Resources for teachers and other school staff

New Brunswick teachers understand the impact of absenteeism on their classrooms.  A 2024 Anglophone Teacher Insights survey reported that the need to re-teach material and re-assess learning has increased significantly and is affecting their profession, especially at the elementary level.  Research confirms that absenteeism impacts the entire class, not just the students who are absent.

Chronic absenteeism has nearly doubled in the last five years.  Chronic absenteeism is defined as occurring when a student misses more than 10% of school days, which would be about 18 days a year.

While absenteeism has increased, the best practices to address absenteeism remain the same.

Schools excel at sharing information with parents and guardians.  Teachers across the province have leveraged technology effectively to ensure information about learning, school events and expectations and individual information about attendance and achievement are accessible to parents and guardians.

Individual problem-solving for student chronic absenteeism attendance problems personal, two-way communication.  Addressing student chronic absenteeism involves establishing parent/teacher partnerships to support the student. Reaching out to parents early and directly regarding absences is a strong intervention for teachers to improve student attendance. 

One the most important factors for school success is the student’s sense of belonging and connection to the school.  This is true for academic success as well as social and emotional learning.  It is also true for attendance.  

Teachers are skilled professionals in building positive relationships with students.  Individual teacher practices that strengthen connection, such as positive greetings at the door, active listening and showing a genuine interest in students’ lives can help prevent school attendance problems.  This is especially true at middle and high school, when students have many teachers each day.

Practices that develop and maintain a positive school climate are also helpful for building a sense of belonging and enhancing students’ connection to school.  Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an example of a school-wide practice that improves school climate and has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on attendance.  For many students, culturally responsive practices are essential to fostering a sense of belonging and these practices should be school-wide. 

When students feel that they belong and their parents feel they are a team with teachers, attendance concerns can be solved.

Research and best practices indicate that a tiered approach to attendance will yield the best results.

• Foundational Tier: School-wide proactive practices that not only support attendance but many other school goals, such as academic achievement and positive behaviour.  These foundational practices include Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and culturally responsive practices.
• Tier One: School-wide proactive practices that foster good attendance.  This includes good communication between the school and home about attendance, good data tracking and analysis and incentives.  Tier One practices are intended to help prevent attendance problems from developing.
• Tier Two: Individualized interventions at the school level for students who are developing school attendance problems.  These interventions will vary depending on the situation, ranging from low intensity interventions such as monitoring and mentoring to higher intensity interventions such as a referral to the Education Support Services Team or a formal Attendance Support Plan.
• Tier Three: Individualized interventions to support students with significant and complex school attendance problems, normally under the direction of the school Education Support Services Team and possibly with support from outside the school (e.g., if problematic anxiety is a factor in the absenteeism, Addictions and Mental Health may be involved).  

Although school attendance problems can be highly challenging, when everyone works together, they can be solved.

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