Chronic Absenteeism and School Avoidance: Assessment, Intervention, and Multi-Tiered Support
Explore evidence-informed approaches to understanding, assessing, and addressing chronic absenteeism and school avoidance. Designed for psychologists working in schools, this course emphasizes the psychological, behavioral, family, and environmental factors that influence attendance and provides practical strategies for prevention, intervention, consultation, and progress monitoring.
- 9 CPD hours
- 10 lessons
- 54-question assessment
- Online self-paced
Course Overview
Chronic absenteeism is a complex educational concern that may reflect overlapping mental health needs, school climate factors, academic difficulties, family circumstances, and barriers to consistent school participation. Effective intervention requires more than tracking missed days; it requires a systematic understanding of why absences occur and which supports are most likely to improve attendance.
Using the Attendance Playbook: Smart Strategies for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic (FutureEd and Attendance Works, 2023), learners will examine multi-tiered attendance supports, assessment and consultation strategies, family-school collaboration, and data-based intervention planning.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe chronic absenteeism and school avoidance and their effects on students’ academic, social, and emotional outcomes.
- Identify psychological, behavioral, family, and school-environment factors that contribute to attendance problems.
- Analyze attendance data to identify patterns of chronic absence and students who need additional support.
- Select assessment methods to identify attendance barriers, functions of school avoidance, and student needs.
- Describe Tier 1 schoolwide strategies that promote attendance and school connectedness.
- Apply Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions matched to identified attendance barriers and student needs.
- Plan family engagement and collaborative problem-solving approaches to support student attendance.
- Use attendance and progress-monitoring data to evaluate intervention response and adjust supports.
What you’ll learn
Identify attendance patterns, contributing factors, avoidance functions, and student support needs.
Apply Tier 1 prevention, Tier 2 targeted supports, and Tier 3 individualized intervention strategies.
Strengthen family engagement, multidisciplinary problem-solving, and coordinated school supports.
Topics Covered
- Understanding chronic absenteeism and school avoidance
- Psychological, behavioral, and environmental contributors
- Identifying patterns through attendance data
- Assessment of attendance barriers and student needs
- Tier 1: Schoolwide prevention and connectedness
- Tier 2: Targeted attendance interventions
- Tier 3: Individualized and intensive supports
- Family engagement and collaborative problem-solving
- Monitoring attendance and intervention response
- Applied school psychology consultation cases
Course lessons
Every lesson is open to preview. Enroll to take the final assessment and earn your certificate.
Course Format
This asynchronous, independent-study course includes:
- 10 comprehensive instructional lessons
- 30 interactive application and decision-making activities
- 3 extended consultation case studies with written responses
- 54-question final assessment
- Evidence-informed reading assignments and school-based practice applications
- 9 continuing education credits upon successful completion
Primary Reading & Credit Determination
Primary Resource:Attendance Playbook: Smart Strategies for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic (FutureEd and Attendance Works, 2023).
View the Free Course Reading (PDF) ↗
Credit hours are determined using the Mergener formula and the course’s instructional and assessment components.
CE Program Information & Disclosures
- Instructional level: Intermediate
- Target audience: Psychologists, school psychologists, and other professionals who work with children, adolescents, families, and schools.
- Format and schedule: Asynchronous, self-paced online home study. No live sessions; complete the course at any time during your access period.
- Access period: 1 year from enrollment.
- Cost and refunds: Full refund within 30 days of purchase if the course has not been started. See our refund policy.
- Instructor / content developer: Jaime Flowers, Ph.D., NCSP, LEP, BCBA
- Conflict of interest: Dr. Flowers is the owner of Child & School Psychology CE and receives revenue from course sales. No other relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships are reported.
- Commercial support: This program receives no commercial support.
- Accessibility: Need an accommodation? See our Accessibility & Accommodations page.
- Questions or complaints: See our CE Complaint & Grievance Procedure.
Limitations and Risks
Limitations of the content. Intervention research on chronic absenteeism is still developing. Many studies are quasi-experimental, use different definitions of chronic absence and attendance outcomes, and were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, so findings may not fully reflect current attendance patterns. Studies of school refusal often draw on small clinical samples, and attendance data quality, state definitions of chronic absenteeism, and truancy laws vary, which limits comparisons across districts.
Risks. Treating all absences the same way, or relying on punitive and legal responses, can make school avoidance worse and harm family-school relationships, especially when absences stem from anxiety, health problems, bullying, housing instability, or other barriers. Failing to distinguish emotionally based school avoidance from other attendance problems can lead to mismatched interventions. Attendance and family data should be shared only within FERPA and district confidentiality requirements.
References
Primary reading
- Jordan, P. W. (2023). Attendance playbook: Smart strategies for reducing student absenteeism post-pandemic. FutureEd; Attendance Works. https://www.future-ed.org/attendance-playbook/
Supporting references
- Eklund, K., Burns, M. K., Oyen, K., DeMarchena, S., & McCollom, E. M. (2022). Addressing chronic absenteeism in schools: A meta-analysis of evidence-based interventions. School Psychology Review, 51(1), 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2020.1789436
- Gubbels, J., van der Put, C. E., & Assink, M. (2019). Risk factors for school absenteeism and dropout: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(9), 1637–1667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01072-5
- Heyne, D., Gren-Landell, M., Melvin, G., & Gentle-Genitty, C. (2019). Differentiation between school attendance problems: Why and how? Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 26(1), 8–34. https://dro.deakin.edu.au/articles/journal_contribution/Differentiation_between_school_attendance_problems_why_and_how_/20765677
- Kearney, C. A., & Graczyk, P. A. (2020). A multidimensional, multi-tiered system of supports model to promote school attendance and address school absenteeism. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 23(3), 316–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-020-00317-1