The Contributing Factors to Student Absenteeism/Truancy and the Effectiveness of Social Services and Interventions
One major issue that schools are currently facing and seeing little or no improvement with is effectively dealing with student absenteeism and truancy. Despite early interventions, programs are still failing to effectively motivate students to attend school. This research study examines the success of an implementation of a perfect attendance award within an elementary school to increase student attendance. An examination of student attendance from the 2006-2007 academic year and from the 20072008 academic year, suggested that the perfect attendance certificate distributed monthly to students with no absences for that month is a positive motivator for students to attend school every day. The data from the months of September, October and November in the 2006-2007 year had a mean score of 54.5 and the 2007-2008 year had a mean score of 59.5, which indicated from an Independent Samples Test that the data proves to be statistically significant, thus the certificates accounted for increased attendance rates. Follow up surveys also provide evidence that the attendance certificates are an overall positive motivator for students and help to increase student attendance at one elementary school. Recognizing student’s strengths of attending school every day is a powerful tool of empowerment, and reduces absenteeism.
Modeling Primary School Absenteeism and Academic Performance in Ethiopia: A Multivariate and Count Regression Models Approaches
School absenteeism and low academic performance at primary schools remain a big issue for developing countries like Ethiopia. Thus, this study aims to determine predicting factors influencing academic performances and school absenteeism jointly at primary schools in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional data were obtained from the Young Lives project from wave 1 (the starting month of academic year) and wave 2 (the last month of academic year). Multivariate regression model was used to investigate the predictors on the linear combination of academic performances and count regression model was also used to investigate the predictor of school absenteeism. In fact, both Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression Models were considered but the latter better fit to the data that have been used for this study than the former model. The result at national level showed mean of school absenteeism and academic performance at wave 1, respectively are 6 days and 67.64 scores and the average performance at wave 2 is also 61.44 score. It has been found out that the number of meals, number of siblings, mother’s literacy, survivor-ship of mother, type of school siblings attending, pre-school attendance, time to get to school, grade repeating, school drop outing, extra class attendances and the availability of helping person with school works at home have a combined effect on the school absenteeism and academic performance. Thus, potential stakeholders should pay attention for the aforementioned factors so as to reduce school absenteeism and then maximize academic performance.
Time to Change the Truancy Laws? Compulsory Education: Its Origin and Modern Dilemma
This paper critically debates the current development of parental prosecution for students'; unauthorized absence from school. The author examines the history of compulsory education in Europe and the USA and questions its pertinence today. The results of a survey of prosecution and truancy during the period 1999–2002, conducted in forty-three LEAs in England and Wales, are presented. The findings question the effectiveness of such new legislation and practice.