. (2023). Re-examining AI, automation and datafication in education. Learning, Media and Technology, 48, 1−5. CrossRef

69. Zaff, J. F., Donlan, A., Gunning, A., Anderson, S. E., McDermott, E., & Sedaca, M. (2017). Factors that promote high school graduation: A review of the literature. Educational Psychology Review, 29, 447−476. CrossRef

70. Zhang, M. (2004). Time to change the truancy laws? Compulsory education: Its origin and modern dilemma. Pastoral Care in Education, 22, 27−33. CrossRef

Creative Commons License
From Attendance Data to Student Support: International Practices for Recording, Reporting, and Using Data on School Attendance and Absence is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

157 x 230 mm
periodicity: 3 x per year
print price: 150 czk
ISSN: 1802-4637
E-ISSN: 2336-3177

Download