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Truancy/Dropouts The Relationship between Truancy and Dropping Out of High School I. Truancy in high schools is increasingly drawing the attention of concerned educators, politicians and families in America. Some cities have reported numbers as high as 30 percent of their students being truant from school. A student with a truancy problem is defined differently depending on the state; however, most states consider a student with over ten unexcused absences as a chronic truant. Researchers have observed a trend of truant or absent teenagers dropping out of school around the age of 16. This document analyzes chronic truancy as a major step in falling behind in school and then dropping out. Encouraging attendance in school can not only be very effective in limiting the amount of truancy and eventual dropouts from schools each year, but can also be a significant step to ensuring the future success of students. By law in most (30) states, a youth can legally "drop out" of school when they reach age 16. As of 2002, only 12 states and District of Columbia required youth to attend school through their 18th birthday, and only 1 8 through their 17th birthday. Most of these "compulsory attendance laws" date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the oldest being from 1852. Chronic truancy is a sign of a student disengaging from the learning process and being on the verge of dropping out of school. 2 o Attendance can be a good indicator of a students motivation and interest in school. Truancy demonstrates a lack of commitment to learn. o Truant students face low self-confidence in their ability to succeed in school because their absence causes them to fall behind their classmates. Absenteeism is shown to be the highest predictor of course failure. This increases the likelihood that truant students will drop out of school. o When chronically truant students fall behind in classes, teachers are limited in the amount of attention they can provide to help these students. Students decline in their academic performance and begin to view school in a negative light. As a result, students then find dropping out easier than "catching up". According to a survey by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, when a group of 450 dropouts were asked why they had decided to drop out, 43% answered that they had simply missed too many days of class and 3 could not catch up. o The survey showed that the dropouts had a continual pattern of refusing to wake up to attend school, taking extended lunch breaks, and consistently skipping class. o The students reported that each absence made them more and more unwilling to go back to school. o Of the students interviewed, 59 to 65 percent admitted to missing classes often the year they dropped out. Researchers find that students who are continually absent from school are much more likely to drop out of school. o In a study done on the number of times students who had dropped out had been truant from 4 school, 44% claimed that they were absent from school at least half the week, every week. o A study in Philadelphia found that a sixth grader who has an attendance below 80%, only has a 5 10% chance of graduating high school on time and only a 20% chance of graduating a year later. o A revealing statistic in Denver Public Schools shows that 50 percent of their dropouts were 6 chronically truant. Another statistic estimates that 80 percent of dropouts were truant the year 7 before they left. Students that are chronically truant from school seem to easily follow a natural progression of not returning to school and failing to graduate. o Habitual truants will most likely transition to dropping out. One study finds that 75 percent of students who were truant in high school did not graduate, compared to a mere 1 percent for non8 truants. o With more time on their hands, truant students run a high risk of developing problems of substance abuse and delinquency, which furthers their inability to attend school. o Many truants become involved in gangs and daytime crime such as vandalism and shoplifting and do not return to school. A study done by the National School Safety Center finds that up to two 9 thirds of daytime burglaries are caused by truants. These problems hinder students from returning to school and eventually graduating. Many researchers insist that truants fail to complete high school because they lack parental involvement in 10 their academic lives and good relationships with their teachers and peers.

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A study shows that children with parents who are actively involved with their schooling process have much higher attendance rates and are more likely to graduate. o Strong relationships between parents and their children can greatly influence academic performance and attendance rates, which can discourage teens from dropping out of school. Usually truants who perceive parental discipline as lax have a hard time adjusting to school policies of attendance. o Truancy prevents students from having the opportunity to develop relationships with their teachers. Truant students who do not have positive relationships with their teachers or believe that their teachers are not concerned about them, view class as boring or a waste of time and lack the motivation to finish the schooling process. o Students who are consistently absent also have trouble making friends and interacting with their 11 peers, which isolates truants and discourages them from returning to school. There is a clear correlation between the reduction of unexcused absences and the reduction of dropout 12 rates. o The Washington State Institute on Public Policy did a study that investigated the effectiveness of the "Becca Bill." That legislation requires that parents be informed of a childs unexcused absence and allows the school to take legal action if a student is chronically truant. Findings conclude that the law has increased high school enrollment and lowered dropout rates. o In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a policy was implemented to reduce truancy by investigating unexcused absences and taking truants and their parents to court. This policy sent hundreds of kids back to 13 school and the dropout rate fell by 45 percent. o

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Information Please Database, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Hale, Leslie F. "School Dropout Prevention Information and Strategies for Parents." Bartesville, OK: National Association of School Psychologists. 1991
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"Report Gives Voice to Drop Outs," Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation" 2006. March http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Education/TransformingHighSchools/RelatedInfo/SilentEpidemic.htm
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"Secondary Youth Perspective on Dropping out of School." Lois C. Knapton, Ed. July 2005 http://www.mcgeorge.edu/government_law_and_policy/education_law/wingspread/selected_papers/media/knapton%20paper.pp t
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Reimer, Mary & Smink, Jay. "Information about the School Dropout Issue: Selected Facts and Statistics." Clemson, SC: National Prevention Center/Network, 2005
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Solomon, Jan, "The Truancy Crisis: Do we know where our students are?" Truancy Talk. Vol. 4, Issue 1 "Truancy: A Serious Problem for Students, Schools, and Society." Washington, DC: US Dept of Education

Bilchik, Shay. "Community Assessment Centers: A Discussion of the Concept's Efficacy" Washington, DC: National Criminal Justice Reference Service, November 1995.
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"A Best's Practices Review of Truancy Reduction Efforts." Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau Report Summary, August 2000.

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"Understanding and Addressing the Issue of the High School Dropout Age." Naperville, Illinois: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. 2004.
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Malcom, Heather, Valerie Wilson, Julia Davidson & Susan Kirk. "Absence from School: A study of its causes and effects in seven LEAs." Scotland, UK: The SCRE Centre, University of Glasgow. May, 2003.
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"Keeping Kids in School: The Impact of Truancy Provisions in Washington's 1995 Becca Bill." Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy. October 2002.
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Dekalb, Jay. "Student Truancy" EPIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management , Eric Digest 125 http://www.kidsource.com/education/student.truancy.html#credits http://www.abanet.org/youthatrisk/factsheets/truancydropouts.shtml