SCANSchoolAbsence

All children have the right to adapted education in an inclusive environment. However, the growing problem of absenteeism in primary school represents a major threat to achieving the goal of inclusive education. Although absenteeism and dropouts from upper secondary education have received much attention in the last 10 years, there is little systematic and research-based knowledge about absenteeism in primary and lower secondary school. For example, there are no national statistics on school absence in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools, except for the second semester in 10th grade (SSB 2018).

Focus in this project is on how school absence is distributed, understood and handled at the intermediate level in primary schools, ie children between 11 and 13 years of age. Since there are no national rules and guidelines for primary and lower secondary schools in how to deal with school absenteeism, there is probably some variation in routines and ways of understanding in different schools and municipalities. We will try to capture and understand this variation. And perhaps the pandemic experiences from 2020 and 2021, with school closures and limited physical attendance in schools, have changed both perspectives and practices regarding attendance and absenteeism in schools?

The main goal of the project is therefore to contribute to the field of knowledge by:

• Map the extent and variation in school absenteeism in all primary schools in three counties
• Map follow-up systems and routines in different schools and municipalities
• Study how school absence is understood and handled within different schools

The project design includes the use of both questionnaires, interviews and observation, and will therefore be able to provide both overview images and in-depth knowledge. Nord University is collaborating with Nordland Research Institute, NTNU and the University of Bergen on the project.