Research to date has identified a variety of factors that influence truancy. The findings are very diverse and point to different factors (such as personality, health, family circumstances, peer relationships, migration background), which differ greatly depending on the type of school and regional context. Although recent studies have shown that absenteeism is significantly higher among pupils with special educational needs and among lower secondary school pupils compared to other types of school, there are only few findings from a family perspective. Therefore this project investigates the prevalence and underlying causes that lead to increased school absenteeism among pupils with special educational needs.

Publications

Feldhaus, Michael & Meike Rau (2025): Schulabsentismus aus einer familiensoziologischen Perspektive: Ein Überblick über empirische Befunde, theoretische Zugänge und offene Fragen. In: Speck, Karsten & Ricking, Heinrich (Hrsg.): Interdisziplinäre Kooperation und Schulabsentismus. Berlin: Springer Verlag, S. 59-81.

Feldhaus, Michael, Rau, M., Ricking, H. & Sälzer, Chrristine (2025): Schulabsentismus aus einer humanökologischen Perspektive – aktuelle Analysen mit PISA 2022. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-025-01292-5

Sälzer, Christine, Ricking, Heinrich und Feldhaus, Michael (2024): Addressing School Absenteeism Through Monitoring: A Review of Evidence-Based Educational Policies and Practices. Education Science. 14, 1365. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14121365

Ricking, Heinrich and Feldhaus, Michael (2024): School absenteeism. In: School magazine 5 - 10, 9/10, 2024, pp. 8-13.

Sälzer, Christine, Ricking, Heinrich and Feldhaus, Michael (2024): School absenteeism as a joint task. In: jugendhilfe, 1/2024, pp. 23-28.