Unlearning school attendance and its problems: Moving from historical categories to postmodern dimensions

Abstract

School attendance and its problems have been a focus of myriad stakeholders for over a century, which has led both to important advancements in this area as well as compartmentalized categorical approaches to explain at least part of the vast ecology of these issues. Recent seismic events and changes, however, have provided a unique opportunity to unlearn calcified notions of school attendance and its problems and to consider more inclusive paradigms. This article focuses on several categorical approaches that have been historically a focus of research, health-based clinical work, and educational and social policy in this area: defining school attendance problems, demarcating school attendance problems, subtyping school attendance problems, risk and protective factors for school attendance/problems, interventions for school attendance problems, and school completion. For each area, alternative dimensional approaches are discussed that are emerging from different disciplines and that may provide additional flexibility and comprehensiveness for avenues of endeavor relevant to a postmodern era. The article concludes with a call to abandon historical, discipline-specific, categorical silos in favor of a spectrum of postmodern, multidisciplinary systemic-analytic collaborations and shared alliances to better conceptualize and manage the full ecology of school attendance and its problems.

School attendance and school absenteeism: A primer for the past, present, and theory of change for the future

“…Many forms of school attendance/absenteeism exist across multiple instructional formats, including virtual or distance learning formats, that demand new and broader metrics (e.g., log-ins, completed assignments, student-teacher interactions, and mastery of skills) for measuring these constructs (National Forum on Education Statistics, 2021). In addition, school absenteeism comprises a spectrum of attendance problems that can include full or partial day absences, missing classes, tardiness, student/family problems in the morning, and distress, somatic complaints, and other psychological problems that interfere with school attendance (Li et al, 2021;Kearney and Gonzálvez, 2022). This has led to broader definitions of school attendance/absenteeism that focus less on physical presence/absence and more on engagement (Patrick and Chambers, 2020;Kearney, 2021).…”

“…The revised definitions further allow for greater understanding of whether engagement, or lack thereof, could be informed by impairment in school (e.g., academic achievement), social (e.g., interpersonal skills, relationships), and family (e.g., financial cost) domains (Kearney, 2022). Both examples eschew traditional emphases on timeline and physical location and synthesize systemic and analytic perspectives by adopting a mutual language to define school attendance/ absenteeism, incorporating multiple instructional formats (e.g., in-person, hybrid, and online), and allowing for categorical distinctions better informed by dimensional aspects (Kearney and Gonzálvez, 2022).…”

Multi-tiered systems of support for school attendance and its problems: An unlearning perspective for areas of high chronic absenteeism

“…Part of this effort can include flexible and personalized methods of school completion based on individual circumstances and interests that extend into emerging adulthood; examples include partnerships with community-based learning centers, home-based and virtual programs, year-round schooling, extra-year and credit recovery initiatives, and second-chance options (Zhang et al, 2020). Unlearning traditional notions of "seat time" and instead utilizing more flexible, valid methods to define attendance for diverse, contemporary learning formats must also be prioritized (National Forum on Education Statistics, 2021; Kearney and Gonzálvez, 2022).…”

Absenteeism prevention in preschools in Chile: Impact from a quasi-experimental evaluation of 2011–2017 Ministry of Education data

“…Less is known about how best to promote attendance and reduce absenteeism, especially across diverse contexts. Solutions have traditionally focused on student, family, school and community-level interventions separately, rather than in a systemic, coordinated manner (Eklund et al, 2022;Kearney and Gonzálvez, 2022). Most studies examine single intervention strategies, for example, text-based and mail-based interventions to motivate parents to improve their child's attendance (Robinson et al, 2018;Díaz et al, 2020;Kalil et al, 2021) or interventions addressing specific child health problems, like asthma (Guevara et al, 2003;Clark et al, 2004;Kim et al, 2020).…”