Interventions targeting absence from school justify themselves with the claim that absence causes negative effects or prevents good effects. I argue that these are empty claims. I propose that absence as a cause makes sense in two ways: (1) in the context of prevention, if we take into consideration our expectations of what would have taken place,…

The idea that we ought to help young people with underlying issues, rather than simply pressure them back to school has gained traction in the literature on absence from school. However, this discussion has not considered how help and control are intertwined. The following is a Foucault inspired qualitative study of absence interventions in a…

Dropout is a serious problem within education. This article reports on an intervention project, titled "New Roles for the Teacher--Increased Completion Rates Through Social Responsibility," which sought to reduce nonattendance and drop-out rates in the Danish adult educational system by improving teachers' competences. This goal was…

As research today is often required to validate innovative aspects of education, David Sobel's analysis of the SEER report makes quantitative sense of nature education and its ability to improve learning. Test scores increase, attendance surges, language arts assessments show richer self-expression, speaking skills gain a community cause, math…

Background: Studies of absence in educational settings have primarily been concerned with the causes for and results of student absence. However, recent research has argued that distinguishing between different forms of absence could be important. In consequence, studying the way in which different forms of absence are interrelated provides…

Reviewing international school attendance statistics, the author notes that, while the United States is the pioneer of mass schooling, it too has school attendance problems, particularly relating to the exclusion of handicapped and delinquent youth. He looks at the techniques other nations are using to deal with these problems. (SJL)