Family background and educational attainment: An investigation into the mediating role of school absenteeism

在苏格兰和其他地方，教育程度方面存在着严重的社会不平等现象。因此，缩小与贫困有关的成绩差距被确定为苏格兰教育政策的主要优先事项。关于教育程度方面社会经济差异的机制的文献尚未认真考虑旷课问题。然而，经常缺课可能会阻碍儿童充分发挥其学术潜力的能力，因此不仅对个人的人生历程，而且对苏格兰的经济和社会都是有害的。因此，调查苏格兰学校旷课的普遍性、决定因素和后果，是政策和实践中基于证据的变革的基本要求。该项目的目的是调查在学人数的差异是否是苏格兰学生在教育程度和毕业后目的地方面的社会不平等的原因。由于与健康有关的行为、居住和上学流动性、家庭结构和环境以及父母就业特点等方面的差异，社会经济背景较低的儿童可能比社会经济背景较高的儿童更经常缺课。反过来，由于出勤率低、逃学或被排斥而错过课程的重要部分可能会导致学校考试成绩下降，在义务教育年龄之后继续上学的可能性下降，并降低进入高等教育的可能性。此外，我们将调查旷课是否对社会经济背景较低的学生比对社会经济背景较高的学生更有害。我们的研究结果将有重要的影响政策和practices.The二次数据分析将利用独特的苏格兰纵向研究（SLS），在2001年和2011年的人口普查数据与行政学校普查和苏格兰资格管理局（SQA）的数据。SLS是一项大规模的匿名连锁研究，旨在根据20个半随机出生日期捕获5.3%的苏格兰人口。这些大规模的行政数据是独一无二的，提供了关于苏格兰中学生家庭背景、入学率和学业成绩的详细和准确的信息。使用学校出勤率的行政数据是有利的，因为它提供了比调查信息更可靠的数据。我们的研究是同类研究中的第一个，以探讨是否，以及在多大程度上，学校缺勤解释社会经济差异的学校表现和毕业后的目的地之间的中学生。它将提供新的和全面的理解是否旷课的类型，如逃学，排斥或合法的缺席事项。最后，它将阐明旷课是否对来自较低社会经济背景的儿童特别有害。

Significant social inequalities in educational attainment are well-established in Scotland and elsewhere. Closing the poverty-related attainment gap has therefore been identified as the key priority in Scottish education policy. The literature on the mechanisms underpinning socio-economic differences in educational attainment has not yet seriously considered school absenteeism. Yet missing out frequently from school may hinder children's ability to develop to their full academic potential and may therefore be detrimental not only for individuals' life courses but also for Scotland's economy and society. Investigating the prevalence, determinants and consequences of school absenteeism in Scottish schools is therefore an essential requirement for evidence-based changes in policy and practice. This project aims to investigate whether differences in school attendance account for social inequalities in educational attainment and post-school destinations among pupils in Scotland. Due to differences in health-related behaviour, residential and school mobility, family structure and environment, and parental employment characteristics, children from lower socio-economic backgrounds may be more frequently absent from school than children from higher socio-economic backgrounds. In turn, missing out on important parts of the curriculum due to lower attendance, truancy, or exclusion may result in lower performance in school exams, decreased likelihood of continuing school after the compulsory schooling age, and lowering the likelihood of progressing to higher education. In addition, we will investigate whether school absenteeism is more detrimental to pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds than to pupils from higher socio-economic backgrounds. Our results will have important implications for policy and practice.The secondary data analysis will make use of the unique Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS) which links Census data in 2001 and 2011 with administrative School Census and Scottish Qualificational Authority (SQA) data. The SLS is a large-scale, anonymised linkage study designed to capture 5.3% of the Scottish population based on 20 semi-random birthdates. These large-scale administrative data are unique in providing detailed and accurate information on family background, school attendance and school attainment among secondary pupils in Scotland. The use of administrative data on school attendance is advantageous as it provides more reliable data than survey information.Our study is the first of its kind to explore whether, and to what extent, school absenteeism explains socio-economic differences in school performance and post-school destinations among secondary school students. It will provide novel and comprehensive understanding of whether the type of school absenteeism, such as truancy, exclusion or legitimate absence matters. Finally, it will shed light on whether absenteeism is particularly detrimental for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds.