A Deeper Look into the Occurrence of Chronic Absenteeism: The Relationship between Engagement and Absenteeism

Background: Absenteeism and engagement are concepts synonymous with school performance. While each concept has been examined, there is a paucity of studies examining chronic absenteeism through the lens of engagement. School dropout is frequently identified in literature as the terminal point for student disengagement. Chronic absenteeism is consistently cited as the strongest indicator for school dropout. However, engagement is seldom viewed as an influence on chronic absenteeism and frequently overlooked at the level of prevention. Based on the three-dimensional theoretical framework of student engagement, this poster explores the effect of a three-factor model of engagement on chronic absenteeism.

Methods: Data from the High School Longitudinal Study (2009) was used to create the three-factor model for student engagement. The sample consisted of approximately 14,000 high school students from 944 public and private high schools in the United States. Outcomes examined came from the second wave of the study, when students were in their junior year of high school. Factor analysis was performed using the principal-components factor method, which identified and extracted a factor structure for each of the three dimensions most commonly used in student engagement literature (cognitive, affective, and behavioral). The items tested for each factor were based on past empirical findings of engagement indicators and an examination of the produced eigenvalues. Multiple linear regression was performed to identify association between each engagement factor and chronic absenteeism, controlling for sex, race and socioeconomic status.

Results: The mean factor score for each category of engagement was significantly lower for students who were chronically absent compared to those who were not, signifying that students who had higher levels of engagement were less likely to be chronically absent. For each regression model, each dimension of student engagement was found to be significantly related to chronic absenteeism (behavioral and cognitive p<.001; affective p<.01). Female students, Hispanic students, and students of lower socioeconomic status were more likely to experience chronic absenteeism.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings suggest a linkage between each dimension of student engagement and chronic absenteeism, highlighting the three-dimensional theoretical framework of student engagement as a crucial element to understanding chronic absenteeism. Evaluating the three dimensions of student engagement in chronically absent students can provide a deeper understanding of what needs a student has to reach their full educational potential. This encourages a new perspective in looking at chronic absenteeism, prompting school support staff to look beyond the presence of absenteeism and examine what elements of engagement can be addressed to increase attendance.