Abstract School attendance and absenteeism are critical targets of educational and health‐based policies and practices that often depend heavily on attendance/absenteeism and related construct data. At the same time, the quality of school attendance/absenteeism and related data has come under substantial scrutiny and criticism in recent years, particularly with respect to measurement, utilization, context and interoperability. The development of a common, valid and cost‐effective measure of school attendance/absenteeism to address these limitations would thus be desirable. This article initially provides a brief review and critique of contemporary systemic and analytic measurement strategies related to school attendance/absenteeism and related constructs. Issues of comparability and variability across professional disciplines and countries/regions are raised, along with a suggestion for the formulation of a next‐generation common assessment measure of school attendance/absenteeism and related constructs that emphasizes accessibility and feasibility. A set of principles and possible domains for next‐generation common measurement are then presented. This includes a discussion of dimensionality regarding definition, achievement and engagement, functional impairment, interoperability across multiple sources and agencies, and ease of measurement. Finally, a potential roadmap for item and scale development and evaluation is presented to enhance the utility of a common measure across multiple agencies and areas. The article is not meant to be the final word regarding the measurement of school attendance/absenteeism and related constructs, but rather a potential blueprint for developing a common, brief measure that may be useful and modifiable across multiple agencies, jurisdictions and geographical areas. Context and implications Rationale: Recent changes in education present a unique opportunity to critically reflect and explore new approaches to conceptualizing and thus measuring and utilizing school attendance/absenteeism and domain‐related data. Why this matters: School attendance and absenteeism are critical targets of educational and health‐based policies and practices that often depend heavily on attendance/absenteeism and related construct data. Implications for interest‐holders: A common measure of school attendance/absenteeism must meet not only psychometric standards but also the additional challenge of acceptability to an enormous group of participants with divergent educational, scientific, legal, economic and political views.
Kearney et al. (Sun,) studied this question.