PROTOCOL: School Absenteeism Among Children and Young People With Disabilities: A Systematic Review

The Problem, Condition, or Issue

Regular school attendance by children and young people is not only a basic prerequisite for success at school but also for entering the labor market, and thus, it prepares young people for their future lives. Therefore, it can be assumed that, on the one hand, absence from school is associated with significant developmental risks. On the other hand, school absenteeism correlates with many other risk factors (Gren-Landell et al. 2015; Lenzen et al. 2016; Ricking and Hagen 2016).

Currently, there is no consistent definition of school absenteeism (Kearney 2008; Ricking et al. 2016). Although school absenteeism can be defined in general terms as unauthorized absences from school (Ricking and Hagen 2016), neither the various forms of absenteeism nor their frequencies are clearly defined. School absenteeism appears in various forms. Heyne et al. (2019) define four “school attendance problems.” School refusal refers to staying out of school and avoiding classes due to emotional distress or anxiety. Usually, the school avoiding behavior is known to the parents. In the case of truancy, students stay away from school at irregular intervals without excuse and usually without their parents' knowledge. Heyne et al. (2019) characterize school withdrawal as another form of school absenteeism. It is a form in which the parent or guardian is significantly involved in the child's school absences and either initiates or tolerates the absent behavior. Furthermore, school exclusion means that the student is excluded from school based on a disciplinary action.

In addition to the four types of school absenteeism defined by Heyne et al. (2019), absenteeism is often associated with early dropout, in which the student leaves school early without graduating (Kearney 2008; Ricking 2009). School absenteeism thus increases the risk for early school dropout (Ricking 2009). Therefore, cases of dropout and school exclusion are also considered and included in the review.

Current studies, for example, in Germany, show that the proportion of students leaving school without a qualification is increasing. While in 2013, the total was still 5.7%, the percentage rose to almost 7% (Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung 2020). As a result, approximately 54.000 young people left general education schools in 2018 without a degree. Of these, almost half (44%) of the dropouts are due to students with disabilities (SWD) (Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung 2020). School absenteeism is also a growing problem in the U.S. education system. According to the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) students were absent between 9 and 11 days each year (National Center for Rural Education Research Networks 2022). In addition, statistics in England show that about 15% of secondary school students and about 11% of primary school students missed 10% or more of possible classes (Department for Education 2021).

Furthermore, several studies show that SWD have significantly higher absenteeism rates compared to students without disabilities (Department for Education 2019). Also, Melvin et al. (2019) identified disabilities as a risk factor for school absenteeism.

The review, therefore, provides an important starting point for further research that will enable recommendations for action to reduce absenteeism in this target group.

The Relationship Between School Absenteeism and Different Types of Disabilities

Previous studies have shown that SWD are more likely to be absent from school (see Chapter 1.1). In addition to the prevalence of absenteeism among SWD, Lereya et al. (2022) also determined differences among different disabilities or impairments in relation to absent behavior. They found that adolescents with physical and motor impairments had the highest rates of absenteeism. Students with emotional and social impairments or learning impairments were also more likely to be absent than young people with other impairments. Chen et al. (2016) examined different categories of impairment related to school absenteeism in a longitudinal study in the United States. The results of the study show that students with severe emotional disturbances and students with learning impairments had an increased risk of chronic absenteeism. Similar findings were shown in a study by Gottfried et al. (2019), which revealed extremely high rates of school absenteeism, particularly among students with emotional disturbances. Children with learning disabilities also had higher rates of absenteeism, according to Gottfried et al. (2019). Results from a survey by Haaland (2017) showed that students with emotional impairments were two and a half times more likely to drop out of school. A German study by Lenzen et al. (2013) also found a correlation in terms of absenteeism and children with behavioral problems.

In this context, the question is why SWD are more likely to be absent from school and what factors might cause this.

Melvin et al. (2019) categorized risk influences for school absenteeism into different dimensions, such as individual, family, school, and social factors (Gren-Landell et al. 2015; Melvin et al. 2019). This is based on Bronfenbrenner's social ecological theory, which identifies all four categories as important factors in a child's development. As with Bronfenbrenner (1977), the risk factors from the four domains can interact and influence each other. For example, individual factors may include age, gender, or disabilities; school factors may include relationships with teachers; family risk factors may include low family socioeconomic status or family conflicts; and social factors also influence school absenteeism (Bronfenbrenner and Morris 2006; Finning et al. 2019; Gubbels et al. 2019). The aim of this review is, therefore, to identify which factors are associated with school absenteeism in children and young people with disabilities and what impact they have.

Why It Is Important to Do the Review

As already outlined in the previous section, various factors have an influence on school absenteeism (Gubbels et al. 2019; Ricking and Dunkake 2017; Ricking et al. 2009), but a specific consideration for the different contextual factors and causes that increasingly lead to school absenteeism among SWD has not been done yet. There are a few reviews that focus on dropout for SWD (Foreman-Murray et al. 2022), in distinction, we include different types of school absences. Furthermore, Foreman-Murray et al. (2022) focus on school engagement and restrictive educational placement, which are only two sub-areas of school dropout. This review focuses on a broader range of different aspects of school absenteeism.

As in the meta-analysis by Gubbels et al. (2019), the conducted review aims to identify reasons for school absenteeism. In contrast to Gubbels et al. (2019), the focus in the current review lies on SWD.

The methodological approach in the current review is to include both quantitative and qualitative studies as well as mixed method studies. In addition to many reviews on the topic of school absenteeism, there are no ongoing reviews that consider the topic of school absenteeism among children and young people with disabilities.

Criteria for Considering Studies for This Review

The PICOS framework (Methley et al. 2014) was used for developing criteria for this review and has been adapted for the aims of this review. Therefore, a comparison was not considered. In addition, interventions were not explicitly reviewed. Instead, risk and influencing factors at the family, individual, and school levels are examined.

The study types, participants, and types of outcome to be included in this review are described below.

Search Methods for Identification of Studies

After completion of the pilot search and the finalization of the search string, we conducted a systematic search of all retrievable studies. To ensure the quality of the studies, only peer-reviewed studies were included.

The following search string was used:

“school absen*” OR “school avoid*” OR “school avers*” OR “school refusal*” OR truan* OR “school phobia” OR “school withdrawal” OR “school exclu*” OR “school attend*” OR “school abstinen*” OR dropout OR “school leaving”

AND

“special need*” OR disab* OR disord* OR “special education*” OR impair* OR autis*

OR disease* OR handicap* OR retard* OR “learning diff*”

In addition to the search strategy mentioned above, which can be used universally for all databases, the search strategy is to be supplemented by database-specific keywords and controlled vocabulary, which are researched further in the individual databases.

Studies that meet the following criteria were included: –

Published after January 2000 (because the number of papers would otherwise no longer be manageable).

The following electronic databases were searched using the search strategy listed above. These platforms and databases have been selected as they provide coverage of journal articles across a range of important disciplines for the topic of this review. In addition, the databases were selected with consideration of the guide to information retrieval for Campbell systematic reviews (Kugley et al. 2017). The title, abstract, and keywords should be searched. –

Web of Science (provider).

Because the number of papers would otherwise become unmanageable and the quality of the studies to be included should be as high as possible, gray literature, dissertations, conference proceedings, government documents, and websites of specific education/absenteeism organizations were not included in the work. In addition, neither a hand search of journals nor a search via Google Scholar nor contacting experts in the field was implemented.

Data Collection and Analysis