Truancy and Dropout

Implications for School

Psychologists today
Misty Sommers-Tackett
Truancy Overview

 What is Truancy?
 Why are we concerned?
 Truancy Types
 Attendance Patterns in Ohio
 Why is truancy difficult to resolve?
 What is our duty?
 Prevention, and Intervention
 Discussion
What is Truancy?

 Also called:
skipping
cutting
hooky
AWOL
…and on and on…
 Looked at differently in different
cultures and areas
 Rarer in areas where education is
not as readily available
What is Truancy?

 Definition(s):
 Webster -
 The act or condition of being
absent without permission
 This is a textual definition. Not
what the law uses as a basis for
court referral.
What is Truancy?
 Definition(s):
 Section 2151.01: a HABITUAL truant is “any
child of compulsory school age who is absent
without legitimate excuse for absence from the
public school the child is supposed to attend for
five or more consecutive school days, seven or
more school days in one school month, or
twelve or more school days in a school year.”
 Section 2152.02: a CHRONIC truant is “any
child of compulsory school age who is absent
without legitimate excuse for absence from the
public school the child is supposed to attend for
seven or more consecutive school days, ten or
more school days in one school month, or fifteen
or more school days in a school year.”
What is Dropout?

 When a student completely

withdraws from school.
 When a student turns 18 and
has been truant, and can be
dismissed by the school.
 Leaving school without
substitution schooling (home-
schooling, private schools, etc.)
Why are we concerned?
 44 percent of juvenile
crime occurs between 8:30
am and 1:30 pm
 Gangs, daytime crime,
violence, drugs and/or
alcohol
 It is our duty to create
responsible members of
our society

There is a higher correlation between dropping out

and ending up in prison, than there is between
smoking and getting lung cancer!
Why are we concerned?
JUVENILE ARRESTS IN KENT - 2003
 Abduction 1  Menacing 2
 Assault 8  Obstruct Official Business 10
 Assault on a Police Officer 1  Possess Criminal Tools 2
 Carrying a Concealed  Possess Drug Paraph. 7
Weapon 1  Possess Marijuana 9
 Certain Acts Prohibited 2  Prohibitions 44
 Criminal Mischief 3  Receiving Stolen Property 4
 Criminal Trespass 12  Resisting Arrest 6
 Curfew 47  Runaway 10
 Disorderly Conduct 12  Sexual Imposition 1
 Domestic Violence 4  Theft 4
 Flee & Elude 1  Trafficking in Marijuana 1
 Give False Information to a  Unruly 7
Police Officer 1  Warrant- JDC 2
 Housed for Liquor Control 1  Warrant-Akron PD 1
 Inducing Panic 1  Warrant-PCSO 2
 Littering 3

http://www.kentohio.org/dep/2003-report.pdf
Truancy Types
So what does a truant look like? Possibly…
 Weak readers
 Anxious about schoolwork
 Bullied (victims)
 Teasing and prejudice
 Dislike a teacher
 Dislike a student
 See class/subject as irrelevant
 Have unreasonable/reasonable fears
 Physical problems
 Bored with class
 Peer pressure
 Depressed
 ‘at the end of their rope’
Truancy Types

So what DOES a truant look like?

Some say there are 3 types:
 Traditional
 Psychological
 Institutional
Some say there are 2 types:
 Those who miss class
 Those who miss full days
Truancy Types
 Traditional
 Introverted
 Shy
 Generally pleasant
 Unsupportive home
 Comprise up to
80%
60%
Traditional 25% of all truants
Psychological
40%
Institutional
20%
0%
Truants
Truancy Types

 Psychological
 Avoidance
 Psychological basis
 Fear of something or
 Illness or
psychosomatic
80%
Traditional
complaint
60%
Psychological  Make up between 2-
40%
Institutional 10% of all truants
20%
0%
Truants
Truancy Types
 Institutional
 Extroverts
 Disregard for
authority and
consequences
 Many friends
 Unsupportive home
80%
 Large family? (used
Traditional to family squabbles)
60%
40%
Psychological
 Usually between 65
20%
Institutional
– 80% of all truants
0%
Truants
Truancy Types

 In the past…
 Traditional truants made up greater % of
all truants
 The present trend…
 Institutional truants are increasingly
more prevalent
 Specific subject truancy more popular
 Group truancy outnumbers individual
cases
 Age of onset is younger (earlier onset of
puberty)
Truancy Types

 Truancy is considered by the law as

missing a full day of school, a
number of times within a period.
 We cannot forget the truants who
miss specific classes, even if they
show up part of the day.
 Law does not treat them the same,
but we should not consider one less
important than the other.
 Attendance Patterns in Ohio
*** Attendance records do not show excused/unexcused ***
98.00%
Asian/PI
96.00%
94.00% Black(Non-Hisp)

92.00% Hispanic
90.00%
88.00% Am.Indian

86.00% Multiracial
84.00%
White(Non-
82.00%
1998 1999 2001 2002 Hisp)

School Attendance rates in Ohio, by race, 1998-2002

http://dev01.ode.state.oh.us/Default.asp
Why is truancy difficult to resolve?

 Too many variables – the one main

common factor is non-attendance
 Every truant and school is unique
 Unreliable data and statistics from schools
and teachers
 Truancy occurs outside of school grounds,
sometimes requiring home visits
 Every district has different truancy policies,
and not every truant is referred to the court
 Truants are rarely referred to an
administrator of the court until they are in
middle or high school (after it has become
chronic/habitual)
Why is truancy difficult to resolve?

 Thought to ponder…
Are we treating the school more like
a prison or a program?
Are we acting more like a warden or
a salesman?
 When companies loose customers,
the ones they work hardest at
pleasing are the ones that didn’t
come back. Shouldn’t we treat our
students as consumers of
education?
What is our duty?
(or what SHOULD be our duty?)

 A School Psychologist has a duty to not

only intervene, but to work on prevention
as well.
“…Laws give school personnel responsibility and authority to
intervene when children are absent” – (Guare and Cooper, 2003)
 Developing and encouraging programs that
encourage bonding between the school
and the student
 Working with truants to find what they feel
would make the school a more welcome
place for them.
 Working harder at preventing truancy from
an Elementary school level, before it
becomes habitual/chronic.
Prevention and Intervention
 Implications for prevention:
 Difficult until student does not show up
 Monitoring those who miss class before they
miss full days
 Taking action during Elementary years
 Referring ‘potential’ risk students for mediation
 Implications for Intervention:
 Requires monitoring of attendance for ‘flagged’
children
 Mediation with parents
 Attendance contracts
 Court intervention – bring the court into the
school?
Prevention and Intervention
 More good suggestions:
 Listen to the student. Keep an open mind and try
to understand their perspective.
 Treat truancy as a universal behavior. Children
of all backgrounds cut class. Look at the
relationship between student, school, society,
etc.
 Differentiate the different types of truants.
Understand difference-“endangered vs. fearful”
 Start by concentrating on reducing class specific
truancy first.
 Make rules and policies clearer.
 Seek teacher support. Encourage engaging
classroom activities and class monitoring.

Taken from Guare and Cooper (2003).

References for more info
 The U.S. Department of Education- http://www.ed.gov/.
 Memphis Shelby Crime Commision; Best Practice
Number Eight: Reducing Crime and Supporting
Education through a Comprehensive Truancy
Reduction Strategy, at
http://www.memphiscrime.org/research/bestpractices/b
estpractices-8.html
 The Ohio Revised Code-
http://onlinedocs.andersonpublishing.com/
 Garry, Eileen M., (1996, October). Juvenile Justice
Bulletin, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
 Guare, Rita E. and Cooper, Bruce S. (2003). Truancy
Revisted: Students as School Consumers, Lanham,
Maryland:The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
 Reed, Ken (1999). Truancy and Schools, New
York:Routledge.
More Resources

 Senate Bill 181

 Townhall II Truancy Mediation
Newsletter
(by Kenzi Axthelm – Mediation
Coordinator)
 Be familiar with your court
appointed authorities and
police department. We are on
the same team!