A major problem faced by schools across the country is student absenteeism. Although the problem is pervasive in American schools, the attention focused on this issue has been inadequate. Poor student attendance has far reaching effects on the individual, the school, and society in general. The intent of this paper is to document the problem, summarize existing research on mediating factors, provide a summary of interventions for improving student attendance rates in schools, and to offer specific suggestions for school psychologists. In addition, specific attention is given to suggestions for future research research to help expand the current understanding of the causes and remediation of poor student attendance. ne major barrier to learning faced by students and teachers in American schools today is a lac! of consistent attendance in classrooms. In fact, the "nited #tates $epartment of %ducation &'(()* has cited absenteeism as the most important factor lin!ed to performance differences among students, and absenteeism absenteeism has recently been identified as being being at crisis crisis proporti proportion on &+earn &+earney ey,, -* -*.. Altho Although ugh many many schools realize the importanc imp ortancee of this issue, educational researchers have not consistently given this topic the attention it deserves &orville/#mith, '((0*. Additionally, Additionally, 1hile some attempts to increase attendance rates have been successful, the methodologies used have had notable disadvantages includ/ ing cost, drainage of faculty resources, difficulty of implementation, or time consumption &$e+alb, '(((2 3amdin, 3amdin, '((4*. 5esearchers have attac!ed this problem from a nu mber of directions. 6or example, interventions have been community/based &7cPartland 8 9ettles, '(('2 5eid 8 :ailey/ $empsey, '((0*, family/ based &opeland, :ro1n, 8 ;all, '(<)2 =ol!man, '((4*, and school/based &>ottfredson, ?ones, 8 >ore, 2 9oonan 8 Thibeault, '(<)*. The intent of this paper is to summarize existing research on improving attendance rates in schools and offer suggestions for school psychologists on ho1 they can become involved in formulating interventions to help schools deal 1ith problems of attendance. Absenteeism Truancy has been labeled one of the top ' major problems in American schools, and rates of absenteeism have reached as high as -@ in some cities. In 9e1 or! ity ity,, an an estima estimated ted '0, '0, out out of ',, ', , students stud ents are absen t daily d aily &$e+a lb, '(((*. # imilarly, the 3os Angeles "nified #chool $istrict $istrict reports that that '@ of its students are absent daily, and only half return to school 1ith 1ritten
excuses excuses (DeKalb). Although school ofcials are unsure as to the proportion o legitimate verses ille-gitimate absences, nationwide estimates have ranged rom -!!" or illegitimate absences (#uevermont,$%&' (#uevermont,$%&' eilsen #erber, $*$). +hese studies ma actuall underestimate non-illness related related absencesdue to the large margin o error liel to be ound in sel-report data o this nature. t is /uite possiblethat the proportion o illegitimate absences has changed since these data were reported' however, norecent estimates are available. Additionall, the proportion o illegitimate absences ma
var substan-tiall among school districts in di0erent parts o the countr.n the ma1or metropolitan area o ew 2or, or example, attendance rates or the boroughs o3rooln and 4ueens ranged between %&" and $&" or the $$%-$$$ school ear. +he mean rate oattendance in 3rooln5s elementar schools was $6.&7" (8D 9 !.:), and or elementar schools in4ueens the mean rate o attendance was $!.7&" (8D 9 .$&). 3 wa o comparison, ew 2or8tate5s 2or8tate5s assau and 8u0ol ;ounties on
ducation, personal communication, ?a%, !666). t is possible that the proportion o illegitimate absences varies, as well.De
to sustain themselves or a amil as the enter oung adulthood.Absenteeism has also been ound to be a predictor o uture criminalit, alcoholism, and occupationaldifcult (Fersov 3erg, $%6).Administrators $%6).Administrators that were surveed in eill5s ($*$) stud were also concerned about potentiale0ects on their schools rom high degrees o truanc. 8chools are, to some degree, economicalldependent economicalldependent on attendance rates. 8ome districts even develop speciGc ormulas using attendance as anindicator o overall school unctioning (>pstein 8heldon, !66!). Absenteeism was seen as contribut-ing to the overall lowering o academic standards o a school. Administrators were concerned aboutincreases in paperwor, and about the extra time teachers needed to spend s pend woring with students who !$were !$were absent. +ime spent reviewing reviewing material was viewed as taing awa rom the learning time o thestudents who were present. Administrators Administrators elt high degrees o absenteeism lead teachers to becomerustrated, and morale problems are more liel to be experienced experienced when this occurs. Another concernwas that high rates o absenteeism could have a negative e0ect on the school5s relationship with thecommunit as a whole, as the school institution ma ultimatel be viewed as burdensome rather thanas a resource to assist children in becoming educated and responsible adults. Administrators were were alsoconcerned about the reduction in monetar state aid or the school resulting rom absenteeism. Hver-all, administrators agreed ($:") that truanc was a ma1or difcult in their respective school districts.esearcher districts.esearchers s have consistentl ound grades, achievement tests, and standardiBed tests to be posi-tivel correlated correlated with individual attendance records. @or example, example, ven while holding teacherIpupil ratio and socioeconomic status constant, attendance rates were posi-tivel correlated with all three scores. Additionall, ?oos and ?oos ($*%) examined examined student absen-teeism rate and average class grade, as well as social classroom climate. +he ound a -.C: correlationbetween correlationbetween rate o absenteeism and classroom grades.8chool absenteeism has been a persistent problem or educators and researchers alie. +he long-term conse/uences can be substantial, and decades o research research have been dedicated to understandingthe etiolog o, and exploring intervention intervention possibilities or absenteeism. +he data presented in thissection are b no means comprehensive. comprehensive. ecent data are sparse and an analsis o individual atten-dance patterns, and subse/uent e0ects, is needed. @or example, an attendance rate o $6" or or a popu-lation probabl represents some
with classroom teachers as being the worst aspect oschool. ?uch o the conJict was related to schoolwor, and a re/uent complaint was that teachers didnot provide enough personal attention and help with schoolwor. Although the grades o these truantsdeclined onl slightl rom Grst grade, achievement test scores (on or near grade level during elemen-tar school) ell drasticall during 1unior high school.eilson and #erber ($*$) also ound that truants perceived perceived the school5s response to their truancas punitive and ine0ective or diminishing uture truanc. +ruants in this particular school were sent tothe assistant principal5s ofce where the were lectured lectured and at times given detention. ;onsistent withthis Gnding, @rease ($*$) ound that schools5 responses to inappropriate behavior ma actuall serveas a stimulus or uture deviant acts.Additionall, =right ($*%) ound better attendance rates when school sta0 was ounger, andwhen schools had lower pupil to teacher ratios. +here has been considerable debate as to whetherschool siBe plas a role in education /ualit. Eroponents Eroponents o larger schools argue that the are lessexpensive lessexpensive to run than man smaller schools. +he also suggest that greater resources, resources, specialiBedservices, specialiBedservices, higher /ualit teachers, and better acilities lead to higher test scores (;onant, $&*' Hrnstein,$$6). Hrnstein,$$6). Although standardiBed test scores have more oten (but inconsistentl) been ound to be lowerin smaller schools, supporters o smaller schools argue that there are lower rates o absenteeism anddropout, and higher rates o parental involvement, student satisaction, and student involvement inextracurricular activities (@inn oell, $$7' @owler =alberg, $$' #ardner, itblatt, 3eatt,!666).Fome >nvironment. eilson and #erber ($*$) also ound actors related to students5 home envi-ronments envi-ronments that ma have contributed to their absenteeism. +he ound that truants had a number o0amil-related o0amil-related pschosocial stressors. @or example, C6" had experienced experienced the divorce or separation otheir parents' !*" were rom single-parent single-parent amilies' C6" had moved within the past ! ears' 7%" hadunemploed parents' C" had a amil member with a serious illness' and alcoholism was present in+able @actors elated to 8chool Absenteeism .8chool >nvironment Fome >nvironment ndividual ;haracteristics. +eacherIstudent +eacherIstudent conJict . . Earental Earental divorceI divorceI . 8ote. +here is no one pattern that explains absenteeism. +he literature on the etiolog o
absenteeismsuggests a heterogeneous heterogeneous nature. 7$" o amilies in the sample. n act, *&" o the amilies in their sample experienced three or more othe above stressors. Hnl 7:" o the truants ate regularl with their amil, and :*" had at least oneparent who did not graduate rom high school. t did not appear to the authors, however, that parentswere parentswere directl encouraging truanc, as $6" o the parents were were angr about their children5s truanc.Despite truanc.Despite these students5 home stressors and difculties within the school environment, most o thestudents and their amilies believed that receiving an education was important or uture success.Hther studies have also explored explored actors related to students5 home environments. @or example,Fufngton example,Fufngton and 8evitt ($%$) examined the amilies o truants, school phobics, and nonpschiatriccontrols. nonpschiatriccontr ols. +he ound that both absentee groups scored lower on measures o health amil unction-ing. 2or and Kearne ($$7) ound greater levels o amil conJict in amilies o school avoiderscompared avoiderscompared to normative controls. Additionall, ;orville-8mith and colleagues ($$%) ound that absen-tee sub1ects were more liel to perceive parental discipline as lax or inconsistent, were more liel liel toperceive stronger attempts b parents at control, and were more liel liel to experience experience amil conJict.8ocioeconomic status (8>8) has also been examined in relation to attendance and school peror-mance. A number o studies have ound that economicall disadvantaged individuals have lower atten-dance rates and lower grades (Alexander, (Alexander, >ntwisle, 3edinger, $$C' #reene, $&7' eid, $%C).Alexander and colleagues hpothesiBed that this ma be due to an unclear understanding o the Lmeans-endM or Lantecedent-conse/uenceM relationship between between school success and later goal attainment. +heseresearchers +heseresearchers examined examined parents5 and students5 students5 recall o previous previous grades, expectation o uture grades,and actual grades attained. +heir sample consisted o C!7 ourth grade students and their parents.=hen ased to recall the mars on their previous progress progress report, the ound that low 8>8 studentsoverestimated to a larger degree than high 8>8 students. Earents Earents o low 8>8 students also overesti-mated to a larger degree than parents o high 8>8 students. +he same trend held when the were asedto estimate the mars the would receive receive on their upcoming report card. Alexander and colleaguessuggested that these parents and children are not using relevant eedbac appropriatel to improve andto orm uture expectations. Additionall, poorer amilies have considerabl more social stressors thantheir middle class counterparts, which ma a0ect school attendance.ndividual ;haracteristics. A number o child related actors appear to be associated with truanc,as well. @or example, #reene ($&7) ound correlations correlations between 4, grades, and absenteeism. ;hil-dren with lower
4s tended to have higher rates o absenteeism, and children with lower grades alsohad higher rates o absenteeism.Elatt ($C7) ($C7) ound that children who had more riends were ound to have lower degrees o absen-teeism. Hther researchers have also ound that children who have lower degrees o social competencein their relationships with peers have higher rates o absenteeism (;orville-8mith, et al., $$%' >aton,$*$' eid, $%C' 8outhworth, $$!). Additionall,
6uture 5esearch The literature revie1ed in this paper presents an extensive overvie1 of previous research on thetopic of school absenteeism. ;o1ever, there is a paucity of research emphasizing developmental andcontextual considerations &e.g., age, grade level, school type, and ethnicity*. 6or example, mobilityamong certain ethnic groups may indeed result in increased rates of absenteeism &e.g., migrant farm1or!ers*. It is imperative that researchers in this area begin to examine specific demographic variablesand their influence on attendance in order to fully comprehend their impact on school attendance rates.It is possible that interventions may be differentially effective based on these
developmental and con/textual considerations.6uture research should be directed not only to1ard developing effective interventions in the schools,but also to1ard community/ based approaches. Bith Bith improved community/school relations and im/proved community a1areness of the benefits of education, it may be possible to improve attendancerates from multiple vantage points. %ffective programs based in schools and in co mmunities have thepotential for improving not only attendance rates, but also !no1n correlates of attendance rates andlong/term quality of life.5egarding school/based behavioral approaches, future researchers should attempt to gain a 1idebase of archival data from their target school. 6or example, it may be useful to determine specificinformation regarding 1hen the majority of absences are occurring during the school year. It 1ouldalso be important to !no1 1hat proportion of children is contributing to the majority of absences.Additional studies could also focus on collection of information about school policies on attendanceacross a variety of schools. 5ates of attendance could then be compared 1ith these policies.Archival p olicies.Archival information could be utilized to determine an optimal time during the school year toimplement the intervention, to determine 1hether the focus should be on many children or on severalchronic absentees, and to determine 1hether school policies are in any 1ay impeding attendance. Biththis information, more suitable interventions could be tailored to1ard schools in need.5esearch should also be focused on group contingencies. #everal studies have examined 3ito1and PumroyCs &'(<0* three types of group contingencies &%lliott, Turco, 8 >resham, '(D<2 >resham 8>resham, '(D2 #!inner et al., '((4*2 ho1ever, there is still some debate as to 1hich is the mosteffective type of intervention. The more subtle aspects of group contingencies need further research inorder for future interventions to be most effective. 6or example, variation of reinforcement, optimalsize of reinforcement, and optimal level of feedbac! all need further exploration. >aining further!no1ledge in this area can help optimize programs for use 1ith various school populations.In conclusion, poor attendance continues to be a pervasive problem at a large number of Americanschools. #ince there are many negative individual outcomes associated 1ith chronic absenteeism, thisis a problem that deserves further consideration. A combination of community/based and school/basedprograms may be the most effective 1ay to address this issue over the long term. Bith limited re/sources, ho1ever, the most direct and efficient methods available appear to be behavioral school/based interventions. :ehavioral contingency approaches have had great success in improving a 1idevariety of other behavioral and academic difficulties 1ithin school systems &:arrish et al., '(4(2 :rantley8 Bebster, Bebster, '((-2 3a5o1e, Tuc!er, 8 7c>uire, '(D2 #!inner, #!inner, 8 ash1ell, '(((*
