Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: an Assessment of an Early Truancy Initiative

Chronic school absenteeism has been identified as a precursor to undesirable outcomes in adolescence, including academic failure, school dropout, and juvenile delinquency. In spite of its effect on adolescent functioning, little research has been conducted to identify effective methods of truancy reduction, particularly among elementary-aged students. This article presents the assessment of an initiative developed to reduce truancy in three elementary schools. Findings suggest that the program was successful in substantially reducing absenteeism among those with chronic attendance problems. Implications for future programs targeting at-risk youth are discussed.

[1]  H. Snyder,et al.  Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. , 2006 .

[2]  Jane Nady Sigmon,et al.  Truancy Reduction: Keeping Students in School , 2001 .

[3]  D P Farrington,et al.  Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications , 2000, Development and Psychopathology.

[4]  Yuk Fai Cheong,et al.  HLM 6: Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling , 2000 .

[5]  Phil A. Silva,et al.  Staying in School Protects Boys with Poor Self-regulation in Childhood from Later Crime: A Longitudinal Study , 1999 .

[6]  Jón Gunnar Bernburg,et al.  Adolescent Violence, Social Control, and the Subculture of Delinquency , 1999 .

[7]  D. Huizinga,et al.  The Contemporaneous Co-Occurrence of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offending and other Problem Behaviors , 1999 .

[8]  David P. Farrington,et al.  U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention , 1999 .

[9]  D. Farrington,et al.  Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders , 1998 .

[10]  Devon D. Brewer,et al.  A review of predictors of youth violence. , 1998 .

[11]  J. McCord,et al.  Multiple risks and comorbidity in an African-American population , 1997 .

[12]  Christopher S. Koper,et al.  Race and sex differences in the measurement of risk for drug use , 1997 .

[13]  M. Krohn,et al.  The interrelationship between substance use and precocious transitions to adult statuses. , 1997, Journal of health and social behavior.

[14]  E. Garry.  Truancy: First Step to a Lifetime of Problems. , 1996 .

[15]  Douglas J. Lamdin.  Evidence of Student Attendance as an Independent Variable in Education Production Functions. , 1996 .

[16]  R. DiClemente,et al.  Adolescents at Risk , 1996 .

[17]  D. Chavis,et al.  Communities That Care: Action for Drug Abuse Prevention , 1994 .

[18]  G. Jarjoura.  DOES DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL ENHANCE DELINQUENT INVOLVEMENT? RESULTS FROM A LARGE‐SCALE NATIONAL PROBABILITY SAMPLE* , 1993 .

[19]  S. Caldas.  Reexamination of Input and Process Factor Effects on Public School Achievement , 1993 .

[20]  Stephen A. Cernkovich,et al.  School Bonding, Race, and Delinquency , 1992 .

[21]  Anthony S. Bryk,et al.  Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods , 1992 .

[22]  K. Fogelman,et al.  Future lives of truants: family formation and health-related behaviour. , 1990, The British journal of educational psychology.

[23]  O. Manor,et al.  Occupational outcomes of truancy. , 1990, The British journal of educational psychology.

[24]  I. Brown,et al.  The identification of psychiatric disorders in children who fail to attend school: a cluster analysis of a non-clinical population , 1990, Psychological Medicine.

[25]  Phillip Kaufman,et al.  Dropout Rates in the United States: 1997. , 1990 .

[26]  T. P. Thornberry,et al.  TOWARD AN INTERACTIONAL THEORY OF DELINQUENCY , 1987 .

[27]  T. P. Thornberry,et al.  THE EFFECT OF DROPPING OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL ON SUBSEQUENT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR , 1985 .

[28]  D. Galloway.  Schools and persistent absentees , 1985 .

[29]  R. Barth.  Reducing Nonattendance in Elementary Schools , 1984 .

[30]  R. S. Levine.  An Assessment Tool for Early Intervention in Cases of Truancy , 1984 .

[31]  M. W. Klein,et al.  Community treatment of juvenile offenders : the DSO experiments , 1983 .

[32]  Janet Goodall,et al.  Out of School. Modern Perspectives in Truancy and School Refusal , 1981 .

[33]  C. Achilles,et al.  Evaluation: A Systematic Approach , 1980 .

[34]  Michael D. Maltz,et al.  An Artifact in Pretest-Posttest Designs , 1980 .

[35]  L. Hersov,et al.  Out of school : modern perspectives in truancy and school refusal , 1980 .

[36]  T. Cook,et al.  Quasi-experimentation: Design & analysis issues for field settings , 1979 .

[37]  H. Brinton.  Adolescents at risk. , 1973, Community health.

[38]  T. Hirschi.  Causes of Delinquency. , 1970, British medical journal.