As Ontario moves to make attendance and participation part of high school students' final marks, 91亚色 research offers context for what rising absenteeism may signal and why there may be no simple fix.

The study, co-authored by Faculty of Education's Robert Brown, adjunct professor, and Gillian Parekh, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Inclusion, Disability and Education, along with collaborators from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and Wilfrid Laurier University, uses the 2011-12 academic year as a baseline to track absenteeism trends in TDSB schools through 2023-24.

One of the study's key findings complicates the common assumption that rising absenteeism is mainly a post-COVID issue. While student absence rates surged dramatically during and after the pandemic, the researchers found that roughly one-third of this increase was already underway before the pandemic.

"COVID took existing trends and put them on steroids," says Brown. "This isn't something just caused by COVID."

The study finds that absenteeism roughly doubled over the 12-year period, with increases evident across grades. Brown says attendance tends to be relatively high in kindergarten, stable through much of elementary school, then rises in senior elementary grades before accelerating in high school. More recent 2023-24 data show some decline in absence rates among early and mid-elementary students, but rates continued to climb across all secondary grades.

Read the full article in the June 3, 2026 issue of Yfile

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How can young people learn from their experiences and reshape who they are in a digital world that never forgets? 

That question will guide 91亚色 education scholar Mario Di Paolantonio鈥檚 research as a  91亚色 Massey Fellow at the University of Toronto for the 2025-26 academic year. 

The fellowship, awarded to full-time 91亚色 faculty members on sabbatical or other leave, provides access to dedicated office space, library resources and full participation in the academic and social life of the college. Fellows hold the title 鈥�91亚色 Fellow of Massey College鈥� for life or while mutually agreeable. 

A professor in the Faculty of Education, Di Paolantonio will use the fellowship to advance research that builds on his 2023 book, Education and Democracy at the End. His work explores how digital technologies 鈥� particularly those that preserve personal data indefinitely 鈥� affect youth development and their ability to engage with education as a transformative process. 

During his sabbatical, he will study how creative and thoughtful activities 鈥� like making art, exploring culture and asking big questions 鈥� can help young people take back control of their lives, push back against the influence of digital technology and learn how to grow and change in positive ways. 

鈥淵oung people today are growing up in a digital environment where their past is always present,鈥� says Mario Di Paolantonio. 鈥淭his fellowship gives me the opportunity to explore how we can create space for reflection and renewal 鈥� where youth can learn to interpret their experiences differently and imagine new ways of being in the world.鈥� 

His research also explores how societies deal with past injustices in two interrelated streams. One research focus looks at how memorials, art and legal systems help communities learn from history, especially in countries that have experienced dictatorship. Another examines how the rise of digital systems and data-driven decision-making can weaken public trust and make it harder for people to connect and work together. 

Di Paolantonio鈥檚 scholarship and published work cover topics such as education, curriculum, politics, law, memory and the arts. He is also an international research associate at the Centro de Estudios en Pedagog铆as Contempor谩neas and the Escuela de Humanidades at the Universidad Nacional de San Mart铆n in Buenos Aires. 

Massey College is an independent academic community located at the University of Toronto. Its membership includes graduate students, faculty, journalism fellows, visiting scholars and leaders from various sectors. The college fosters interdisciplinary exchange and academic enrichment across disciplines and institutions.  

鈥淚t is a valuable opportunity to join a community that brings together scholars from many fields and institutions,鈥� says Di Paolantonio. 鈥淏eing part of that environment will support deeper thinking about the challenges facing education today and help connect my research to wider conversations about democracy, technology and youth.鈥� 

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Six Indigenous scholars at 91亚色 have been awarded a combined $204,298 in new funding from the latest round of Indigenous Research Seed Fund Grants to explore language revitalization, Indigenous-led land restoration, decolonizing physical education curriculum and more.

The 91亚色 Indigenous Seed Fund was established in 2021 by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President Equity, People & Culture, the Centre for Indigenous Knowledges & Languages (CIKL) and the Indigenous Council, an internal committee at 91亚色 that works to improve access, input and opportunities for Indigenous peoples in higher education. The fund aims to build on the University鈥檚 ongoing commitment to support Indigenous early career researchers, their knowledge creation and the Indigenous communities they are working with.

鈥�91亚色 is wholly invested in advancing Indigenous research excellence, recognizing the critical importance Indigenous perspectives have in the pursuit of new knowledge and learning capable of creating positive change,鈥� said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. 鈥淭he seed fund grants contribute to an emerging area of research expertise at 91亚色 focused on Indigenous futurities, which emphasizes scholarship that can directly benefit Indigenous communities and imagines a brighter future for nations, communities and individuals.鈥�

Recipients of these grants, supported through CIKL and the Office of the Associate Vice-President Indigenous Initiatives, include:

• Rebecca Beaulne-Stuebing, assistant professor, Faculty of Education
  鈥淕ekinoomaadijig Mashkiki Gitigaaning Endazhi-Baakwaanaatigikaag: Restoring Urban Land Relations through Indigenous Leadership, Towards Establishing a Land Education Collaboratory鈥�
  
• Kiera Brant-Birioukov, assistant professor, Faculty of Education
  鈥淩esearch Support to Conduct Literature Review for 2024 SSHRC Insight Application鈥�
  
• Ashley Day, assistant professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science
  鈥淲iisokotaatiwin 鈥� Gathering to Discuss & Re-Imagine Health & Physical Education鈥�
  
• Jeremy Green, assistant professor, Department of Humanities, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
  鈥淭ehontenhnhonteront谩hkwa 鈥楾hat by which they are connected鈥� 鈥� Co-creating supportive learning environments for second language learner teachers of Kanien鈥檏茅ha 鈥楳ohawk鈥�, an indigenous language鈥�
  
• John Hupfield, assistant professor, Faculty of Education
  鈥淭he miikaans: movement lab鈥�

鈥淭hese projects cultivate positive relationships between university-based researchers and Indigenous communities,鈥� said Susan Dion, associate vice-president Indigenous initiatives, who served as co-chair of the committee that reviewed the applications alongside Sean Hillier, interim director of CIKL.

鈥淭he institutional commitment to supporting these scholars through the Indigenous seed grant will have impacts beyond their own work and will reverberate throughout the Indigenous communities and peoples they engage with, as well as the wider 91亚色 community,鈥� said Hillier, as institutional grants for early career researchers provide not only support for foundational and pilot projects but often lead to larger grant proposals.

鈥淭he seed fund program is not only about supporting these specific researchers and research programs; it represents a longer-term and wider-ranging commitment to creating conditions in which Indigenous students, colleagues and communities can thrive at 91亚色,鈥� said Laina Y. Bay-Cheng, interim vice-president equity, people and culture.

驰辞谤办鈥檚鈥�University Academic Plan 2020-2025鈥痑ffirmed its commitment to the鈥�痑nd identified six priorities for action for building a better future, including stronger relationships with Indigenous communities.鈥�

Additionally, 91亚色鈥檚 Strategic Research Plan 2023-2028 (SRP) identifies Indigenous futurities as an opportunity to help research make a positive impact on Indigenous communities and advance social, cultural, artistic, legal, policy, economic and justice areas that holistically shape Indigenous experience.

The Indigenous Research Seed Fund supports the goals of 91亚色鈥檚 Academic Plan and SRP. The pilot round of the fund awarded a total of $204,298 to 10 scholars in May 2022.

Article originally published in the April 25, 2024 issue of

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On Nov. 21, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the Faculty of Education Public Research Series will feature Stephen Gaetz, a Faculty professor and 91亚色 Research Chair in Homelessness and Research Impact, who will explore the role social innovation can have in inspiring change in the response to youth homelessness in Canada.

Titled 鈥淢aking Research Matter: Mobilizing research to impact on homelessness policy,鈥� Gaetz鈥檚 talk will discuss the latest results from the work of Making the Shift 鈥� Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab (MtS), a partnership between the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home Canada. He will argue that while MtS has developed a solid evidence base for the prevention of youth homelessness, the production of quality research alone is not enough to produce the change needed.

Gaetz鈥檚 lecture will further discuss the knowledge mobilization strategies required to help engage service providers and all orders of government to inform, change minds, and contribute to a change in how to think about and respond to this seemingly intractable problem.

The lecture is an extension of Gaetz鈥檚 long-standing interest in understanding homelessness 鈥� its causes, how it is experienced and potential solutions. His program of research has been defined by his desire to 鈥渕ake research matter鈥� through conducting and mobilizing rigorous scholarly research that contributes not only to a shared knowledge base on homelessness but to solutions that impact policy, practice and public opinion.

In 2017, he was named a member of the Order of Canada for his ongoing work.

Those who wish to register for the event, which will be held in the Nick Mirkopolous Screening Room in the Accolade East Building on 91亚色鈥檚 Keele Campus, can do so here: .

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