Abstract :
The aim of this study is to investigate different professional and demographic variables of teachers effects on teachers’ absenteeism and make recommendations to Ministry of Education, to district and provincial education directorates and to school managers. The study was conducted with participation of 564 teachers who were working in primary and secondary schools of Izmir, Menderes District in 2011-2012 academic year. Data were collected by using ‘Teacher Absenteeism Data Collection Form’. The average absenteeism rate of the teachers who work in the schools where this research was conducted is overline{X} =4,20 days in an academic year. The 25,4% of the teachers did not use any medical referral, medical report and leave of absence during a school year. The research shows that there is no difference on absenteeism rates of the teachers who work in the Menderes District’s primary and secondary schools based on their marital status, number of children they have, their district of residence, their branch, seniority, or whether they are graduated from faculty of education or not and how long they have been working in their schools. Research shows that all these variables have no effects on the absenteeism rates of the teachers. On the other hand, the variables such as the location and type of the school they work, whether the school has a full-day or half-day programme, the gender and age of the teachers affect teachers’ absenteeism rates. There is no correlation between teachers’ current absenteeism rate and students’ Placement Level Test scores.
