Despite mandatory school attendance policies, many students in Canada are frequently absent from school. Absenteeism is linked to numerous negative educational outcomes and is a growing educational issue internationally. This has lead universities in many countries to study the factors associated with absenteeism in order to reduce it. However,…

Calls for increased monitoring and evaluation of education policies and practices have not, so far, included widespread and consistent assessments of the inclusiveness of education settings. Measuring inclusion in education has proven to be a challenging exercise, due not only to the complexity and different uses of the concept, but also to its…

Background: National ranking from the triennial Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) often serves as a barometer of national performance and human capital. Though excessive student- and school-level covariates (n > 700) may prove intractable for traditional least-squares estimate procedures, shrinkage methods may be more…

The impact of socio-economic background on mathematics performance in England can be seen from the most to least disadvantaged. As socio-economic background of pupils increases, so does average mathematics performance; the gap between the most and least disadvantaged is equivalent to over three years' of schooling. However, many factors other than…

Migration flows are profoundly changing the composition of classrooms. Results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reveal that in 2015, almost one in four 15-year-old students in OECD countries reported that they were either foreign-born or had at least one foreign-born parent. Between 2003 and 2015, the share of…

This study examined whether student tobacco, alcohol, marijuana use, and sedentary behaviour were associated with the educational outcomes of health-related absenteeism, truancy, and academic motivation in a nationally representative sample of Canadian youth. Descriptive analyses indicate a high proportion of students missed school due to health,…

This composition of related attendance studies of both Canada and the United States includes (1) a review of school attendance/nonattendance literature for 1975-86, the results, and a discussion involving the topics of nonattendance correlations, causes, and intervention; (2) a survey of compulsory school attendance legislation, the results, and a…

Approaches to promote attendance and prevent nonattendance range from methods designed to help individual students with specific attendance problems, to programs aimed at the student bodies of entire school systems. The former approaches usually are well documented as to results, but raise questions regarding generalizability and applicability for…

The increasing rate of absenteeism among Canadian and U.S. public school students is discussed noting the widespread effects of low attendance. Eight questions are provided as a starting point for reassessment of school board attendance policy. Ontario attendance legislation and current enforcement practices are briefly explained. (SB)

In recent years, provincial laws in Alberta, Canada, have required children of certain ages to attend school. A legal issue related to attendance that is seldom addressed in provincial legislation is the definition of nonattendance. Many jurisdictions in the United States offer statutory definitions of truancy that range from 3 to 10 days' absence…

This study examined issues related to student absenteeism in the Ontario schools. Eight elementary and sixteen secondary schools made up the sample. Data were gathered from school attendance records, questionnaires administered to teachers and students, school board policy statements, and interview schedules. Results suggest that a number of…

This special issue presents seven papers describing programs for children with behavioral disorders. Among topics addressed are use of role playing to foster social skills, truancy intervention, and cooperative efforts by mental health agencies and public schools. (CL)

Presents results of attendance norm violations survey at a Native Canadian adult education school. Examines whether school administrators' perception of violations as deviance is shared by students and Native community representatives. Discusses ambivalence of formal academic expectations versus encouragement for students to retain cultural…

This article describes the methodology and program effects of the Secondary Schools Demonstration Project (SSDP) conducted in four Ontario schools. The objective of the study was to evaluate the extent to which a universal program model of three interventions--cooperative learning; classroom management; and peer-helping approaches that included…