College absenteeism is a serious situation in training methods worldwide, affecting college students’ studying and future alternatives. A latest research by Professor Christine Sälzer from the College of Stuttgart, Professor Heinrich Ricking from the College of Leipzig, and Professor Michael Feldhaus from the College of Oldenburg highlights how conserving higher monitor of scholar attendance will help scale back absenteeism. Their evaluate article, printed in Schooling Sciences, emphasizes the necessity for a dependable system to observe attendance so colleges can step in early when college students begin lacking class.
“Holding constant and correct data of scholar attendance is essential for lowering absenteeism and conserving college students engaged,” stated Professor Sälzer. “It’s the basis for all additional interventions, primarily a fundamental type of prevention.” They discovered that colleges with no structured solution to monitor attendance wrestle to deal with absenteeism successfully. This could have critical long-term penalties for college kids, together with decrease grades and the next threat of dropping out. By monitoring attendance usually, colleges can establish college students who need assistance early and take motion to maintain them at school.
The research takes a detailed take a look at how Germany handles attendance monitoring and finds that the system is inconsistent throughout its 16 states. Not like different nations that use digital instruments to trace attendance, Germany doesn’t have a unified system, which means every state follows totally different guidelines. This lack of coordination makes it tough to measure absenteeism precisely, as many colleges nonetheless depend on handwritten data as an alternative of digital monitoring. The researchers argue that with no standardized method of amassing and reporting attendance information, it’s a lot tougher for policymakers—officers who make selections about training—and educators to design efficient options.
Evaluating Germany’s method to different nations, the research highlights examples of efficient attendance monitoring. Within the Netherlands, for instance, colleges should report absences to a central database, a system the place attendance data are saved, inside three days. This enables officers to take fast motion and establish college students who could also be liable to falling behind. “With no nationwide method to monitoring attendance, efforts to cut back absenteeism won’t be as efficient,” Professor Sälzer famous.
Professor Sälzer’s research additionally exhibits how higher attendance monitoring will help enhance college students’ general studying experiences. Colleges that carefully monitor attendance can higher perceive why college students are lacking class—whether or not it’s attributable to monetary difficulties, psychological well being struggles, or different challenges. With this info, they will present the suitable assist, akin to counseling, which helps college students with emotional and educational points; tutoring, which offers further classes to assist college students catch up; or working with dad and mom to seek out options. This helps create a faculty surroundings the place college students really feel supported and motivated to attend usually.
Though this research focuses on Germany, its findings are related to colleges world wide. Nations trying to scale back absenteeism ought to think about using digital instruments, akin to on-line attendance monitoring software program, and nationwide attendance databases to enhance monitoring. Professor Sälzer and colleagues emphasize that monitoring shouldn’t be about punishing college students however relatively about making a system that helps establish issues early and offers the required assist.
As colleges proceed to evolve, ensuring each scholar receives the assistance they should attend usually ought to be a high precedence. Through the use of data-driven methods, which depend on information and statistics to information selections, and constructing robust attendance monitoring methods, colleges can take vital steps to cut back absenteeism and enhance scholar success.
Journal Reference
Sälzer C., Ricking H., Feldhaus M. “Addressing College Absenteeism By means of Monitoring: A Evaluation of Proof-Primarily based Instructional Insurance policies and Practices.” Schooling Sciences, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14121365
In regards to the Authors
Prof. Dr. Christine Sälzer has been a Professor of Schooling on the College of Stuttgart since Could 2018. She studied training, psychology, and sociology in Braunschweig, Bern, and Fribourg, the place she earned her Ph.D. in 2010 with a dissertation on college absenteeism. Between 2010 and 2017, she served because the nationwide mission supervisor for the PISA research in Germany on the Technical College of Munich’s Middle for Worldwide Instructional Analysis. Her analysis pursuits embody large-scale assessments, college effectiveness, and absenteeism.
Prof. Dr. Heinrich Ricking has been a Professor on the Institute for Particular Schooling on the College of Leipzig since June 2022, specializing in emotional and social improvement in particular training and inclusive contexts. Previous to this, he gained in depth expertise as a particular training instructor on the Albert-Schweitzer College in Cloppenburg and as a college lecturer on the College of Oldenburg. His analysis facilities on enhancing the standard of formal training for kids and adolescents in at-risk conditions and selling college participation. In his instructing, Prof. Ricking emphasizes coaching theoretically grounded professionals with broad sensible competencies and an expert angle.
Prof. Dr. Michael Feldhaus is a distinguished microsociologist on the College of Oldenburg. He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology in 2003 and later coordinated the German Analysis Basis’s (DFG) Precedence Program “Beziehungs- und Familienpanel in Deutschland” (pairfam). From 2010 to 2014, he was a analysis assistant on the College of Bremen earlier than changing into a professor at Oldenburg in 2014. His analysis focuses on life course sociology, decision-making, and household dynamics.
