Opinion: Dr Lisa O'Brien - The importance of school attendance

The Australian Financial Review:

The Prime Minister is right: all efforts to close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians across a range of indicators are ''doomed to fail'' unless we first boost school attendance.

The same holds true if we’re to reduce disadvantage anywhere in Australia.

School attendance is one of the crucial building blocks when it comes to a child’s education and development and their capacity to fully participate in our society as an adult – and particularly so if they come from a disadvantaged background.

So why is there no uniform approach for capturing, recording and reporting on school attendance in Australia?

If the states and territories can sign up to national educational goals, why can’t they sign up to a standardised method for school attendance?

How is it that the approach to attendance differs between independent, Catholic and public schools in all states and territories?

School attendance is more, much more, than the daily routine of marking a child’s name on a roll.

School attendance is vital for educational achievement.

A recent groundbreaking study by the University of Western Australia examined school attendance rates in government schools in the state between 2008 and 2012.

It confirmed that as absences add up over several years there can be a cumulative effect on achievement. They found there is no ‘safe threshold’ for absenteeism – every day of attendance counts toward a child’s educational outcomes.

The study found the state’s most disadvantaged students – many of them Aboriginal young people – missed more than a day of school each week. This equates to about one term of school each year or 1.7 years of missed school by the end of primary.

Between years 8 and 10 these students were absent from school for around one year out of three.

And as absences increase, academic achievement heads the other way.

Attendance has a much greater influence on the achievement of students from disadvantaged backgrounds: as their absence rates increase, their decline in achievement is more rapid.

It’s also a very accurate predictor that a young person is at risk of dropping out of school.

Correspondingly, if attendance is improved among the same group, particularly in the early years, we’re able to protect them from falling behind and improve their educational outcomes.

The Smith Family is a national children’s education charity. We have more than 34,000 children and young people, of varying ages, on scholarship across the country.

Given the disadvantaged backgrounds of each of these young people – and the evidence around how important attendance is to educational outcomes – it would be an enormous help to us to have a uniform approach to reporting attendance across the country.

To have a reliable measure, across jurisdictions, would mean we could identify students at greater risk of slipping behind or dropping out and respond accordingly.

Frustrated by the lack of such uniformity, we developed a measurement tool that deals with the inconsistencies.

As such, it’s the only national measure for recording and reporting on school attendance in the country.

It’s been immediately helpful.

It’s shown us the differences that exist among our students in attendance across various characteristics, such as the educational attainment of a parent or carer, Indigenous background, and type of household.

It’s shown us that, among our students, those in Years 9 and 10 are most at risk of poor attendance and that through increased support at the right time we can improve their chances of completing Year 12.

Accurate attendance data helps us draw a detailed portrait of our students. It informs our efforts to help turn around the lives of some of Australia’s most disadvantaged children.

We take encouragement from the fact that COAG has identified the problem we face across Australia regarding attendance.

Similarly, the Australian Curriculum, Reporting and Assessment Authority (ACARA) has convened a working group to examine ways in which the standardisation of attendance data might be improved.

But we need to press ahead. 

Given the Prime Minister’s understanding of the issue’s importance, we hope that the Commonwealth will take a leadership role in reforming this area.

Nationally consistent attendance data is a crucial component of our joint efforts to improve educational outcomes among vulnerable Australian children and young people.