An investigation of the extent of teacher absenteeism and the implementation of selected teacher absence control techniques

This descriptive survey investigated the extent of teacher absenteeism in public schools for 1980-81. The perceptions of public school administrators about teacher absenteeism being a problem were analyzed. The implementation status of twenty selected teacher absence control policies was compared; each policy was further examined for its evaluation status.

The Questionnaire on Teacher Absence Policies and Techniques, designed by the researcher, solicited data for the study from 244 public school districts in the United States. Data were analyzed by district size, estimated daily teacher absenteeism rates and the number of sick leave days earned annually by teachers. SPSS subprograms provided frequencies, cross tabulations and discriminant analysis.

The major findings are that the estimated daily teacher absenteeism rate of 4.8 percent for 1980-81 represents an increase from other absenteeism studies. Public school administrators tended to respond that they have no evidences of significant absence from teachers to suspect that teacher absenteeism is a problem, yet they also were more likely to express dissatisfaction with the daily teacher absenteeism rates in their districts. District size, estimated daily teacher absence rates and the policy of the number of sick leave days earned annually were found to be significantly related to the responses of implementation and evaluation status of specific teacher· absence control policies and techniques.