Truants on truancy – a badness or a valuable indicator of unmet special educational needs?

Neil Southwell states that he was, himself, a persistent truant from school. He returned to education as a mature student via an access course and he now lectures in education studies at the University of Northampton. He is currently researching into truancy, its causes and its management and brings to his work an unusual but highly illuminating 'truantist perspective'.
In this article, Neil Southwell reviews the literature on truancy and reveals a complex and contradictory picture. Policy and practice to date have, however, tended to be united in locating responsibility for truancy with truants and their families. Drawing on his own experience and his research into the perspectives of truants, Neil Southwell makes a case for a radically different approach. He argues that truancy can be seen as a key indicator of unmet educational needs and that the issue of truancy will not be addressed effectively until policy makers, practitioners and researchers learn to listen to the voices of truants themselves.     

Truancy and well-being among secondary school pupils in England

The paper considers two problematic aspects of the lives of young people: the long-standing issues of truancy from school and more recent concerns about the extent of mental well-being. It uses data from a large-scale survey, the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). LSYPE provides a very large sample which allows for robust analysis of sub-groups within the population, data from families as well as the young people themselves and a panel design, so that characteristics of the young people at one point in time can be related to later outcomes. The results show the extent of truancy among year-10 pupils with well over one in five reporting truanting but high levels of truancy much less common. The reasons given for truancy mostly revolved around dislike of aspects of school. Truancy, even at low levels, was associated with more negative outcomes such as poor examination results and later unemployment. Data on mental well-being, based on the General Health Questionnaire, showed the extent of feelings of distress and inability to cope with everyday life with more serious levels affecting perhaps one in five of the young people. Young women were more likely to report problems of mental well-being than young men and truancy was strongly associated with poorer levels of well-being. The contrast between the way that most truants said that it was important to them to do well at school but also that disliking school was given as a reason for truancy suggests the possibility of school interventions.     

‘Bunking off’: The impact of truancy on pupils and teachers

There is widespread interest in the impact of unauthorised absence on pupil attainment, links with disaffection, exclusion from school and criminality. However, little is heard about what those who take unauthorised absence from school think that the effect has been on them; nor do we hear the voices of other pupils and their teachers. This article presents evidence from a one‐year study of absence in seven local authorities in England funded by the Department for Education and Skills. It defines ‘truancy’, explores some issues from existing literature on pupil non‐attendance, and presents evidence to show the impact that absence from school has on truants, other pupils and teachers. Finally, it suggests that although the greatest impact is on the academic and socio‐psychological development of persistent absentees, the attitudes and learning of other pupils and the workload and morale of teachers are also affected.     

Project start: An evaluation of a community‐wide school‐based intervention to reduce truancy

The study evaluated the effectiveness of a community‐based court intervention aimed at reducing truancy in a large urban school district. A quasi‐experimental design was used to assess attendance outcomes for 567 truants matched on demographics and drawn from three categories of intervention (no court referral, traditional court referral, and court referral with community‐based services). A court group by time ANOVA was conducted. Truancy levels remained high and unchanged for nonreferred truants throughout the study. Both court groups showed a significant drop in absences 30 days post court. During the subsequent 30‐day period, the community‐based court maintained the reduced rates, while the traditional court group showed higher truancy levels than the community‐based court group. No significant interaction effects were found between court groups and sex, age group, or ethnic categories. At one year follow‐up, the community‐based court group continued to show significantly lower levels of unexcused absences compared to the other two experimental groups. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 657–667, 2005.     

An Evaluation of Normal School Sororities

This investigation’s purpose was to answer the following question: In an in-school suspension setting, does a program of therapeutic discipline that involves counseling, bibliotherapy, writing therapy, and contingency contracting result in more positive attitudes toward school attendance, improved attendance, and greater insight into attendance problems among adolescent truants who participate in the program than among adolescent truants who participate in a traditional program of non-therapeutic discipline? When a one-way analysis of variance was used to analyze differences for attitudes and insights and analysis of covariance was used to analyze behavioral differences among 148 subjects in the two programs, it was found that therapeutic discipline students (a) held less positive attitudes toward school attendance, (b) had better records of attendance in classes and fewer truant absences, and (c) demonstrated greater insight into attendance problems than did non-therapeutic discipline students.     

Absent Without Leave: state responses to school non‐attendance

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the changing legal context of school attendance, in relation to the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Children Act 1989. The new Children Act seeks to alter legal and welfare approaches to school non‐attendance, and to ‘decriminalise’ truancy by replacing care orders with education supervision orders. The tensions that exist both within new and existing legislation, and between legislation and its implementation by education and welfare agencies are explored. While the Education Reform Act 1988 has no provisions relating specifically to school attendance, measures such as open enrolment and local management of schools impact indirectly on school non‐attendance. The Act has also contributed to the development of local and national initiatives to reduce truancy levels. Finally, the intended and unintended consequences the enforcement of regular school attendance has on the lives of truants is examined. The development of a deviant career is traced, from the initial act of not attending school, through the regulatory and labelling processes of various agencies, to the final state of being out of school and in care.     

Evaluation of a truancy court intervention in four middle schools

The effectiveness of a school‐based truancy court intervention in four middle schools in a mid‐sized school district was evaluated. Cumulative data from 185 youth attending a truancy court from 2004 through 2008 were included in the analyses. Results indicated a differential impact of the truancy court intervention depending on truancy severity at baseline. The intervention was most successful in increasing attendance for students with severe truancy, but had limited impact on students with moderate truancy, and no impact on mild truancy. The intervention did not result in improved school attachment or grade point averages, nor did it significantly reduce discipline offenses. Furthermore, the aftercare intervention, consisting of regular meetings with an authority figure (e.g., a juvenile officer), was only effective at maintaining truancy court attendance gains for students with severe truancy at baseline, although it was associated with a substantial decrease in discipline offenses for all groups. These results suggest that truancy courts similar to the one described here may have an impact on truancy for severely truant students, but may have a limited effect on students with mild or moderate truancy. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

EVALUATION OF A TRUANCY DIVERSION PROGRAM AT NINE AT‐RISK MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Many schools are faced with the prospect of soaring absenteeism rates, despite the use of traditional truancy courts and other legal interventions. A recent trend in the literature has been to explore alternative, hybrid, and multidisciplinary approaches to address the underlying obstacles to school attendance. These programs are often integrated into schools to reduce stigma and transportation burdens on families. The present study involved an evaluation of a truancy diversion program in nine at‐risk middle schools in an ethnically diverse sample. Graduates from the program demonstrated significant declines in internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. 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. Results are preliminary but discussed within the context of the role of school attachment in truancy diversion programs.     

School-based intervention for the modification of excessive absenteeism

Three procedures to modify excessive absenteeism were implemented by an elementary school principal and assessed with an across-subjects multiple baseline design. In one condition, the principal praised the child in the classroom for attending school. In a second and third condition, parents were contacted by telephone and either praised for their child's attendance or given disapproval for absences and prompts for future attendance. Results indicated that classroom intervention with the child produced a transitory increase in attendance. However, intervention with parents, both approval for attendance and disapproval for absences, produced sustained increases in attendance and parent-initiated contacts with the school. The data suggest that intervention with parents of elementary school children is more effective and efficient than direct intervention with the child in the modification of excessive school absences. School-based intervention strategies for early reduction of absenteeism may be important in the prevention of chronic truancy and of the necessity for extensive remediation.     

Children's Classroom Peer Relationships and Early School Attitudes: Concurrent and Longitudinal Associations

The purpose of this study was to further explore the linkage between children's early school attitudes and interpersonal features of the classroom, including children's relationships with classmates and their perceptions of these relationships. Participants included 102 kindergarten children (M age = 5.8 years) who were interviewed at the beginning and end of kindergarten to obtain measures of their school attitudes (i.e., school liking), classroom peer relationships (i.e., peer acceptance, mutual friendships), and peer relationship perceptions (i.e., perceived loneliness, peer support). Results showed that initial school liking was associated with all four measures of children's peer relationships; however, only the number of mutual friendships that children possessed in their classrooms predicted changes in school attitudes (gains) over time. Early school attitudes were linked to changes in children's peer perceptions; children who disliked school early in kindergarten were more likely to view classmates as unsupportive as the school year progressed. Results are discussed in terms of the potential impact that classroom peer relations may have on early school attitudes, and vice versa. Implications for educational policy are also considered.     

Perceptions of peers as socialization agents and adjustment in upper secondary school

The purpose of present study was to explore the perceptions of peers as socialization agents in school adjustment among upper secondary school students. The associations were studied in a sample of 564 Norwegian students. Results showed that perceptions of friends and classmates as socialization agents accounted for unique variances in various measures of school adjustment, when controlled for academic achievement, family financial situation, year of schooling, gender and course of study. The unique effect of peer socialization factors on variances in intentions to quit school, truancy, class absence, school alienation and improved motivation for continued education was 7.9%, 7.2%, 6.8%, 6.5% and 5.3% respectively, indicating that late adolescents' school adjustment is statistically significant, but relatively moderately associated with different aspects of peer socialization. School-obstructive regulation was the variable that accounted for most variances in school adjustment, followed by classmate support and school-supportive regulation.     

Young children's feelings about school

This study examined factors associated with young children's feelings about school in kindergarten and first grade, using a new measure, the Feelings about School (FAS). The FAS measures children's perceptions of academic competence, their feelings about the teacher, and their general attitudes toward school. Findings provided support for the reliability and validity of the FAS for kindergartners (N = 225) and first graders (N = 127). Variables presumed to predict children's feelings about school were the classroom structure, academic performance, and relationships with teachers. Feelings about school were expected to predict academic engagement. Correlational analyses indicated that kindergartners' and first graders' feelings about school were associated with their academic skills, as measured by direct assessments and teacher ratings. The evidence for first graders was stronger than for kindergartners. Kindergartners' general attitudes toward school were more negative in highly structured, teacher-directed classroom environments. First graders' perceptions of competence were more negative in classrooms lacking structure and control. First graders', but not kindergartners', perceptions of competence were significantly associated with academic engagement.     

Truancy in Europe: Does the type of educational system matter?

Truancy is known to: Hamper academic achievement, predict a range of school-related problems and cause early school leaving. Hence, the development and implementation of measures to tackle truancy are considered as important strategies to prevent early school leaving in Europe. Despite this, there is almost no comparative research which studies variation in truancy rates. This article relies on PISA 2012 data from 24 European countries to empirically answer two questions: (1) To what degree do truancy rates vary cross-nationally? and (2) Do these differences in truancy rates relate to characteristics of the educational system? We found that between-country truancy rates varied more than differences in early school leaving. Moreover, even after taking into account control variables such as economic development and youth unemployment rates, the ways in which educational systems select and group pupils are closely related to truancy rates.     

Formative assessment in the Grenadian lower secondary school: teachers’ perceptions,attitudes and practices

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions, attitudes and frequency of use of formative assessment strategies of teachers in the Grenadian lower secondary school (Forms 1, 2 and 3). The study, which was quantitative in nature, involved 252 lower secondary school teachers. Overall the participants had positive perceptions and attitudes towards formative assessment. Significant differences in the perceptions of formative assessment held by trained and untrained teachers (p?p?=?.001) were found. Trained and untrained teachers were found to have similar frequencies of practice of formative assessment strategies. About half of the teachers reported not allowing students to provide input into test construction and encouraging students to engage in journal writing. The study raises questions about the hindrances that teachers face in the integration of some formative assessment strategies and provides policy-makers with valuable information to support strengthening of teacher education efforts.     

Mind the Gap: How Students Differentially Perceive Their School's Attendance Policies in Germany

Truant student behavior can be due to various reasons. Some of these reasons are located in schools. So far, little is known about how student perception of school rules is related to truancy. This study aims to identify types of school attendance policies and how these policies are associated with individual truancy. Self-reports from the German student sample of PISA 2012 (N = 5,001) were analyzed to evaluate truancy and student perception of school attendance policies. A linear regression model was specified to predict truancy. Two styles of school attendance policies as perceived by students could be distinguished: active and passive. Students who perceived their school's attendance policy to be active were truant less often than students who thought their school's attendance policy was passive.     

Discrimination, ethnic identity, and academic outcomes of mexican immigrant children: the importance of school context

This study examined ethnic identity, perceptions of discrimination, and academic attitudes and performance of primarily first‐ and second‐generation Mexican immigrant children living in a predominantly White community (N = 204, 19 schools, mean age = 9 years). The study also examined schools’ promotion of multiculturalism and teachers’ attitudes about the value of diversity in predicting immigrant youth’s attitudes and experiences. Results indicated that Latino immigrant children in this White community held positive and important ethnic identities and perceived low overall rates of discrimination. As expected, however, school and teacher characteristics were important in predicting children’s perceptions of discrimination and ethnic identity, and moderated whether perceptions of discrimination and ethnic identity were related to attitudes about school and academic performance.     

Girls’ Attitudes Towards Science in Kenya

This study investigated girls’ attitudes towards science in Kenya. It was carried out with 120 girls from four secondary schools in the Eastern province of Kenya. These were an urban single-sex (SS) and co-educational (Co-Ed) school and a rural SS and Co-Ed school. Different schools were chosen in order to explore whether there are any differences in attitudes in SS and Co-Ed schools and in schools in rural and urban areas. The methodology included the use of both questionnaires and focus group interviews. The main aim was to gain insight into the extent and depth of students’ attitudes towards science. The findings of the study showed that the majority of Kenyan girls who participated in the study have a favourable attitude towards science. Girls in SS schools were found to have a more favourable attitude than those in Co-Ed schools, while girls in rural area schools were found to find science more relevant than those in urban schools. It emerged from this study that the attitudes of Kenyan girls are influenced by their perceptions of the relevance of science, enjoyment of studying science, perceptions of the suitability of science for a career, and their perceptions of subject difficulty.     

School attendance in Hertfordshire

In November 1994, the Hertfordshire School Attendance Project, an initiative set up by the local authority's Education Welfare Service with the purpose of promoting regular school attendance, conducted a survey on school attendance in which 12 secondary schools participated. The survey was intended to establish how pupils responded to coming to school; to identify levels of truancy, including post‐registration truancy; to determine the reasons for such truancy; and to assist schools in developing appropriate and effective responses. The survey found that the overwhelming majority of pupils mostly liked school, attended regularly and were mostly happy with the curriculum which they were offered. The truancy that was located was confined mainly to Years 9, 10 and 11; it was neither widespread nor habitual in character, and appeared to be caused primarily by what might be termed ‘lesson difficulty’. That is, the pupil involved either did not like or could not do a particular lesson and/or had a poor relationship with a particular teacher. Post‐registration truancy (PRT) ‐ when the pupil comes to school, registers and then proceeds to miss certain or all lessons ‐ was found to be slightly more prevalent than blanket truancy (BT) ‐ when the child fails to attend school altogether and lacks authorization for failing to do so (these categories of truancy are based on the work of Stoll and O'Keeffe, 1989 and O'Keeffe, 1994). The survey strongly suggested the need for schools to engage in a debate on the nature of some aspects of the curriculum and to develop coherent and consistent whole‐school attendance policies.     

Perceptions and intentions of secondary students in rural Australia to progress to university

ABSTRACT

This article explores four critical factors in the determining of regional and remote school students’ intentions to progress to university. Three of these factors are based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB): students’ attitudes, the opinions of their significant others (social capital), and students’ perceptions of control. A fourth factor, students’ knowledge about university, is also examined, extending the TPB. The research model tested used the responses of a survey of 620 school students from remote and regional areas in New South Wales, Australia. Results show that students’ attitudes towards university and perceptions about social capital are the most important predictors of their intentions to progress to university. In addition, students’ knowledge about university was found to be a significant contributor to students’ attitudes and perceptions of control.