Background: Regular school attendance is foundational to children's success but school absenteeism is a common, serious, and highly vexing problem. Researchers from various disciplines have produced a rich yet diverse literature for conceptualizing problematic absenteeism that has led to considerable confusion and lack of consensus about a…

To assess whether a 5-month program involving attendance monitoring, sports participation, and a moral character class would reduce absenteeism, 40 students in a small transitional high school were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups and assessed pre- and postintervention on educational expectations, attitude toward education, and…

Principals and teachers have long thought that student tardiness was a serious problem. In one study from the 1990s, 8-12% of students were absent each day, and more than 40% of teachers found tardiness to be a significant problem. In fact, it is considered so serious that a school's response can go to extremes. The question, of course, is not…