Absence from school jeopardizes children's and adolescents' education and their social and emotional development. Proximal and distal individual, parental, familial, and environmental factors have been linked to absenteeism and the development and maintenance of school attendance problems. The complex interaction among these factors necessitates a multifactorial approach to understanding school absenteeism and attendance problems. The current paper builds on recent calls to apply bioecological systems frameworks when studying risk factors for school absenteeism and attendance problems. The Kids and Teens at School (KiTeS) Framework presented here is an application of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological systems model, incorporating candidate factors of particular relevance to school absenteeism and attendance problems. The current paper is also a response to the Warnock report which highlighted the need to individualize educational supports for children and adolescents with disabilities, to foster optimal educational outcomes. The KiTeS Framework is an inclusive framework, inclusive of students with and without disabilities. It is envisaged that the KiTeS Framework will provide guidance to researchers aiming to improve understanding of the factors influencing absenteeism among all school-aged students, including those from minority or vulnerable populations.

Background It appears that students with intellectual disability (ID) are more frequently absent from school compared with students without ID. The objective of the current study was to estimate the frequency of absence among students with ID and the reasons for absence. Potential reasons included the attendance problems referred to as school refusal, where absence is related to emotional distress; truancy, where absence is concealed from parents; school exclusion, where absence is instigated by the school; and school withdrawal, where absence is initiated by parents. Methods Study participants were 629 parents (84.6% mothers) of Australian school students (Mage = 11.18 years; 1.8% Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) with an ID. Participants completed a questionnaire battery that included the School Non‐Attendance ChecKlist via which parents indicated the reason their child was absent for each day or half‐day absence their child had over the past 20 school days. The absence data presented to parents had been retrieved from school records. Results Across all students, absence occurred on 7.9% of the past 20 school days. In terms of school attendance problems as defined in existing literature, school withdrawal accounted for 11.1% of absences and school refusal for 5.3% of absences. Students were also absent for other reasons, most commonly illness (32.0%) and appointments (24.2%). Of students with more than one absence (n = 217; 34.5%), about half were absent for more than one reason. Students attending mainstream schools had lower attendance than those attending special schools. Conclusions Students with ID were absent for a range of reasons and often for multiple reasons. There were elevated rates of school withdrawal and school refusal. Understanding the reasons for absenteeism can inform targeted prevention and intervention supports.