Truancy+and+Achievement


 * Overview **

A prevalent and ongoing issue in schools is truancy. There has been much research on the effect absenteeism or truancy has on academic achievement. Truancy has been a discussed issue in education for many years, and it has been connected to many factors like socioeconomic status, demographics, and location (suburban, rural, and urban), to name a few. This begs to ask, “Why is this issue omnipresent in the schools, specifically, low income schools?” Student attendance has always been very important in education, especially public school education. There has been countless research studying student absenteeism and its causes. This issue is important because student attendance dictates the number of teaching positions available, and it also dictates how much funding the school will receive. With the heightened accountability placed on teachers, it has been a hot button issue to discuss the connection between truancy and achievement. Before delving into the issue, it is important to first understand what truancy is and how it affects achievement.

Many may know truancy as the act of “skipping” or simply, forming a habit of not attending class regularly for unexcused reasons deemed by the school. The definition of being truant varies depending on the state. According to the Georgia Department of Education, “any child subject to compulsory attendance who during the school calendar year has more than five days of unexcused absences is considered truant". Unfortunately, when a child does not regularly attend class, this puts him or her at a disadvantage with their peers who do attend class. This disadvantage will inevitably set the child behind academically. In Dynarski’s and Gleason’s study (as cited in Baker, Sigmon, & Nugent, 2001), students with the highest truancy rates have the lowest academic achievement rates, and because truants are the youth most likely to drop out of school, they have high dropout rates as well. Because these students perform well below their age group “their current achievement against the standard is such that in order to have a realistic chance of making sufficient progress to meet the standard for next year, special consideration needs to be given to their learning needs (TKI).” In order to be able to make special consideration to their learning needs, it is imperative to understand the rationale of a truant child and the misconceptions associated with it. On the surface, one would believe kids “who skip school are stupid, bad, or can’t handle the work,” but there is lot more that meets the eye in understanding why the skipping or absenteeism occurs (Thomas-Whitfield, 2010). The purpose of this page is to address some key factors that have an influence on students becoming truant, how it affects their achievement, and what can be done to combat the problem that has remained to be an ongoing issue in many schools throughout the United States.

**Trend or Issue? **

In many research studies, truancy has been a significant indicator to student achievement and success. As a matter of fact, “truancy has been labeled one of the top ten major problems in this country's schools, negatively affecting the future of our youth (Dekalb, 2000, p. 2).” For this reason, not only is the topic a trend but it is also an issue because studies have shown the positive correlation between truancy beginning in primary school and escalating in secondary schooling. In a longitudinal study of African-American males by Robin and Ratcliff (as cited in Dekalb, 2000, p. 2) Robins and Ratcliff found that of those students who were often truant in elementary school and truant in high school, 75 percent failed to graduate.


 * Why does truancy occur? **

In order to combat the issue, laws and rules have been put in place in school systems, counties, and even the state that reprimand students who violate them and the parents for allowing it to happen. This leads one to question, “Why does truancy occur?” It has been studied that there are a variety of reasons why students develop chronic absences. Among some of most commonly known reasons are “boredom and loss of interest in school, irrelevant courses, suspensions, and bad relationships with teachers as the major factors in their decision to skip school (Dekalb, 2000, p.3)”. However, to one’s surprise “most people who work with truants say the parents are part of the problem (Downey, 2012)”.


 * What can be done?? **

With the many factors that contribute to truancy, the next question is, “What can be done to control truancy?” One of the intervention efforts noted in several Dekalb County Public Schools and several other school systems that deal with truancy is placing a probation officer, social worker, and/or mediator who help and monitor at risk youths. As a result, their presence is a constant reminder to the students who are at risk of being truant to stay in class or else there will be severe consequences. Moreover, in many cases, these figures play a pivotal role as a surrogate parent to those students who seek attention. According to Dekalb, truancy can be controlled [and] that peers have an undeniable influence on students' decision to become truant (2000, p. 4). One study reported that 84 percent of the interviewed truants said their friends skipped schoo (Dekalb, 2000, p. 4). In addition to the influence the peers have on one another, “antitruancy programs that expose truants to other peer groups and other methods of interaction may be effective in reducing truancy, [and] after school sports or other programs at the school site give students a chance to make new friends, experience a positive atmosphere, and feel a sense of accomplishment, which, in turn, may reduce their likelihood of skipping school (Dekalb, 2000, p. 4)”.


 * So What??? **

Ultimately, once one can get the students to attend class regularly, one no longer needs to rely on a student’s attendance record to justify their performance. A student’s academic success has many factors but among one of the most important is attendance. Once that issue is tackled by implementing strategies and programs for the students who are at risk of being truant, the focus can be geared more towards implementing instruction effectively with differentiated instruction to meet the learning needs of all levels of achievements.

To view a proposal describing a school-wide initiative to tackle truancy and provide students with academic support, please download the document below. 

**Bibliography **

Baker, M. L., Sigmon, J. N., & Nugent, M. E. (2001). Truancy Reduction: Keeping Students in School. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved from [] The article expounds mainly on how chronic unexcused absences perpetuates into delinquency and crime. It also discusses the factors like economics, family, school, and student variables playing a role in truancy and predictors of truancy. The article brings to light various interventions and strategies to control truancy

 Dekalb, Jay. (2000). Student Truancy. (ERIC Digest No. 125). Retrieved from [] The article discussess what truancy is, what causes it, and how to control it. In the article one will find staggering statistics through conducted studies by various authors cited in the article. Also, there is information on strategies and programs to combat truancy.

 Downey, M. (2012, August 3). Truancy and tardiness: Does going after parents work? Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2012/08/03/truancy-and-tardiness-does-going-after-parents-work/  The article brings to light the affect parents have on chronic tardiness and absences with thier child's attendance. It discusses the consequences parents will get from the state for their role in their child's absenteeism and tardiness. Sutdent Attendance. (2012). Retrieved from the Georgia Department of Education []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px;">Te Kete Ipurangi. (2013). Definitions of Achievement: Overall Teacher Judgment. Retrieved from [| http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Overall-teacher-judgment/Definitions-of-achievement] The site discusses the dfferent levels of achievement by providing clear definitions, and discussing english language learners (ELLs) and students with significant learning disabilities.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Whitfield, C. T., (2010, October 24). Truancy Intervention Project: “Why Don’t They Go To School?”. Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. Retrieved from [|http://jjie.org/back-school/] In this article, a former South Alanta High School students speaks of her experience being a truant child, and how she was placed in a program to get her back on track to graduate high school.