A study of absenteeism in the Toronto Board of Education, 1850-1997

grantor: University of TorontoThis case study was an examination of the role, function and structure of absenteeism in the Toronto Board of Education, using both historical inquiry and quantitative analysis of contemporary student data. Multi-method triangulation was used, a research process using multiple measures or methods to examine a research question where a single data set might not be appropriate. There were three directions. Firstly, a literature review found little agreement among researchers on the role and importance of absenteeism. Secondly, an historical overview of Toronto Board policy on absenteeism examined documents relating to absenteeism, 1850–1997. Absenteeism was at the core of Toronto Board educational policy from the 1850's to the 1940's. Policy towards “truant” students was at first retributive, but in the twentieth century policy was changed to societal and family interventions, resulting in the foundation of most of the board's current student support services. However, absenteeism disappeared as an important educational issue by the 1970's. Thirdly, an analysis of Toronto Board administrative data looked at student absenteeism from several directions: datasets of 75,000 students registered 1996–97; Grade 9 students followed 1991–1996; and 11 year old students followed 1992–1997. Among the findings: (1) There is a consistent relationship of age to average absenteeism, which is linear for students 13 and older. (2) Gender was a minor influence on absenteeism. Students who lived in two-parent households were significantly less likely to have above-average absenteeism than those in other types of households. Among Grade 9 students, post-secondary plans, hours of homework and part-time work, home language, type of high school, and academic level also influenced levels of absenteeism. (3) Absenteeism was strongly linked to credit accumulation and other achievement patterns. Students with high absenteeism in Grade 9 were much more likely to drop out, and less likely to graduate. Absenteeism in any given year was moderately linked to absenteeism in the previous school year and the following school year, but the relationship faded over time. (4) Contemporary secondary absenteeism is higher than that of historical records from the 1960's. This may be due to the increasing retention in the secondary school of traditionally `at risk' students, a process similar to that which occurred in the primary school system in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Ed.D