Understanding the issue of truancy

Effective Policies and Procedures Can Affect Truancy Rate

50

Policies and procedures perceived by school leaders

to reduce truancy in a public charter school

Alix Desulme

B.A (St. Thomas University) 2004

M.S (St. Thomas University) 2006

A Proposal Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

University of New England

October 15, 2017

Chapter 1

Introduction

Student truancy is a growing problem in the United States. Over the last twenty years the truancy rates have grown nationwide with the highest rates in inner cities (Jacob & Lovett, 2017). Research indicates that student truancy leads to potential socially deviant behavior in adulthood (Dronkers, Veerman, & Pong, 2017). Many students who are absent for prolonged periods are more likely to perform poorly academically, risking failure in classes and facing disciplinary action. Characteristics of schools with high truancy rates are use of only punitive truancy programs, lack of alternative study options for suspended students, and lack of counseling and tutoring (Bye, 2010). There are schools that have been doing well in maintaining low truancy rates, however. Those schools give students the option for tutoring, allow distance learning for suspended students, and take on a mixture of punitive and non-punitive measures (Duarte & Hatch, 2014).

With a national ranking of 764 and a Florida ranking of 66, Charter Secondary School is considered one of the best high schools in the state regarding student attendance rates and overall school participation. The school has a low truancy among minority students, which is a notable and distinctive quality, making it an anomaly in the surrounding area. Such a quality will be analyzed in depth in this paper along with the various possible reasons for the students’ willingness to attend class regularly and what methods are employed by school staff to keep the school environment positive because truancy rates are so low compared to other schools in the area and nationwide.

First established in 2005, Charter Secondary School of Miami Shore is a public charter school built on the Barry University Campus, sitting on 5 acres of property. It is in Miami Shore, an area of Florida. The current enrollment number stands at 599 and the campus type is suburban. The school mascot are the Hawks. Rate ‘A’ as a college preparatory school, the school holds a municipal charter via Village of Miami Shores that serves students from grades 6-12 (Charter Secondary School of Miami Shores, 2007).

In its early history, Charter Secondary School was originally a middle school established in 1997 under the name, Miami Shores/Barry University Charter School. The nine portable structures that comprised the school served as an alternative for Miami Shore students that would otherwise attend Horace Mann Middle School (Charter Secondary School of Miami Shores, 2007). However, after 8 years, the school secured more funding and in 2005, renamed the school. The school gained a permanent structure thanks to the donations given by the citizens of Miami Shores and additional funds from the North Dade Medical Foundation.

DCS draws funds from two separate streams. One part of the funding comes from a bond issue approved by Village residents and a large two-year grant given by the North Dade Medical Foundation for FY 2006 and 2007. DCS raises the remainder of its operating expenses from the state through its FTE funding (a set amount for each student in the classroom per day) and through the collection of student fees for such things as materials and trips (Charter Secondary School of Miami Shores, 2007).

The school has 31 full-time teachers for a student population of 598 students that reflect a ratio of less than 20 students per teacher (19:1) (USNEWS, 2017). The percentage of economically disadvantaged students lies at 33% with minority enrollment of 83%. Although class attendance is high and the percentage of students who tested for AP exams at 81%, the percentage of students who pass the AP exams is 47%, or less than half. English and Mathematic proficiency levels lie at 70% and 68% respectively, which is above the district and nationwide average (USNEWS, 2017). With a College Readiness Index of 48.8, the school has room for improvement.

While students earn average test scores, overall, students who attend Doctors perform better than students at other schools in its district. The district average for English proficiency is 50% and Mathematic proficiency at 37%. The district average for college readiness is at 44.7 and this is out of 113 schools and 113, 242 students (USNEWS, 2017). With a graduation rate of 98%, Charter Secondary School of Miami Shores has a lot going for it regarding positive aspects and student interest.

Understanding the Reasons for Truancy

There are several reasons for truancy and they are often complex and varied. Some pertain to a negative school environment, student behavior, family economic status, mental health problems, to name a few. A negative school environment can cause problems for students wishing to learn. Unlike Charter Secondary School, classrooms across the Miami often have large classrooms for example, making it difficult for students to pay attention in class and receive attention necessary for understanding the curriculum (Losen, 2015). If for example, a student has questions or needs examples for a specific assignment in class, the teacher may not have the time or patience to deal with that student when he or she must deal with 29 other students all needing the same level of attention.

Many schools across the country have strict policies regarding disruptive student behavior that could land a student under suspension or even, expulsion. Several factors could cause disruptive behavior among students (Losen, 2015). One common reason is poverty. “…high levels of poverty have a negative effect on school behavior. This is attributed largely to the chronic and acute stress experienced by students living in poverty. The exposure is associated with externalizing behaviors that are disruptive in school settings” (Hutcheson, 2014, p. 1). Students facing poverty may be part of an unstable household. They may endure problematic and abusive parents, and have to deal with lack of resources. These students need a chance every now and then to learn from their mistakes and receive the help and resources that could make a positive difference in their lives. Instead, they are suspended or expelled and not given a chance to improve. High rates of suspension can lend to a higher rate of truancy. “The bifactor structure reflected a general factor of Problems in Behavioral Engagement and two group factors: Problems in Social Engagement and Problems in Academic Engagement” (Barghaus et al., 2016, p. 154). Researchers note students often may not have problems academically, but instead socially. They may not feel comfortable engaging with other students’ due to fear of judgement or inability to properly socialize. Providing students with the tools to both engage socially and academically can allow for a higher percentage of academic-based positive outcomes. Student interest may also play a key role in truancy (Dronkers, Veerman, & Pong, 2017). This is because suspensions and expulsions may impact student interest in a negative way. When students receive suspensions, they have no access to the schoolwork. When the suspension ends, depending on how long the time out of school was, they may have increased difficulty catching up with the class.

If there is no option to complete school work, and they cannot go to school or contact the teacher for assignments, it may put these kinds of students at an automatic disadvantage. This is especially the case if they have a hard time academically already. To fall behind in schoolwork when the student has experienced low grades could setback a student and could end up in having failures in classes. By exploring incentive theory of motivation and research showing the connection between expulsion/suspension, interest, and truancy, the hope is to offer clarity in why truancy rates are high and what can be done to counteract it. These problems: negative school environment, student behavior, family economic status, mental health problem (Dronkers, Veerman, & Pong, 2017) (Dembo, Wareham, Schmeidler, Briones-Robinson, & Winters, 2014) must be addressed for truancy programs to be effective.

The scope of the problems associated with truancy is large. For the purpose of this study, the specific focus will be school-based policies and procedures that may mitigate or reduce truancy. Without a proper synthesis of the reasons surrounding the problem, there will be limited understanding about how to approach the study. Therefore, it is important to state the scope of problem to define the focus and improve the quality of the study.

Statement of the Problem

Truancy rates in the United States are a growing problem (Monahan, VanDerhei, Bechtold, & Cauffman, 2014). Whether a student is absent due to a suspension or because they willingly choose to be absent, the problem has become worthy of research and possible intervention. Truancy rates are higher in schools with low socio-economic status (Dembo, Wareham, Schmeidler, Briones-Robinson, & Winters, 2014).

The problem addressed by the study is:

Educational leaders may have implemented policies and procedures in public charter schools, but documentation about which are most effective and why they are is largely absent. Current policies have enabled higher truancy rates due to the zero-tolerance aspect that enables harsher and stricter punishment of student behavior. “Since the 1990’s, implementation of zero tolerance policies in schools has led to increased use of school suspension and expulsion as disciplinary techniques for students with varying degrees of infractions” (Monahan, VanDerhei, Bechtold, & Cauffman, 2014, p. 1110). When students are suspended, or expelled for their behavior, they may have a tougher time catching up in school and succeeding in their academic endeavors. This can lead to other problems down the line as students mature and become adults.

Research suggests the experience of suspension of expulsion could lead to illegal behavior that is associated with a criminal record. “Being suspended or expelled from school increased the likelihood of arrest in that same month and this effect was stronger among youth who did not have a history of behavior problems and when youth associated with less delinquent peers” (Monahan, VanDerhei, Bechtold, & Cauffman, 2014, p. 1110). When schools expel and suspend students, adding to the truancy rates of the school, negative behaviors may increase. The zero tolerance policies of schools have become the main cause for concern in these growing cases of suspension and expulsion. Therefore, policies need to be changed to address this problem. To do so, one must examine schools like Charter Secondary School to determine what steps to take to make a positive change. Although truancy does not directly lead to crime, it often has a high correlation.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to understand school leaders’ perspectives about whether effective policies and procedures reduce truancy and improve student attendance. By interviewing key staff in Charter Secondary School, a public charter school with low truancy levels, information on effective policies and procedures can be gathered. These findings may provide a better understanding of what school leaders in other schools can do to improve truancy.

Attendance plays a large part in facing suspension and performing well academically. Research about truancy reduction suggests students with more attendance options may be able to overcome difficulties that contribute to truancy. Effective school policies that improve attendance may contain processes and options that provide such support and variability. Without understanding such aspects, little help could be generated and implemented to help students in need and help them avoid high truancy rates.

This area of research will be explored in the interview section and results. Charter Secondary School has better attendance and better academic performance compared to all the other schools in the district (on average). Furthermore, most of the students are minority or non-white. This school is a perfect starting point for investigation into effective school policies. A look into other successful schools should provide a measure of effectiveness needed to understand better what strategies can improve attendance. It can also show how other schools handle things like minority majority and location of school like an urban, rural, or suburban setting.

Research Questions

1. What may be the cause of truancy in students?

2. How does incentive theory play a role in understanding school truancy?

3. What are the effects of punitive or non-punitive truancy programs on students?

4. What are successful truancy programs doing that has led to reduction in truancy?

5. Why are some truancy programs unsuccessful at reducing truancy?

The research needs to delve into understanding the reasons behind truancy. For there to be solutions to the nationwide truancy problem, research must be directed towards evidence that explains motivations behind truancy behavior and what aspects of truancy programs help eliminate such behavior. By developing a clear idea of school truancy and why students become truant, the hope is to develop evidence-based practices that reduce school truancy in students. A myriad of school programs exists for truancy, but the reality is, not many are effective.

Qualitative Studies and Interviews

The study is a qualitative one that focuses on the use of interviews to collect qualitative data. “The interview has today become one of the most widespread knowledge-producing practices across the human and social sciences in general and in critical psychology more specifically” (Brinkmann, 2014, p. 1008). Interviews can range from formal interviews or informal interviews. They can be done face-to-face, over the phone, or over the internet. Formal interviews have a structure to them where the researcher asks a question and the participant answers. However, in informal interviews, there can be discussion and does not have to stick to the questions asked. Most qualitative interviews have some structure to them and are labeled, ‘semi-structured’. “Most qualitative interviews, however, are semi-structured. In a semi-structured interview, the researcher provides some structure based on her research interests and interview guide but works flexibly with the guide and allows room for the respondent’s more spontaneous descriptions and narratives” (Brinkmann, 2014, p. 1008).

There is a need to understand from the staff or school leader’s perspectives that work at Charter Secondary School why the policies at the school work. To understand what improvements have been made and what kind of school environment such policies promote, this can give a good picture of what is being done to achieve positive outcomes for the student population attending. Similar studies using interviews have gathered a significant amount of insightful information that allows for the ability to answer important questions.

Using fixed effects regressions and controlling for truancy peer group effects, we observe that truancy (measured as both a discrete dummy variable and a continuous count measure) positively correlates to early school leaving. A truant has a 3.4 percentage points higher risk of leaving school without a qualification (De Witte & Csillag, 2012, p. 549).

The policies surrounding truancy programs and how academic staff react allow for themes discovered through the interview process to then be compared to themes found in the literature review to see if there is a universal theme or concept being applied that leads to successful academic performance by students and good attendance records. It is important to allow students and staffers to give their opinions as well as enable discussion of what caused the positive or negative opinion. This will allow for easier analysis of responses.

Conceptual framework: Organizational structures and leaders’ vision

The idea that truancy is a complex problem allows for focus on the various narratives incorporated in attempts at understanding and resolving the problem. So many different avenues point to potential solutions, however, experience denotes negative or positive outcomes. Therefore, the leaders’ vison of the selected school and of successful truancy programs, will allow for a scope of what may be valuable towards reduction of student truancy rates. Within the conceptual framework lies the theoretical framework, incentive and motivation.

An important theory that will be explored in this paper is the incentive theory of motivation. “…people are pulled towards behaviors that offer positive incentives and pushed away from behaviors associated with negative incentives. The incentive theory suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards” (Rehman & Haider, 2013, p. 141). If students are incentivized to attend class by receiving a reward, this may be a crucial part missing in schools with high truancy rates and may explain the downward spiral of some students when they are punished severely for being absent. Charter Secondary School has non-academic awards that they give out to students who are respectful and have good attendance records. These could be incentives for students to continue attending class. The school’s attendance procedure is strict, but allows for evaluation of the reasons behind a student’s absence. Such consideration for a student allows for room for the student to resolve his or her problems and continue going to school. One rule, is that if a student misses an x amount of days, they will have the same amount of days to make up the assignment. Although this may be difficult to accomplish, it does leave some wiggle room for students, thus increasing their motivation to continue following the rules of the school.

Assumptions

The main assumption that guides this study is that truancy policies and procedures are the cornerstone for reduction in truancy rates. Other assumptions include the notion that higher rates of truancy lead to poorer academic performance. When students fail to attend class voluntarily, they put themselves at greater risk of performing poorly in school. This can happen due to their inability to keep up in school and lack of motivation to complete assignments. They may be unwilling to attend school due to mental health problems, an unstable home life, or physical health conditions. Another assumption is that students living in poverty and minority students may have a more difficult time with school due to a turbulent home life and dealing with institutionalized racism. Although this is not a topic that will be covered in-depth in this paper, it is important to recognize the difficulties that come from lack of resources and potentially being a minority, and see how that could affect truancy rates. This could lend to creation and implementation of even more effective school policies that can ultimately reduce truancy rates and maintain them low in the future.

Limitations

The study will be limited to one public charter school. the Doctors Charters School. This is because of the need to understand what the school does and then compare that information to other successful schools. Another limitation is the number of people to interview for the study. Because the interview is qualitative and in-person, not many people can and will be available to answer questions. The study is also limited to the schools within the United States. The literature review will only examine how American schools handle truancy and polices that either decrease or increase truancy rates. The final limitation is parents. Although parental opinion may be helpful, it would be better to leave the interviews to students and staffers with parents giving permission to the student to speak. No other limitations are noted.

Scope of the Study

The study is qualitative, and will use interviews with school staff to collect data. Interview transcripts will be analyzed to identify underlying themes from respondents of the Charter Secondary School. By asking questions the hope is to understand what effective policies are in place that allows for better attendance rates than other schools in the district. Interestingly, the school also fares better regarding academic scores and has a high graduation rate. If location plays a part (it is in a suburban area), this should be explored via the interview questions to gain a better understanding of all aspects of effective policy within the school.

The literature review provides a foundation, the interviews provide the data. Aside from the qualitative interviews, the literature review will serve as a comparative guide to not only base some of the questions, but also compare the data garnered from the interviews. If other successful schools have similar policies in place, this could serve as a potential standard that can applied nationally to help decrease truancy in all schools throughout the country. The literature review will also serve to provide examples of policies in school with high truancy rates to see what should not be done. The results will also be discussed within the context of potential modification that can be made to help improve attendance rates and academic success of students even further.

Ultimately, it is important to acknowledge what Charter Secondary School has to offer and see whether that can serve as a gauge for other schools in the district, any maybe, in the country. Although the qualitative study is small, only including six students and four staff members from the school, it may provide the kind of insight that cannot be gathered elsewhere. Use of databases available to highlight nationwide truancy rates may also be used, again as a comparative tool.

Significance

The study can be an important step in learning what is workable for schools aimed at reducing truancy among students and what is not. Furthermore, findings may lead to this school and others standardizing effective programs and policies. Public schools across the United States need to know that they can have the knowledge to improve their student populations academic progress and attendance. First, however, they need to see the information that proves certain policy implementations work and are worth the time, money, and effort. Like evidence-based practice in nursing, staff need to see evidence of policies that have already been enabled and implemented that have led to the success of students and the improved rates of attendance.

While it helps seeing the statistics of a successful school like Charter Secondary School, it is even more significant if schools see the steps it took to reach that level of success. Then that collected information can be compared to other schools as to identify what core principles and actions have been used to achieve such a positive result. Growth and positive outcomes can only come from tested and approved practices. The conceptual framework will work as a guide to see and understand if assumptions and hypotheses can be proven or disproven via comparison and analysis.

Researchers need to continue their pursuit of information and analysis to offer potential guidelines and directions for schools that need it. The growing problem of truancy in the United States requires a thoughtful and considerate assessment of ongoing issues. These issues will continue to remain prevalent unless action is taken. Action cannot be taken unless there is sound research and evidence behind it.

Lastly, studies like the one here offers an anchor point to investigate other aspects of school life, school environment, and student behavioral problems. If students have problems due to struggles with sexuality, gender identity, or even political affiliation, this could also be investigated in future studies. The results could then be used to spearhead changes in policies in the near future, leading to continue progression towards a safe and positive school environment.

Definition of Terms

The terms utilized in this study are detailed below.

Truancy When a student stays away from school without a sufficient reason; can be also labeled as absenteeism. Days suspended may be included in truancy rates.

Charter School (in the United States) a publicly funded independent school established by community groups, parents, or teachers under the terms of a charter with national/local authority.

Expulsion Meaning permanent withdrawing/exclusion, when a student is banned or removed from a school system/university due to consistent violations of an institution\\\\\\\'s rules. However, it can also be for a single offense of fitting harshness in extreme cases.

Suspension Regarding schools, suspension (a.k.a. temporary exclusion) is an obligatory leave given to a student as a method of penalty that can last anywhere from a single day to as long as several weeks, where a student cannot attend school or step foot inside the school (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2013).

Conclusion

In conclusion, truancy rates are a growing problem in United States schools. Charter Secondary School is one school that aims to reduce truancy rates and have done so according to recent statistics. By exploring Charter Secondary School’s school policies and other school policies that increase or decrease truancy rates in Florida the study hopes to understand what may cause truancy in schools and what reduces it. If better and improved handling of student issues is the solution to truancy, it needs to be explored. The next section is a literature review. The literature review will focus on important policies already in place in other schools and how these policies could be similar or different to Charter Secondary School along with the negative effects of high truancy rates and the cause of these rates in schools.

The next section allows one to see through recent literature, the significance of truancy and how it connects school measures with student behavior. Some schools take punitive measures towards truancy, others take non-punitive, and still more take a mixture of both. Why are such measures adopted? The aim is to understand this and why students are truant. There are several factors that can be at play from environment to mental health, and so forth. The literature review will bring into context more of these aspects.

With so many schools throughout the country experiencing high truancy rates, what does Charter Secondary School do that enables high attendance among its student population? What policies has the school adopted to support a positive environment that motivates students to attend school and learn?

Chapter 2

Literature Review

Roadmap: This literature review will focus on several key topics because many reasons contribute to truancy. These are: addressing school truancy, school-based programs, punitive/non-punitive truancy programs, student and family characteristics, parental engagement, tackling the school truancy problem, types of programs like school-based programs, problems with current truancy programs, characteristics of successful truancy programs, and theoretical framework: Incentive Theory of Motivation. The hope is to illuminate the way towards understanding the problem of school truancy and ways to reduce it.

(I can’t include natural disasters as I feel that is its own topic and too extensive to just briefly cover.)

Introduction: Addressing School Truancy

Student truancy has become a major issue schools try to tackle. Therefore, to improve truancy the need arises to research and cultivate worthwhile strategies to reduce negative behaviors that lead to truancy. However, there is also a need to understand why students are truant in the first place. Poverty and negative school environment are issues that have raised concern for the likelihood of truancy in students. This section hopes to illuminate the issue of student truancy. It becomes difficult to identify the costs of benefits of various measures. Those that fall into the punitive discipline is necessary because traditionalist views believe adherence to rules leads to positive outcomes. Those in the camp of nonpunitive discipline desire to demonstrate how giving students’ options can lead to better results not just in truancy rates, but the personal growth of the student. With all the strategies and methods available, it can be difficult for school leads to determine what mixture of punitive and nonpunitive discipline will work. The desire is to show the success of programs and/or schools that have enabled a reduction in truancy rates as well as policies in effect that increase truancy rates to demonstrate how to improve student truancy.

School-based Programs

Aside from creating a stronger connection to community, another way schools can and have helped decrease truancy rates is through truancy reporting. Truancy reporting allows students to be assessed to see if they are high-risk. Because truancy can have a profoundly negative effect on students in the long term, schools have begun becoming more stringent on truancy reporting. “A truant has a 3.4 percentage points higher risk of leaving school without a qualification” (De Witte & Csillag, 2012, p. 549).

The researchers note that because truancy reporting allows for better assessment of at-risk youth, it can provide a means of identifying potential problems with student early on. This makes truancy reporting a preventative measure. Such a preventative measure appears to have positive effects on students at risk. “. The idea is straightforward: if students are better monitored with respect to truancy, schools can identify more easily students at risk. The results indicate that improved truancy reporting significantly reduces school dropout by 5 percentage points” (De Witte & Csillag, 2012, p. 549).

To jumpstart the process of helping students, schools must figure out ways to help students connect to their community. Then, a preventative measure used to help identify at-risk youth, so they can have interventions that can lead to positive educational outcomes (De Witte & Csillag, 2012). Schools like the one used for this study and those like it, already have in place a robust truancy reporting protocol. The rules within this protocol show that students cannot be absent more than a few days or the school will be involved and will contact the student’s household.

More research should be dedicated to how preventative measures can expand to include other ways to assess for at-risk behavior. This can include lateness for class, missed homework assignments, and so forth. If this can be done, this may further allow for a greater assessment of potential truancy problems in the future. Applying research to practice is popular in healthcare, perhaps it can also become popular in education as more information comes out on hot button topics like student truancy.

Punitive

Punitive measures for truancy can be seen through the introduction of third-party policing in schools. “Third-party policing is an approach to crime prevention and control involving the police partnering with organizations or individuals to prevent or reduce crime problems” (Nitschke, Mazerolle, & Bennett, 2014, p. 5211). Relying on available criminal, regulatory, or civil laws and rules (legal levers) that allow third parties to take accountability, partially, for control of crime, it creates an environment where apprehension of problem students is feasible. This may help schools deal with the growing delinquency in students, but may also make it easier for students to become part of the criminal justice system at an early age.

Punitive measures can also be costlier. This is because punitive measures like expulsion or suspension can further increase the likelihood of students being truant and performing poorly academically (Shelton, 2014). Students must be guided towards a positive outcome and that means reducing the belief that punitive measures will keep students from being truant. Although short-term results may indicate reduction, the long-term effects could be more negative and long-lasting (Shelton, 2014). Shelton mentioned that students who face punitive measures may have a higher chance of committing crimes versus those who faced non-punitive measures.

While some research suggests police-intervention regarding truancy can help students in that parents are more aware of what happens to them, there are still many factors to consider in relation to efficacy. For example, police-intervention may lead to higher parental awareness, but also increased potential for truant students to end up in the juvenile criminal justice system (Mazerolle, Bennett, Antrobus, & Eggins, 2017). A mixture of both punitive and non-punitive measures may be most beneficial in tackling the problem of truancy.

Non-Punitive

Punitive measures for truancy have their place in schools. However, research shows non-punitive measures are also useful and offer a chance for students to improve and remove some of the stigma attached to past mistakes. Successful protocols integrate flexibility into standard methods to help the school, family, and student. Such programs understand individual student’s needs and do whatever is essential to assist the family and student involved in truancy (Mallett, 2015).

One study in Australia aimed to understand truancy and the effects of truancy to generate programs that allowed for effective measures at reducing truancy rates among students (Taylor, Gray, & Stanton, 2016). This shows that with proper research, non-punitive options are feasible. However, they must be done in conjunction with significant research that allows a better understanding of the needs of students who participate in truancy. The expectation is that non-punitive measures are more effective than punitive measures. However, if there is no significant difference, non-punitive measures must be assessed for efficacy. Haight, Chapman, Hendron, Loftis, & Kearney (2014), demonstrated how non-punitive measures like a truancy program may not work if a key process is not implemented. Meaning, if there is no skill-building aspect to the program like tutoring, the chance for truancy to decrease declines.

Student Characteristics

Truancy can have a lasting impact on the life of a student. “School dropout has been extensively studied in the literature as a correlate of negative life outcomes. A precursor to school dropout is truancy, the unexcused or illegitimate student absence from school” (Rocque, Jennings, Piquero, Ozkan, & Farrington, 2016, p. 592). Students may be absent or truant due to a multitude of reasons. Researchers identified through a few examined studies, that students who are often more truant than others, may be more involved in crime.

Such involvement points to the negative correlation of truancy and later life outcomes like delinquency and crime. The researchers also state truancy can lead to problem drinking. “Results indicate that truancy has long-lasting associations with negative life outcomes, especially for non-violent crime and problem drinking” (Rocque, Jennings, Piquero, Ozkan, & Farrington, 2016, p. 592). If addictive or criminal behavior leads to truancy and truancy can further lead to addictive or criminal behavior, it seems a cycle that just feeds itself with negative overall behavior. This is important to know because students experiencing addiction problems or becoming involved in delinquent behavior can receive help to not only keep them from engaging in such risky actions while also positively contributing to reduction in truancy rates. Essentially, the notion that for there to be a reduction in truancy rates, schools must help students deal with the negative behaviors they are engaging in, outside of school.

These negative behaviors could come because of negative experiences. From bullying to poor academic performance, students often experience stress that could be detrimental to their academic success. Birkett, Russell, & Corliss, (2014) observe the role sexual-orientation disparities have on students in relation to academic achievement and truancy. Through the utilization of pool information, they identified being part of the LGBT group affected rates of truancy and academic performance. “LGBT-identified youths reported significantly elevated odds of truancy and low grades (odds ratios?=?1.6–3.2; all P?

With the negative correlation being higher truancy rates and poor academic performance with confusion or identification of LGBT, this led the researchers to examine victimization indicators and the struggle with identifying with a sexual minority (Birkett, Russell, & Corliss, 2014). They also made the connection between early disparities and lifetime behavioral risks, feeding into the first article’s idea of truancy and negative behaviors leading to a prolonged state of negative outcomes. “As early disparities in academic achievement and school engagement have indicated a lifetime of increased health and behavioral risk factors, early intervention targeting school victimization is necessary” (Birkett, Russell, & Corliss, 2014, p. 1124). For there to be any kind of improvement in the lives of these students, the first step would be to help them get out of the role of victim and help them collect the resources necessary to combat these stressors and the feelings that come from being in the minority or having limited access to resources.

Future research can help identify other causes of truancy. This next point has been shown in the literature. For example, transgendered students may be more prone to mental health issues (citations). Mental health issues in general could lead to negative behaviors such as absenteeism in school. To explore these things would help lessen the gap in literature that often fails to focus on the true causes of truancy amongst students.

Going back to victimization and how being a victim can have a profoundly negative impact on a student’s academic performance and truancy, another article aims to see the education outcomes for students who identify as part of LGBTQ and those who do not and how that plays in their academic outcomes. Through a survey involving participation of over eleven thousand students, researchers identified that LGBTQ students experienced academic disparities and were more likely to be victims than those who were not LGBTQ. “Victimization partially mediated these differences between LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ youth. These results highlight the role of victimization in partially accounting for academic disparities between LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ youth” (Aragon, Poteat, Espelage, & Koenig, 2014, p. 1).

Victimization can come from families or people outside of the family. For example, if a student experiences physical abuse in his or her home, this may have a negative impact on the student’s mental wellbeing. This can then be expressed through negative behaviors like truancy. Therefore, family characteristics are also pertinent in understand truancy among students.

Family characteristics

Possible reasons for why students engage in such behaviors can stem from family environment. This means household income and number of parents in the home. Students with high truancy rates often come from impoverished backgrounds. These impoverished backgrounds may include single parent households. Researchers identified single parent households may contribute to poor math performance. “…individual truancy of pupils fully explains the relationship between living in a single-mother family and math performance (after controlling for confounding factors, such as parental socioeconomic status)” (Dronkers, Veerman, & Pong, 2017, p. 1). As research moves forward into identifying the causes of truancy, more is revealed concerning school performance and truancy.

If a student comes from a single parent household, the stress of having limited or no access to resources could hinder academic performance. Poor academic performance could lead to decreased motivation to perform in school, leading to negative behaviors, that could then lead to higher truancy rates (Dronkers, Veerman, & Pong, 2017). When attempting to cope with the problems students have in relation to why they are absent from school, it may be important to adopt nonpunitive measures aimed at helping these affected students perform better in school. Positive academic performance may increase motivation for these students to attend school regularly and reduce truancy rates.

What has been identified thus far is that sexuality disparities and income disparities seem to be of keen interest in recent literature. These could be the ultimate causes of some of the mental health problems experienced by students who engage in negative behaviors like truancy (Aragon, Poteat, Espelage, & Koenig, 2014). If this is the case, it begs to consider how schools can alleviate the burden these students have and remove them from the role of victim. Should schools aim to reduce truancy rates, they would have to tackle these disparities in a meaningful and effective way.

It was earlier mentioned in the previous section, that nonpunitive measures must be aimed towards helping students deal with these disparities. Further research could be aimed towards how effective skill building is and additional resources towards improving academic performance. For example, a potential avenue could be providing these at-risk students with extra study time after school. Yet, to properly help it is best to determine what the other effects of disparities among students can produce like learning disabilities.

In an urban middle school. It was discovered that students demonstrated increased risk due to emotional disturbances and/or learning disabilities. “Students with serious emotional disturbance and learning disabilities demonstrated amplified risks of being classified in the Chronic or Rising subgroups, which show chronic or incremental upward truant trajectories over time” (Chen, Culhane, Metraux, Park, & Venable, 2015, p. 1066). Learning disabilities has been covered across several areas of disciplines. However, when it comes to truancy, it should be further investigated because it can have a negative effect on a student’s academic performance and truancy rates. Although some learning disabilities are easy to identify, some like dyslexia, can be difficult to recognize leading to a student’s inability to cope with the added stressor (Chen, Culhane, Metraux, Park, & Venable, 2015).

It seems daunting to take into consideration these potential issues and identify a universal solution that could help students and reduce truancy rates. However, more and more schools are taking the steps necessary to pursue positive outcomes for their students. From increased after-school time to programs aimed at skill-building, schools and researchers have in place or are suggesting solutions that could deliver and potentially improve a way for students to handle disparities regardless of what they are, so they can have better educational outcomes. This next section will deal with the ways schools and researchers try to combat truancy by tackling the problems that cause it.

Parental Engagement

Parental involvement or parental engagement can play a key role in truancy behaviors in students according to McNeal Jr (2017). In a recent study, the results confirmed parent engagement not just with their children, but with the schools affects student achievement in an indirect manner. “Findings confirm that parent-child and parent-school involvement practices differentially influence student attitudes and behaviors, thereby indirectly affecting student achievement – to varying degrees” (McNeal Jr, 2017, p. 564). According to McNeal Jr (2017), when students engage in truancy behaviors and parents are not there to assist them, they do not regard their actions with the level of severity that is needed. The results show truancy may not be seen as a major issue and thus students engaging in truancy may not assume responsibility for their actions, increasing the likelihood of ongoing truancy.

Parental engagement can also come in the form of emotional bonds according to Kim & Page (2013). This is due to the enhanced capacity of the children to develop proper emotional regulation. “Implications for truancy intervention programs for high-risk elementary school children include more focused attention to the importance of children’s developing capacities for emotion regulation and the child-parent bond” (Kim & Page, 2013, p. 869). By the researchers providing the potentiation for origins of emotional regulation through correlation of parental engagement, it shows how negative behaviors like truancy arise. This research suggests schools should aim to provide avenues for parental engagement to occur for the betterment of the student.

Tackling the Problem of Truancy

Programs are aimed at enabling positive outcomes among students. These programs can be wholistic in nature or they can be simple in their focus. By schools implementing programs, the aim is to decrease potential disparities and improve specific outcomes like truancy.

Programs That Have Been Studied: Wholistic Programs

Researchers and schools have begun assessing the truancy problem and discover ways of effectively handling and reducing truancy rates. One study involved 821 Finnish junior high school students. They discovered family and teacher support played an important role in reducing truancy among students. “Teacher and family support were positively associated with student behavioral engagement, which in turn was negatively associated with truancy. Behavioral engagement mediated the associations between teacher and family emotional support and truancy” (Virtanen, Lerkkanen, Poikkeus, & Kuorelahti, 2014, p. 201). When students feel attachment to their family or their teachers, they suggested this can play a positive role in reducing truancy rates. Attachment is labeled as ‘behavioral engagement’.

If a student feels a connection to his or her family, they are more willing to follow the rules set in place for them (Virtanen, Lerkkanen, Poikkeus, & Kuorelahti, 2014). This is because they have greater awareness of the expectations placed on them through the communication that comes from attachment. Students experience disparities that could place them in the role of the victim. Victims may not feel attached to anyone or anything and that could lead to risky behavior.

When risky behavior continues, it can perpetuate the cycle that leads to higher rates of truancy. The first step to reducing truancy among students is to provide for them the chance to reconnect with their community. Whether that is connecting with their family, teachers, or peers, this can help begin the process of creating positive outcomes for students that can then lead to reduced rates of truancy. This is an important initial step schools can take to improve student academic performance and truancy.

Tackling the problems of truancy

Losen in a book about closing the educational gap, explains how schools can produce positive results in relation to truancy, by adopting methods that promote better recognition of at-risk behavior and ways to address said behavior in a positive, non-punitive way. Similar to the previous article, Losen posits that the approach to invest in dropout-prevention programs may prove not only cost-effective but will allow for further tracking of discipline among students.

One approach that might prove cost-effective is investing in dropout-prevention programs that are linked to tracking discipline. To do this, educational administrators would need to identify students who are at risk for receiving frequent disciplinary sanctions by monitoring the number of classroom and office discipline referrals these students receive. Students who receive a number of discipline referrals should be included in two distinct types of dropout-prevention programs adopted by the school: a drop-out prevention program that focuses on gaining the academic schools needed for school success and a dropout-prevention program that fosters school engagement by building positive relationships with meaningful adults in the student’s school (Losen, 2015, p. 70).

If schools perform with these guidelines in mind; it further supports the need for skill-building and tracking discipline, along with allowing students to form attachments, that can allow for overall improvement among students experiencing issues and becoming more and more truant. Prevention and connection are key themes in the fight to reduce truancy rates in schools. Students cannot improve if they do not feel connected. They cannot be helped if they are not recognized as at-risk, and they cannot succeed if they do not have the skills necessary to perform well academically.

Programs aimed to help with one or all of these steps can greatly reduce truancy rates. A 2014 study examined a case study that saw the positive effects a federally funded program can have on truancy rates. “Sixty-four federal Elementary and Secondary School Counseling (ESSC) program grants were awarded in 2009. One awarded school district implemented a comprehensive school counseling program based on the ASCA National Model at three high-needs elementary school” (Duarte & Hatch, 2014, p. 71). These grants allow for additional counseling-based programs that created a positive environment for students who were truant before participation in the program. The counselors were able to help the students and the truancy rates of those schools decreased.

Federal funding of such programs may not be a realistic option for many schools throughout the United States. Even if these measures prove to be more cost-effective in the long run, due to the unstable economic climate of the United States in recent decade, schools do not receive the help they need to enact these kinds of programs. Research towards improving truancy should also include ways to improve truancy that are low to no-cost. From the current information available, schools have adopted various kinds of programs to help decrease student truancy rates (Duarte & Hatch, 2014). Wellness programs for example, are gaining popularity in business. It is interesting to see the shift of inclusion of these programs in schools. Wellness initiatives could become the new way of tackling student truancy.

Types of Programs

While counseling services can help students at-risk, there are other ways to promote connectivity and skill-building among students. One such method is wellness. An article on the San Francisco’s Wellness Initiative demonstrates how focus on wellness can improve truancy, expulsion and suspension rates (Hutcheson, Pylypchuk, & Georgetown University, 2017). Earlier in the previous section, disparities also included limited access to resources. If students receive increased access to resources in the form of wellness programs, it could greatly improve their motivation and desire to attend school.

Hutcherson explained that impoverished students experience short-term and long-term stress due to their limited access to resources and the hard conditions they face due to poverty. “The exposure to these types of stress is associated with externalizing behaviors that are disruptive in school settings. As a consequence of this negative behavior, many times, these students are subject to disciplinary action such as suspension or expulsion” (Hutcheson, Pylypchuk, & Georgetown University, 2017, p. 1). Hutcherson also stated punitive measures fail to address the root problem or the cause of the truancy. Therefore, a different method was adopted by the San Francisco Unified School District in 2000.

The wellness initiative took the form of a school mental health program and was named the ‘Wellness Center’. The main objective of the program was to help students deal with stress. Although the changes to truancy were not major, it did have a 20% reduction in suspension rates (Hutcheson, Pylypchuk, & Georgetown University, 2017). Such results show that programs can work towards reducing trouble outcomes in at-risk students, but may need to be modified to improve truancy rates.

This section helped provide a basis from which to see how and why truancy initiatives can be effective. When students receive help to address the causes of their truancy, truancy rates may reduce. These causes are varied, but often follow the same themes. These themes are attachment, prevention, and skill-building. The next section of the literature review will focus on what schools are doing wrong in relation to truancy in schools.

Problems with Current Truancy Programs

Some of the reasons why truancy measures in schools fail to reduce truancy and promote positive outcomes is due to the complexity behind the reasons and the inability to handle these root causes of truancy. The battle at-risk youth have with emotional and psychological issues is constant and ongoing (Dembo, Wareham, Schmeidler, Briones-Robinson, & Winters, 2014). Often, youth’s mental health problems go largely understudied. “Young people who are often truant from school represent a group of at-risk youth, but one for which mental health issues are understudied” (Dembo, Wareham, Schmeidler, Briones-Robinson, & Winters, 2014, p. 402). If schools can identify the most common mental health problems students experience, they may be able to set these students up with the appropriate services like a social worker, a therapist, and so forth.

Dembo, Wareham, Schmeidler, Briones-Robinson, & Winters (2014), highlighted many of the students observed suffered from depression. “LCA indicated the sample of truants was best represented by four latent subgroups of youth with low mental health problems; high depression, low mania; high mania, low depression; and high depression and mania” (Dembo, Wareham, Schmeidler, Briones-Robinson, & Winters, 2014, p. 402). Depression is a common mental health problem that is unique to the individual. Meaning, they have their specific reasons why they may feel depressed. Therefore, if depression is a common mental health problem among truants and truancy programs fail to consider the need to address it, this could explain why truancy problems in general fail to provide the adequate solutions to high truancy rates. While it may seem impossible to help students with such a complex problem, at least identifying the potentially most common mental health issue can assist in guiding the process of developing a solution. As earlier stated in the solutions section, attachment, discipline tracking, and skills-building may be used to help truant students (Dembo, Wareham, Schmeidler, Briones-Robinson, & Winters, 2014).

A need arises when programs are implemented to assess them. Therefore, some aimed to assess truancy programs, in particular some assessed nine at-risk middle schools” (Haight, Chapman, Hendron, Loftis, & Kearney, 2014). While the program’s graduates did well and reduced their truancy behavior, the nongraduates had a more difficult time. The main reason for this was lack of academic tutoring. “In addition, participants and their parents expressed high levels of perceived improvement in academic performance. Academic tutoring was found to differentiate program graduates from nongraduates” (Haight, Chapman, Hendron, Loftis, & Kearney, 2014, p. 779). Academic tutoring allows students to build their skills in education. As previous research stated, some truant students underperform in areas like mathematics. This can affect confidence and a desire to attend school. If tutors are available to instruct these students, they may improve and increase their desire and motivation to go to school.

Such an outcome reveals that specific actions can have a profoundly positive effect on truancy and reinforces the need to help students in relation to skill-building ” (Haight, Chapman, Hendron, Loftis, & Kearney, 2014). By offering tutoring services, the truant students improved and were able to successfully graduate from the program. Truancy rates declined with these graduates and provided a sound framework to help other schools dealing with truancy. Schools having trouble decreasing truancy rates should consider the idea of offering truancy programs with tutoring or at least extra time for students to work on their school assignments.

Another study interviewed youths and their experiences showed they needed support from their parents and more engagement from the school to motivate them to come to school more and learn. “Youths’ experiences and recommendations illustrate the multiple factors that influence school truancy and suggest potential leverage points for reducing truancy, including modifications to the school environment to increase student engagement; a more effective school response to address truancy” (Gase, DeFosset, Perry, & Kuo, 2016, p. 299). Motivation is an integral aspect of reducing truancy among students.