TEACHER ABSENTEEISM: A STUDY OF SELECTED FACTORS IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS OF THE SOUTH PENN SCHOOL STUDY COUNCIL, GROUP D (PENNSYLVANIA)

This study investigates the extent of teacher absenteeism during the 1981-82 school year in eighteen school districts located in south central Pennsylvania. These districts are members of the South Penn School Study Council, Group D, part of the larger Center for School Study Councils which is associated with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Data was gathered through the use of two surveys developed by the researcher. One survey collected district and organizational data. The second collected information regarding individual teachers and their absence experience for the school year. Rates of absence were computed for the entire group as well as for selected demographic and district groups with similar characteristics. The overall mean rate of absence for all 439 teachers in the study was 3.9%. The average number of days missed per teacher was 7.14 days. Sick leave comprised 62.4% of all absences while personal leave accounted for 22.6%. Male teachers had lower rates than females. Elementary and secondary teachers had almost identical rates. Married teachers had lower rates of absence than single, divorced, or widowed teachers. Regarding age and experience, rates first declined, staying lower for teachers in the middle brackets before rising again as age and experience increased. Teachers whose entire career had been spent in the same district experienced higher rates than those who had taught elsewhere prior to their present district. Larger districts experienced higher rates of absence than smaller ones. Districts which required teachers to call their principals had lower rates than those which did not. Districts which permitted accumulation of personal leave did not have a higher usage of personal leave. Those districts which required proof of illness had a higher rate of absence than those which did not while districts which permitted administrative discretion regarding proof of illness had the lowest rate. Fridays had the highest daily rate followed by Mondays. March had the highest monthly rate followed by May and December. Greatest use of sick leave was in March while the greatest use of personal leave occurred in May