1. Attendance and Students’ School Experiences Selina McCoy, Merike Darmody, Emer Smyth, Allison Dunne NEWB Conference 26 February 2008

2. 2 Project Background Review existing international research and policy on attendance Irish policy Analysis of data collected for other ESRI studies Research and policy directions

3. 3 Methodology/ Data Sources 4 main data sources School Leavers’ Survey 2002 Schools Database 1994 Junior Cycle Longitudinal Study – 1 st Yr Data Part-Time Work among post-primary students NEWB Data – school level

4. 4 Methodology/ Data Sources Data Sources Different measures re. attendance Different sources of information Different student groups Timing No comprehensive data source Existing data sources complementary & range of perspectives

5. 5 Key Issues Main issues Objective characteristics and attendance Subjective characteristics and attendance School factors Outside school factors Impact of poor/ non-attendance

6. 6 Objective Characteristics Key Areas Gender - males Age – older students; skipping school starts early Social Background/Parental Education Travelling Community Region

7. 7 Subjective Characteristics Key Areas Attitudes towards school Attitudes towards teachers Self-ratings Interactions with peers

8. 8 Students’ Attitudes Findings Attitudes to School Better attendance records: ‘school life is a happy one for me’ Positive about benefits of schooling re self-confidence, communication skills ‘School work worth doing’ Relationship with teachers Students who had skipped school: More likely to feel teachers didn’t care about them Could not talk to their teacher if they had a problem Less likely to feel teachers listen to their views

9. 9 Students’ Attitudes Findings Contd., Relationship with peers Those who had skipped school: Less likely to feel their friends took school seriously More likely to feel too many troublemakers in class Academic self-rating Students with poor attendance records: More negative about present academic performance More negative about potential opportunities in the future

10. 10 Students’ Attitudes Findings Contd., Parental Involvement No relationship between parental involvement and no. of absences But is related to no. of times late and skipping classes Student Identity Better attendance records among students with strong sense of control over their lives Students with poor attendance records more fatalistic and higher stress (males)

11. 11 Outside School Factors Part-Time Work Majority working part-time Males more likely to work longer hours and during week Impact: Students’ feel working does not impact on attendance or schoolwork Those who work actually have higher absenteeism rates Part-time work is associated with increased chances of early school leaving Working students, on average, achieve lower exam grades

12. 12 Outside School Factors Range of Out-of-School Activities (mid 90s) Sports: positive impact Social Life: negative impact Household labour: negative impact (females) Part-Time Work: negative impact (particularly long hours)

13. 13 School Factors School size: primary – among DD schools, higher attendance in smaller schools (less than 100) post-primary – smaller schools higher non-attendance Relationship to measures of socio-economic composition of school: primary – variables in GCEB database, reading and numeracy scores post-primary – schools serving disadvantaged populations, retention rates to Junior Cert, performance in Junior Cert exam

14. 14 School Factors School Organisation and Process : Social Mix in School Additional impact over and above individual background factors Even controlling for social mix, schools vary in attendance levels: Why? Ability Grouping – absenteeism lower among those in higher stream and mixed-ability Academic Climate – attendance higher in schools characterised by higher teacher expectations Social Climate - nature of interaction between teachers and students

15. 15 Impact of Poor Attendance 4 areas : Drop-Out Exam performance Progression to post-school study Unemployment

16. 16 Impact of Poor Attendance Progression to Further Study Those who frequently ‘skip’ school less likely to progress to further study Even among those with similar Leaving Cert performance, those who frequently skip school less likely to progress

17. 17 Impact of Poor Attendance Unemployment Higher unemployment levels among those who frequently skipped school Even among those with similar educational attainments

18. 18 Future Research Opportunities Data based on 2004 and earlier … considerable policy focus and resources since then on educational disadvantage Need for up-to-date comprehensive research – Research at primary level Sampling based Need to know causes of non-attendance in order to develop strategies Are there projects that are working? Awareness Resources Back-up Services

19. 19 Issues for Schools School Climate Student involvement Nature of curriculum Learning supports Targeting schools with concentration of disadvantaged students Importance of addressing issue (early) as means of preventing drop-out etc