This article was originally published in February 2018.
Life Course Centre researchers, including Research Fellows Kirsten Hancock and Frances Mitrou, and Chief Investigators Professor Cate Taylor and Professor Stephen Zubrick, have had their research paper published in the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR). Titled, ‘The Diverse Risk Profiles of Persistently Absent Primary Students: Implications for Attendance Policies in Australia’, their study sought to understand the constellations of risk factors associated with absenteeism, and how exposure to these risk factors at age 6–7 years related to patterns of absence over a six-year period.
Despite the long history of research and associated policy attention, student absences remain a stubborn problem for schools and governments to address.
Persistent non-attenders were more likely than regular attenders to be exposed to multiple risk factors, and risks associated with health, mental health, and child development were more salient than factors related to income alone. Among persistent non-attenders, however, the exposure to classes of risk was varied. In support of previous research, these results suggest that attendance interventions should be tailored to the specific circumstances of individual students, and that schools should be provided with the resources to help students address the challenges that act as barriers to attendance. Broader policy initiatives, including financial penalties or linking school attendance to government benefits, are unlikely to address the underlying drivers of persistent absence among primary school students.
Read the full paper here.