Researchers have begun to examine a number of features in the patterns leading to

student drop outs, such as academic failure, problem behavior, attendance rates, cultural

and ethnic background, first language, learning disabilities, age and gender,

socioeconomic status, school engagement, school mobility, teacher-student relationship,

school and class size, family structure and parental educational support and stressful life

events (McIntosh et al., 2008).

Student Truancy

Student truancy is a serious concern that affects most school districts in the

educational problems facing public schools in the United States, often leading to serious

consequences for the individual, family, and society in general (Zhang et al., 2010).

Occasional school absenteeism is typically non-problematic, but excessive absenteeism

has been linked to serious problems such as violence, substance use, injury, suicide

attempt, risky sexual behavior, and teenage pregnancy (Kearney, 2008). Truancy has

been identified as one of the 10 most serious educational problems in the United States,

with principals rating student absenteeism, class cutting, and tardiness as the top

discipline problems in the schools (Zang, et al., 2007). States and school districts vary in

how they define truancy, which means that nationwide truancy statistics don’t exist

(Kronholz, 2011). In some districts, students who missed a month or more of school

(roughly, 90% attendance rates or less) had greatly diminished graduation odds (Balfanz,

2009). The level of concern over truancy is such that the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) named truancy prevention as a national priority (Henry,

2007). Because truancy is now an issue of grave national concern, the No Child Left

Behind legislation emphasizes the importance of attendance as an indicator of adequate

yearly progress related to elementary and middle school accountability (Spencer, 2009).

The middle grades will play a pivotal role in enabling the nation to reach President

Obama's goal of graduating all students from high school prepared for college or

advanced career training (Balfanz, 2009). Accurate estimates of the prevalence of truancy

are lacking due to inconsistent tracking and reporting practices of schools (Steinhausen,

et. al 2008). According to Kronholz (2011), No Child Left Behind lets states use

attendance as an additional indicator of adequate yearly progress, and 37 states do that.

But attendance is measured differently from truancy’ perfect attendance can hide the

absences of those who stay away for days at a time. Attendance tends to hover at about

95 percent in most state reports. While truancy is widely acknowledged to be a problem

nationwide, it is very difficult to find data that delineate full extent of the problem due to

data collection and reporting issues at the school, local and state levels (Heilbrunn, 2007).

However, while anecdotal evidence suggests that truancy has reached epidemic

proportions; we do not have accurate estimates of the prevalence of truancy in the United

States due to inconsistent tracking and reporting practices of the schools (Henry,

2007).What is considered unexcused, as well as the number o days students can be absent

before they are required to be labeled truant, varies by state statute (U.S. Department of

Education, 2008). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) signed into law by President

Bush in January of 2002, which required that school districts submit attendance data to

their state government in order to receive federal money for education (Campbell, 2011).

Under Title IV-Safe and Drug Free Schools Act, states are required to collect data on

suspension, expulsion, and truancy (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). If

governments wish to drive academic standards up to their optimum, they must decrease

pupil’s non-attendance and truancy in particular (Reid, 2010); however, states are

allowed to create their own formulas for how they define truancy rates (Heilbrun, 2007).

Specific school-related factors contributing to truancy have been cited by the National

Center for School Engagement including an unsafe or unwelcoming school climate, push-

out policies (such as suspension for truancy), and automatic F’s for poor attendance.

Affective support for students within a school is important in that teachers’ neglect of

diverse student needs has surfaced as an important element leading to increased

absenteeism (Spencer, 2009). One of the key issues when considering the term “truancy”

is to understand correctly, what it means. There are various types of truancy per se (Reid,

2010).

DeSocio and colleagues (2007) define as truancy-unexcused absences from

school or classes and is ranked among the top ten problems facing schools across the

country. Truancy may be operationally defined as the habitual engagement in unexcused

absences from school (Zhang, et al., 2007). Truancy generally refers to unexcused, illegal

absence of school linked to lack of parental knowledge about behavior (Steinhausen, et

al., 2008). Teasley (2004), defines truancy as unexcused and unlawful absences from

school without parental knowledge and consent. NCSE defines truancy as any unexcused

absence from school or class without permission of the parent, teacher, or school

administrator (Seeley, 2006). Often the definition for truancy can be found in state

statutes; however, the number of days a student is absent before they are considered

truant is oftentimes left up to the local school district (Zinth, 2005). Florida definition of

truancy is determined by each school district, habitual truancy is defined as 15 absences

within 90 calendar days with or without the knowledge or consent of the student's parent

or guardian, and who is subject to compulsory school attendance, and the consequences

for truancy is student may face restricted driving privileges in addition to other penalties.

Parent may face misdemeanor charge (Bye et al., 2010). In many incidences, a child is

considered to be truant (ages 6-17) after three consecutive or a total of five unlawful

absences; is considered a habitual truant (ages 12-17) when he or she fails to comply with

an intervention plan and accumulates an additional two or more absences; and is

considered chronic truant (ages 12-17) if the child has already been determined to be a

habitual truant yet continues to accumulate absences (Zhang, et al., 2007). Truancy spikes

at about the age 15, when most youngsters enter 9th grade and the less-supportive

atmosphere of high school, however; reports have proven that truants are getting younger

even as low as 10-11 years old (Kronholz, 2011). Indeed, chronic truancy in elementary

school is linked to serious delinquent behavior at age 12 and under (Zhang, et al., 2007).

Specifically, 7% of fourth and sixth graders in the USA miss at least five school days per

month (Kearney, 2008). Truancy is distinct from absenteeism in that "the truant child

typically spends his or her time away from home and tends to conceal absences from his

or parents. Absenteeism is defined as a period of not attending school; it can be

influenced by lack of community support, an unsupportive school environment,

disorderly family life, inclement weather, transportation problems, personal deficits and

poor health (Teasley, 2004). School absenteeism is a broader term that includes both

school refusal and truancy; school refusal is defined as difficulty attending school

associated with emotional distress, especially anxiety and depression (2008). School

refusal behavior refers to child-motivated refusal to attend school or difficulties

remaining in classes for an entire day (Haight et al., 2011). Literature about truancy is

heavy on the causes and consequences but quite sparse on program process and outcome

evaluations (Huck, 2012).

Despite the long history of social work services in schools, research on chronic

absenteeism and student truancy has received little attention by social work profession

(Teasley, 2004). According to Heilbrunn (2007), reducing truancy must be a priority for

school social workers, given that truancy may be the first sign in a series of antisocial

behaviors that lead to negative personal and developmental outcomes (Teasley, 2004).

Truanting from school matters for several reasons, a national Scottish study showed that

pupils’ non-attendance was directly correlated with academic achievement (Reid, 2010).

Truancy is a primary factor for potential delinquent activity, social isolation, teen

pregnancy & promiscuity, substance abuse, and educational failure as documented in

multiple suspensions, expulsions, and in school dropout rates (Spencer, 2009 & Teasley,

2004). In addition to being a relatively common behavior, truancy’s consequences are far

reaching; extend beyond the classroom into multiple domains of a youth’s health and

development (DeSocio et al., 2007) and resulting in negative implications for multiple

levels of society. Negative consequences of school absenteeism include delinquency,

school dropout, suicide attempt, risky sexual behavior, teenage pregnancy, violence,

injury, driving under the influence of alcohol, substance abuse, and various medical and

psychiatric conditions as well as mixed internalizing and externalizing symptoms

(Haight, et al., 2011). Truancy may result in severe short-term consequences, including

declining grades, legal difficulties, social alienation, family conflict and distress (Zang, et

al., 2007). It appears that the more punitive the approach, the least effective truancy

programs seem to be (Huck, 2010). Previous studies on school absenteeism have

addressed some of the studies that are most relevant for the present study, namely

coexisting psychopathology, stressful life events, personality features, family

characteristics and features of the school environment (Steinhausen, 2008). School

refusal is not a formal DSM-IV diagnosis but is a symptom of separation anxiety and

conduct disorder. Early conceptualizations of school refusal behavior focused on

attachment and family issues such as overdependence, enmeshment, separation anxiety,

and other psychodynamically-oriented constructs (Haight, et al., 2011). Attendance

problems are particularly acute in urban settings among students from low-income

families (Spencer, 2009). Research findings show that large school systems in low-

income, inner city urban school districts experience higher rates of absenteeism and

truancy compared with suburban and rural school systems (Teasley, 2004). This

connection between truancy and delinquency appears to be particularly acute among boys

(Zhang, et al., 2007). Recent studies have indicated that African American adolescent

male students are more prone to truancy and aggressive behavior in school environments

than peers of other races (Martin, et al., 2007). In another study it was found that girls

demonstrate higher rates of absenteeism in high school than boys; however, boys

demonstrate increased rates of chronic truancy as they advance in grade level (Teasley,

2004). In adolescence, truancy has been linked with serious delinquency, violence, and

substance abuse (Zhang, et al., 2007). Oman and colleagues' (2002) investigation of risk

factors across adolescent age groups determined that "tabacco use, alcohol use, drg use,

sexual intercourse, being arrested or picked up and truancy all increase significantly in

prevalence across the adolescent age span (as cited in Teasley, 2004). There’s a direct

line from truancy to juvenile crime, gang membership, and drug use according to the U.S.

Department of Justice. There is an equally direct line from truancy to dropping out of

school, and from there to increased incidences of teen pregnancy, poor health and

dependency on welfare (Kronholz, 2011). The link between truancy and crime has been

established for over 100 years and there is no evidence that the importance of the link is

diminishing (Reid, 2010).Truancy is the also the first sign of “trouble” and the most

powerful predictor of delinquent behavior (Zang, et al., 20007). There is also evidence to

suggest that the negative effect of truancy persists past adolescence, predicting poor adult

outcomes, including violence, marital instability, job instability, adult criminality, and

incarceration (Henry, 2007). Furthermore, those who continue to commit truancy and/or

progress into more serious delinquency are more likely to be male, minority, drug users,

attend special education classes, and have family members with criminal histories (Huck,

2010). Truancy and persistent school absenteeism have been adversely linked with lower

levels of pupils’ self-esteem, behavior, career ambitions, and their subsequent quality and

economic status in adult life (Reid, 2010). For example, at the individual level, truancy is

predictive of maladjustment, poor academic performance and school dropout, substance

abuse, delinquency and teenage pregnancy (Henry & Huizinga, 2007). “Research studies

have consistently shown that certain factors are associated with truancy. For example,

family factors, school factors, economic influences (e.g., family income and

neighborhood), and student variables (e.g., gender and minority status) are also often

reported as correlates of truancy” (Zhang et al, 2010). School social workers who seek to

reduce truancy rates must evaluate the context in which truancy occurs including

individual and developmental factors and parental, family, mental factors and parental,

family, socioeconomic, and community influences (Teasley, 2004). School social

workers need to be more proactive in helping families become informed about the

importance of good school attendance and the problems students face when they are

absent from school, such as missed learning opportunities (Campbell, 2011). Government

have tended to shy away from penalizing parents to much for their children non-

attendance, even when they have been direct cause, as in taking their children out of

school for a holiday in term time (Huck, 2010). Studies say that the justice system

integration with community-oriented services is better than using it as the sole approach

to reduce truancy. Findings suggest that truants and juveniles delinquents are different

and perhaps distinct approaches are necessary to combat truancy (Huck, 2010). It has

become apparent that in order to combat truancy and other forms of non-attendance

within some schools, it is first necessary to change the pupils', parents' and teachers'

attitudes within some of these schools as well as the pervading culture and ethos (Reid,

2006). The U.S. Department of Education (2009) divided the causes of truancy into four

categories: school factors, family factors, economic factors, and student factors (Butts,

2009).

SCHOOL FACTORS

Truancy is also associated with factors within the school environment (DeSocio et

al., 2007). Attendance is one of the most overt indicators of school engagement; this

indicator also expresses a sense of alienation, lack of belonging, and dislike of school

(Zhang et al., 2007). Characteristics of school environments that inhibit truancy include

attending to individual student needs, engaging students in supportive relationships,

establishing incentives for attendance, promptly addressing student absences, minimizing

punitive responses, and forming alliances with health and human services to address the

problems of students and their families (DeSocio et al., 2007). School factors can also

include school size, economic status, quality of teachers, and other staff, school climate,

and school policy enforcement (Zhang et al, 2010). Within schools, the main issues were

poor management, the ease at which some pupils could slip away unnoticed, poor teacher

pupil relations, the school “ethos”, the perceived irrelevance of some aspects of the

national curriculum, bullying and poor learning-teaching strategies (Reid, 2010). In order

to prevent truancy, it is necessary to understand the characteristics that describe truant

youth as well as factors that may put them at risk of truancy (Henry & Huizinga, 2007).

Unfortunately, schools often attempt to address truancy problems with disciplinary

exclusions, which may exacerbate the potential for further absences and disengagement

(Zhang, et al., 2007). It became clear to us that most of the students who eventually

dropped out began disengaging from school long before. Research indicates that middle

or high school student's decision to not attend school regularly, to misbehave, or to

expend low effort are all consequential behavioral indicators of a student's growing

disengagement from school and thus might be strongly predictive of dropping out

(Balfanz et al., 2007).

Youth with poor school engagement are also more likely to participate in risky

behaviors to compromise their health (DeSocio et al., 2007). Disengaged dropouts were

students who had average or below-average levels of school misbehavior, low

commitment to school, and average grades (Balfanz et al., 2007). Actions by school

officials to stop the student's disruptive behavior may be followed by parental

involvement, which often increases the student's negative attitude about school (Teasley,

2004). State and federal data indicate that truants tend overwhelmingly to be African

Americans and Hispanics (Kronholz, 2011). Many African American and Hispanic

youths from poor inner-city urban neighborhoods attend overcrowded school with lower

funding per pupil, compared with schools in affluent suburban communities (Teasley,

2004).

Educators have generally pursued multiple strategies to curb absenteeism,

including legal means and counseling approaches (Kearney, 2008). Schools that do not

have consistent enforcement in place see more truancy cases than those with proper and

consistent enforcement practice (Zhang et al., 2010). Truancy laws generally target

parents because, the reasoning goes, they have violated the state’s attendance laws by not

getting their kids to school. Educational neglect, the legal term in many jurisdictions, is a

misdemeanor that generally carries the threat of jail time and a fine (Kronholz, 2011).

However, most parents have little direct control over whether their children attend school

regularly or not. Nevertheless, the law still holds them to be responsible (Reid, 2010).

Conflict between teacher expectations and classroom behavior frequently results

in authoritarian demands on the student, thus discouraging the promotion of positive

developmental outcomes (Teasley, 2004).

FAMILY FACTORS

Research studies demonstrate that family dynamics play a key role in absenteeism

and truancy (Teasley, 2004). Family and parental factors including parent-child

relationships, family history (e.g., drug or alcohol abuse, criminal history), attitudes

towards education, parental supervision, and family socioeconomic status (SES), (Zhang

et al., 2010) also impact attendance. Parenting styles that foster beneficial communication

between parents and children appear to positively affect academic performance (Teasley,

2004).

Parents of truants are atypical. When parents (and pupils) receive constantly

negative feedback about their children’s academic and behavioral progress they may tend

to judge teachers and their school as being unsympathetic, ineffective and even unsafe

(Reid, 2010). The role of the parents and careers is to look after the well-being of their

children and to raise them in safe, happy and developmentally friendly environments

(2010). Parents who spend more time with their children in activities that improve

cognitive development help boost their children's school performance (Teasley, 2004).

“Parent involvement in education has also been raised as an issue that influences

attendance. Though less well defined than school violence or climate, parent involvement

generally refers to actively developing a child’s academic progress, monitoring

attendance and homework, and enhancing school quality via participation in parent-

teacher associations and other activities. Parents who promote responsible behavior in

their children encourage academic achievement (Teasley, 2004).Positive parent

involvement relates closely to a child’s success in school, but poor parent involvement

obviously does not (Kearney, 2008). Parents who impart appropriate values as aspirations

to their children motivate them to succeed in school (Teasley, 2004). In addition,

truancy's consequences extend beyond the individual and his/her family to the society at

large (Henry, 2007).

ECONOMIC FACTORS

Truancy’s consequences extended beyond the individual and his/her family to the

society at large. The costs of truancy are high. The direct and indirect consequences of

truancy for individuals, schools, communities, and society in the short- and long-term are

so serious (Yeide & Korbin, 2009). That is, truancy exerts a negative effect on

communities because of its effect on delinquency, crime, and negative adult outcomes

(Henry, 2007). Communities with high levels of truancy are more likely to have

correspondingly high rates of daytime criminal activity (Reid, 2010). For many students,

truancy is symptomatic of personal and family problems. At times, poor school

attendance is part of a family’s efforts to cope with social and economic demands

(DeSocio et al., 2007). Family aspects included parentally condoned absences, not

valuing education, domestic problems, inconsistent or inadequate parenting and

economic deprivation (Reid, 2010). For example, in one research study, some parents

acknowledged that family needs took precedence over school attendance, and kept youth

at home to provide child care, care for ill relatives; or they worked to contribute to the

family’s income (DeSocio et al., 2007). Research has demonstrated that parents with

higher SES are more involved with teachers and schools, and such involvement enhances

children's academic performance. Parents with high socioeconomic status (SES) tend to

be more involved in their children's education than parents with low SES. (Teasley,

2004).

Because truancy has a direct negative effect on individuals, it also has an indirect

negative effect on communities (Henry & Huizinga, 2007). Truants were found to be

more likely to smoke, drink, and use illegal drugs than non-truanting pupils (Reid, 2010).

there is a strong relationship between truancy and the start of substance abuse largely due

to the amount of supervised time that truants spend with peers (Yeide & Korbin, 2009).

When more people within a community engage in delinquent behavior and express

negative adult outcomes the community as a whole suffers (Henry & Huizinga, 2007).

Researchers have also examined neighborhood disorganization and school

absenteeism, claiming that unsafe or unsupportive communities often result in poor adult

supervision, high rates of child self-care, and lack of responsiveness to truancy (Kearney,

2008). Community factors include economic influences, peer relationships, and

neighborhood safety. Home dynamics such as crowded living conditions, weak parent-

child relationships, and frequent relocation may negatively affect school attendance

(Teasley, 2004). Students living in disorganized, unsafe, or unsupportive neighborhoods

are at substantial risk for absenteeism and truancy (Zhang et al., 2010). Neighborhood

disorganization and excessive school absenteeism may be related as well to family chaos

marked by high rates of divorce, separation, child maltreatment, conflict, foster care, and

parental alcohol and other drug use (Kearney, 2008). Community issues revolve around

socio-economic factors, location, housing, local attitudes, culture, criminality, vandalism

and a sense of feeling safe (Reid, 2010). Social/criminal justice researchers have

generally concentrated their attention on factors such as homelessness, poverty, teenage

pregnancy, neighborhood disorganization, family chaos, and association with delinquent

peer groups (Kearney, 2008). The level of family SES determines the neighborhood in

which students attend school and exposure to mental and physical health stressors (for

example, abuse, neglect, neighborhood and domestic violence, family and parental strife)

and incivilities (for example, abandoned buildings, abandoned cars, empty lots,

condemned housing, underground markets, and disruptive social behavior) that are

associated with truancy (Teasley, 2004).

STUDENT FACTORS

Researchers also found that when students attend school more often, they are less

likely to engage in delinquent or destructive behaviors (Sheldon, 2007). The usual pattern

begins with the pupil losing academic interest, falling behind academically, and avoiding

classes (Teasley, 2004). Truancy coexists with student and family mental health problems

and may be an indicator of an existing or emerging mental health disorder, including

post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or substance abuse (DeSocio et al.,

2007). Psychological interventions for youth with problematic absenteeism are typically

circumscribed to focus on key symptoms and proximal variables. Many of these

interventions involve cognitive-behavioral based manualized or otherwise specific

techniques such as psycho-education regarding anxiety, somatic management skills such

as relaxation training or breathing training, cognitive therapy, exposure-based practices,

supportive therapy and parent-based contingency management (Kearney, 2008). Even

with numerous studies explicating causes and effects of truancy program evaluations are

rare and may be partially to blame for why “on one has yet found the magic panacea to

overcome all the difficulties in preventing non-attendance and truancy” (Huck, 2010).