Truancy from school
Truancy rates are substantially higher amongst Māori and Pasifika students, including the more worrying frequent truant rates.
Date Updated: July 2007
Indicator Description
Standardised percentage of students enrolled who are unjustifiably absent from school (truancy rate).
What We Have Found
Truancy rates are substantially higher amongst Māori and Pasifika students, including the more worrying frequent truant rates.
Why This Is Important
Students who truant, or more precisely are unjustifiably absent from class, do not only miss out on class work, but also run an increased risk of alienation from the education system. Truanting students are at a greater risk of dropping out of school entirely.
Sustained truancy affects educational achievement and can lead to significantly diminished opportunities in later life. A New Zealand study (Hughes, 1999) found student attendance during Year 11 to be one of the most significant variables influencing student achievement in senior secondary school. Furthermore, truants with lower reading achievement had the highest risks for adverse outcomes. Longitudinal studies of Christchurch and Dunedin children have found truancy to be a strong predictor of violence later in life, and predictive of delinquency, substance abuse, suicidal risk, unemployment and early parenting. Linkages between truancy and crime are of considerable concern.
A 2001 report from the U.K Office of Standards in Education noted that a focus on truancy alone is insufficient to sustain changes in student attendance. It found that strategies that have effectively improved attendance and behaviour in English schools have been incorporated with efforts to raise achievement.
How We Are Going
The truancy rate is the percentage of students who have absences that cannot be explained or that are not satisfactorily explained. They may be unjustified absences (full day) or intermittent unjustified absences (part of a day). Intermittent unjustified absences include arriving late at school, skipping classes and tardiness in attending classes.
The overall percentage of unjustified absences in 2006 (2.3%) was higher overall when compared with the 2004 survey (2.1%). Unjustified absence rates for primary and intermediate school-age children (Year 1 to Year 8) are substantially lower than for secondary school-age students. For secondary school-age students, the percentage of unjustified absences increases with years at school.
Ethnicity is a significant factor with regard to unjustified absences from school, with Māori and Pasifika percentages (5.0% and 4.2% respectively) 3-4 times higher than the rates for Asian (1.2%) and NZ European students (1.3%).
There is much less variation between the ethnic groups in the percentages of intermittent unjustified absences. However, the percentages of intermittent unjustified absences for Māori and Pasifika (3.0% and 2.4% respectively) were considerably higher than the rates for Asian and NZ European students (both 1.4%).
| Standardised1 intermittent and unjustified absence percentages by ethnic group and gender (2006) |
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Note:
The percentages of unjustified absences for all ethnic groups have increased from the 2004 survey. The largest growth occurred for Māori students, with a 17% increase. Females (2.4%) had a slightly higher percentage of unjustified absences than males (2.3%), although Pasifika and Asian males had higher rates than their female counterparts. The numbers of intermittent and unjustified absences do not provide any information about how many students are responsible for these absences. To gain some insight into this in relation to truancy, students who were unjustifiably absent (but not on an intermittent basis) for three or more days during the week of the survey were identified as frequent truants. All other students who were unjustifiably absent, including on an intermittent basis, at any time during the week were identified as infrequent truants. |
| Standardised1 frequent truant percentages by ethnic group and gender (2006) |
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Note:
Māori and Pasifika males and females are more likely to be ‘frequent’ truants (based on individual students) than their NZ European or Asian counterparts. Māori students (2.7%) were 4.5 times as likely as NZ European (0.6%) or Asian (0.5%) students to be frequent truants, while the rate for Pasifika students (2.0%) was 3.5 times higher.
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| Standardised1 frequent truant percentages by ethnic group and quintile (2006) |
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Note:
There is also a clear correlation between quintile (the socio-economic mix of the school the student attended) and the percentage of frequent truants. Schools in the lowest quintile (deciles 1 and 2) draw their students from communities with the highest degree of socio-economic disadvantage. Students from these schools were over 6 times more likely to be frequent truants than students in the highest quintile (deciles 9 and 10). |
Where To Find Out More
To obtain information about other forms of student disengagement, consider indicators:
- Stand-downs and Suspensions from school
- Exclusions and expulsions from school
- Early leaving exemptions
The Ministry of Education has established an Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis Programme to systematically identify, evaluate, analyse, synthesise and make accessible, relevant evidence linked to a range of learner outcomes. Evidence about what works for this indicator can be found in:
- Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis
- The Complexity of Community and Family Influences on Children's Achievement in New Zealand: Best Evidence Synthesis
References
Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis. Wellington, Ministry of Education.
Biddulph, F., Biddulph, J. and Biddulph, C. (2003). The Complexity of Community and Family Influences on Children's Achievement in New Zealand: Best Evidence Synthesis. Wellington, Ministry of Education.
Bloom, B.S. (1974). Time and learning. American Psychologist. 29: 682-688.
Cosgrave, R., Bishop, F., and Bennie, N (2003). Attendance and Absences in New Zealand Schools in 2002. Wellington, Ministry of Education.
Fergusson, D., Lynskey, M., and Horwood, L.J. (1995). Truancy in adolescence. NZJLS, 30(1), 25-37.
Hughes, D., Lauder, H., Robinson, T., Simiyu, I., Watson, S., Strathdee, R. & Hamlin, J. (1999). Do Schools Make a Difference?: Hierarchical Linear Modelling of School Certificate Results in 23 Schools: The Smithfield Project, Phase Three: Eighth Report to the Ministry of Education. Wellington.
Martin, M.O., Mullis, I.V.S., and Chrostowski, S.J. (Eds.) (2004). TIMSS 2003 Technical Report. Chestnut Hill, MA: International Study Center, Boston College.
Martin, M.O., Mullis, I.V.S., Gonzalez, E.J., and Chrostowski, S.J. (2004). TIMSS 2003 International Science Report: Findings from IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study at the Fourth and Eighth Grades. Chestnut Hill, MA: International Study Center, Boston College.
McAlpine, D., Burke, R., Walker, R. and McIlroy, A. (1998). Evaluation of the 1996/1997 District Truancy Services. Palmerston North, Palmerston North Assessment Services
Ministry of Education Research Division (2005). Attendance and Absences in New Zealand Schools in 2004. Wellington, Ministry of Education.
Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Gonzalez, E.J., and Chrostowski, S.J. (2004). TIMSS 2003 International Mathematics Report: Findings from IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study at the Fourth and Eighth Grades. Chestnut Hill, MA: International Study Center, Boston College.
OECD (2004). Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2004. Paris, OECD.
U.K. Office of Standards in Education, (2001). Improving Attendance and Behaviour in Secondary Schools: Strategies to Promote Educational Inclusion. London, Office for Standards in Education.