New Approaches to Truancy Prevention in Urban Schools. ERIC Digest

This digest explores truancy in the urban context, examines the different types and reasons for truancy, and reviews the new ways that researchers and intervention programs are addressing this problem. No national data on truancy rates exist, but many larger cities report staggeringly high rates. The relationship between race or income and truancy is not well established, although whites are underrepresented in truancy cases, and students from lower income families generally have higher truancy rates. Truancy is evenly divided between boys and girls. Reasons for truancy include school climate, economic disadvantage, and student factors. Two types of truants exist: those who miss or cut classes and those who miss full days. One key feature of truancy intervention is a multimodal approach involving some combination of community stakeholders (schools, juvenile courts, law enforcement agencies) as well as parents, community organizations, and social services agencies. Multimodal programs focus on notifying parents of their children's failure to attend school. In instances where school based interventions fail and the truancy case reaches the court docket, some judges issue alternatives to standard court sanctions, allowing the court to target specific education and other student needs. The juvenile justice system is increasingly being used as a final stop and a mechanism for intervening in truancy. (Contains 12 references.) (SM)