Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T09:45:12.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - School Attendance

Terminology and Socio-political Considerations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2022

By
Darren A. Moore
Edited by
Katie Finning ,
Tamsin Ford  and
Darren A. Moore
Katie Finning
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Tamsin Ford
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Darren A. Moore
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Get access

Summary

The range of terms that are associated with school attendance, and in particular school attendance problems, is surprisingly difficult to define and reach consensus upon. This chapter discusses socio-political considerations in relation to the terminology used to describe school attendance problems and indicate where absence from school is considered a problem. There is discussion drawing upon relevant literature about particular terminology, including the categorisation of attendance as authorised or unauthorised. The chapter introduces the relation between conceptions of school refusal and truancy to emotional and behavioural mental health difficulties. It acknowledges the overlap in the ways these key labels in the field are understood and the complex association of different aspects of mental health difficulties with school absence that might be due to distress, defiance or a mix of different individual factors. Given the influence of factors beyond the individual student, such as parent-approved school withdrawal or exclusion due to behavioural concerns, I argue that a whole-school approach should be taken to attendance that can also be considered alongside other inter-related work on behaviour, health and wellbeing, and school climate.

Keywords

school attendanceschool attendance problemsschool refusaltruancyschool withdrawalexclusionmental healthwhole school approach
Type
Chapter
Information
Mental Health and Attendance at School , pp. 22 - 37
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Heyne, D., Gren-Landell, M., Melvin, G., Gentle-Gennity, C. Differentiation between school attendance problems: why and how? Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2019;26(1):8–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kearney, C., Gonzálvez, C., Graczyk, P. A., Fornander, M. Reconciling contemporary approaches to school attendance and school absenteeism: toward promotion and nimble response, global policy review and implementation, and future adaptability (part 1). Frontiers in Psychology. 2019;10:2222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Department for Education. A guide to absence statistics. [Online] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/787314/Guide_to_absence_statistics_21032019.pdf; March 2019.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics. Pupil absence in schools in England. Academic Year 2018/19. [Online] https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england; 26 March 2020.Google Scholar
Kearney, CA. An interdisciplinary model of school absenteeism in youth to inform professional practice and public policy. Educational Psychology Review. 2008;20(3):257–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allison, M. A., Attisha, E. The link between school attendance and good health. Pediatrics. 2019;143(2).Google Scholar
McGinnity, Á., Meltzer, H., Ford, T., Goodman, R. Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain, 2004. Green, H., editor. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2005.Google Scholar
Siriwardhana, C., Pannala, G., Siribaddana, S., Sumathipala, A., Stewart, R. Impact of exposure to conflict, tsunami and mental disorders on school absenteeism: findings from a national sample of Sri Lankan children aged 12–17 years. BMC Public Health. 2013;13(1):560.Google Scholar
Sutphen, R. D., Ford, J. P., Flaherty, C. Truancy interventions: A review of the research literature. Research on Social Work Practice. 2010;20(2):161–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kearney, C. A., Graczyk, P. A. A multidimensional, multi-tiered system of supports model to promote school attendance and address school absenteeism. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 9 April 2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sims, S. Briefing Note: School absences and pupil achievement. [Online] Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities. https://repec-cepeo.ucl.ac.uk/cepeob/cepeobn1.pdf 2020.Google Scholar
Gottfried, M. A. Chronic absenteeism and its effects on students’ academic and socioemotional outcomes. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR). 2014;19(2):53–75.Google Scholar
Hancock, K. J., Shepherd, C. C., Lawrence, D., Zubrick, S. R. Student attendance and educational outcomes: Every day counts. Canberra: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. May 2013.Google Scholar
Hancock, K. J., Lawrence, D., Shepherd, C. C., Mitrou, F., Zubrick, S. R. Associations between school absence and academic achievement: Do socioeconomics matter? British Educational Research Journal. 2017;43(3):415–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finning, K., Harvey, K., Moore, D., Ford, T., Davis, B., Waite, P. Secondary school educational practitioners’ experiences of school attendance problems and interventions to address them: a qualitative study. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. 2018;23(2):213–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torrens Armstrong, A. M., McCormack Brown, K. R., Brindley, R., Coreil, J., McDermott, R. J. Frequent fliers, school phobias, and the sick student: School health personnel’s perceptions of students who refuse school. Journal of School Health. 2011;81(9):552–559.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christie, K. Counting the truants. Phi Delta Kappan. 2006;87(7):485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finning, K., Ukoumunne, O. C., Ford, T., Danielson‐Waters, E., Shaw, L., Romero De Jager, I., et al. The association between anxiety and poor attendance at school–a systematic review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2019;24(3):205–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pellegrini, D. W. School non‐attendance: Definitions, meanings, responses, interventions. Educational Psychology in Practice. 2007;23(1):63–77.Google Scholar
Birioukov, A. Beyond the excused/unexcused absence binary: classifying absenteeism through a voluntary/involuntary absence framework. Educational Review. 2016;68(3):340–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berg, I. Annotation: The management of truancy. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry. 1985;26(3):325–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gren-Landell, M., Ekerfelt Allvin, C., Bradley, M., Andersson, M., Andersson, G. Teachers’ views on risk factors for problematic school absenteeism in Swedish primary school students. Educational Psychology in Practice. 2015;31(4):412–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bools, C., Foster, J., Brown, I., Berg, I. The identification of psychiatric disorders in children who fail to attend school: A cluster analysis of a non-clinical population. Psychological Medicine. 1990;20(1):171–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egger, H. L., Costello, J. E., Angold, A. School refusal and psychiatric disorders: A community study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2003;42(7):797–807.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kearney, C. A. The evolution and reconciliation of taxonomic strategies for school refusal behavior. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 1996;3(4):339–354.Google Scholar
Chu, B. C., Guarino, D., Mele, C., O’Connell, J., Coto, P. Developing an online early detection system for school attendance problems: results from a research-community partnership. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2019;26(1):35–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, A. M., Falstein, E. I., Szurek, S. A., Svendsen, M. School phobia. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1941;11(4):702.Google Scholar
Archer, T., Filmer-Sankey, C., Fletcher-Campbell, F. School phobia and school refusal: Research into causes and remedies. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research; 2003.Google Scholar
Gentle-Genitty, C., Karikari, I., Chen, H., Wilka, E., Kim, J. Truancy: a look at definitions in the USA and other territories. Educational Studies. 2015;41(1–2):62–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keppens, G., Spruyt, B. Towards a typology of occasional truancy: an operationalisation study of occasional truancy in secondary education in Flanders. Research Papers in Education. 2017;32(1):121–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielson, A., Gerber, D. Psychosocial aspects of truancy in early adolescence. Adolescence. 1979;14(54):313.Google Scholar
Zhang, M. Links between school absenteeism and child poverty. Pastoral Care in Education. 2003;21(1):10–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, K. Truancy: Short and long-term solutions. Falmer: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
You Gov. Exploring the issue of Off-rolling. [Online] London. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/800582/Ofsted_offrolling_report_YouGov_090519.pdf; 9 May 2019.Google Scholar
Department for Education. Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England: 2018 to 2019. [Online] https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england; November 2020.Google Scholar
Gonzálvez, C., Kearney, C. A., Vicent, M., Sanmartín, R. Assessing school attendance problems: A critical systematic review of questionnaires. International Journal of Educational Research. 2021;105:101702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingul, J. M., Havik, T., Heyne, D. Emerging school refusal: a school-based framework for identifying early signs and risk factors. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2019;26(1):46–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dannow, M. C., Esbjørn, B. H., Risom, S. W. The perceptions of anxiety-related school absenteeism in youth: a qualitative study involving youth, mother, and father. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. 2020;64(1):22–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, J. S., Little, S. G., Akin-Little, K. A. Absenteeism: A review of the literature and school psychology’s role. The California School Psychologist. 2003;8(1):127–139.Google Scholar
Melvin, G. A., Heyne, D., Gray, K. M., Hastings, R. P., Totsika, V., Tonge, B. J., et al. The Kids and Teens at School (KiTeS) Framework: An Inclusive Bioecological Systems Approach to Understanding School Absenteeism and School Attendance Problems. In Frontiers in Education. 2019;4(61). Frontiers Media SA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, D., Benham-Clarke, S., Kenchington, R., Boyle, C., Ford, T., Hayes, R., et al. Improving behaviour in schools: Evidence Review. [Online] Education Endowment Foundation. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/evidence-reviews/behaviour/; December 2019.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×