Improving the attendance issue

Attendance is “at crisis point”, says the latest ERO report, which found ten percent of students were chronically absent in Term 2 of this year.

Chronically absent students are defined as missing more than 30 percent of school per term. 

The report found chronic absence has doubled in secondary schools and almost tripled in primary schools in the past decade.  

Head of ERO Education Evaluation Centre, Ruth Shinoda said “the number of students who are chronically absent from school is at crisis point and is damaging students’ futures. 

Read the latest print edition of School News HERE

“Over half of students who are chronically absent from school do not go on to achieve NCEA Level 2. They have higher rates of offending, are more likely to be victims of crime and are more likely to live in social and emergency housing as an adult.”  

The report, titled ‘Left behind: How do we get our chronically absent students back to school?’ outlines failures within the current system and makes recommendations for both school leaders and the overall attendance services system.  

Behind absenteeism  

“It is a societal issue, it is not just a schools issue. I don’t know one school that is not working really hard to improve attendance.”  

Cathy Chalmers is principal at Greenmeadows Intermediate School in Manurewa, South Auckland, where 8 to 10 percent of students are chronically absent.  

“Some of it is poverty-related, [or] anxiety about returning to school. Some of ours was transport – the bus was free until a while ago, now they have to pay for it,” Chalmers told Stuff.  

The report found only 22 schools make up 10 percent of the total chronic absences nationally, with students of schools in lower socioeconomic areas six times more likely to be chronically absent.  

Predictors of chronic absence included prior history of poor attendance, recent offending and being in social or emergency housing.  

A key factor of chronic absence included barriers to attendance like mental and physical health.  

“When you have multiple physical and mental health issues, it’s hard for people who haven’t experienced those things to really understand,” said one student.  

Earlier reports by ERO on attendance also found that parent or whānau attitude toward school absence and their likelihood of keeping their child home for bullying, inability to participate in school activities, for family or special events and mental health reasons play a part in absenteeism.  

For secondary students, attitude toward attendance, engagement with schoolwork, ability to participate, attitude toward school, teachers and peers are strong factors that impact attendance.  

For primary students, attitude toward school and how difficult they find school is important for attendance. Other factors include prioritising other activities and barriers like sickness or disengagement.  

Another barrier to attendance includes inappropriate or inadequate response by attendance services and schools.  

Around 80 percent of chronically absent students find learning at school a barrier to attendance but less than half of school leaders report adjusting schoolwork for chronically absent students once they return.  

“The curriculum is irrelevant, and [it] won’t help me with my future and career,” said one student. 

Plans to help chronically absent students return to school, reintegrate and catch-up varied in quality, and many schools did not set up students to succeed, found the report.  

“I was bullied and threatened at school and the school didn’t respond in a way to keep my safe, so I had no choice but [to] leave school,” said another student. 

A systems failure  

The ERO report also found that schools are not reporting chronically absent students to attendance services at the right time.  

Only 43 percent of parents and whānau with a chronically absent young person have met with school staff about attendance.  

Half of schools do not make referrals to attendance services.  

Attendance services report difficulty finding students and families as information is not well communicated, and both schools and attendance services find limited options to enforce attendance and hold people accountable.  

The system of attendance services was also found to be flawed. Their relationships with schools are variable and they may be slow to act on referrals. Attendance services do not always apply evidence-based methods of removing barriers to education and lifetime outcomes for students referred to attendance services are poor.  

Overcoming attendance barriers 

Schools that are successful in overcoming chronic attendance were found to work closely with attendance services, uphold their responsibilities and hold students, parents and whānau and attendance service staff accountable.  

On the other hand, schools with high chronic absence tend not to escalate early enough for students showing signs of non-attendance, don’t share information with attendance service and do not properly identify barriers to attendance, or implement appropriate and coordinated responses with attendance service and the students.  

In response to these insights, ERO has released an accompanying document titled ‘Insights for school leaders: getting chronically absent students back to school’.  

It includes a list of reflective questions for school leaders, staff and board members such as:  

• Could we try new ways of communicating high expectations for attendance and the importance of regular attendance, with students, parents and whānau?
• Do we closely and actively monitor attendance, so any issues are caught as early as possible?
• Do we act on needs early? For example, noticing when problems in learning, socialising, or wellbeing are arising and having a plan of action on how to address those problems. How about checking in regularly with students who are struggling?

Two documents released last year also offer guidance for primary and secondary school teachers on addressing chronic absence.  

Suggestions to improve attendance include: 

Emphasising the value and importance of attendance by: 

• Explaining the importance of attendance and the cumulative impact of non-attendance to students, parents and whānau;
• Setting clear expectations about attendance, and catching up for learners who have had short periods of absence;
• Understanding the attendance of each learner to identify when absence becomes concerning;

Make school engaging and a great place to be by:  

• Understanding learners’ interests and how they perceive the school environment by listening to their perspectives;
• Reviewing the way teaching and learning is organised given student feedback;
• Help learners understand how subjects are valuable and relevant to them, and encourage self-belief in achievement;
• Take early action for disengagement;
• Tackle bullying, racism and discrimination through evidence-based means;
• Provide access to mental health support.

Tackle barriers to attendance by:  

• Building relationships with whānau to identify barriers;
• Early identification of issues for learners and implementing quick solutions while longer-term and sustainable solutions are found.

For more on recent attendance data and how to tackle chronic absence, educators can access the full report on attendance and further recommendations through the ERO website. 

The Term 4 edition of School News is out now. Read it HERE.