The latest report from the Center for American Progress opens with a detailed effort to define the problem of truancy. The causes are myriad: Family duties and instability at home can pull students out, while bullying and zero-tolerance policies can push them in the same direction. Regardless of the reason, chronic absenteeism has consequences for students, schools, the economy, and society. The authors successfully identify the problem for readers who do not deal with it daily, as many educators do. The definition of truancy differs from state to state, while districts and schools have wide latitude to address absenteeism. Unfortunately, these factors have conspired to virtually require the development of “customized” approaches to addressing truancy when a common menu of solutions might lead to better outcomes. The report highlights successful efforts in California (defining “chronic truancy” for the first time in state law and tracking data on it statewide), Washington, D.C. (early warning and intervention program), New York City (improved data collection, incentivizing attendance), Baltimore (student-centered non-judicial “truancy court”), and Hartford (mentoring programs for students who trigger early absenteeism warnings). From there, the authors extrapolate a variety of policy recommendations applicable to the federal, state, or local levels: Develop a national definition for truancy and its antecedents (chronic absenteeism, etc.), improve data collection and data sharing for early warning systems, increase wrap-around services and align them with student needs, reduce punitive policies that serve to push students out of school, and increase parental involvement and parental education opportunities in schools. These recommendations are all sensible—but they are, as might be expected, “traditional” in structure, advocating solutions found within the existing system. Some education reformers will read this report and want to include additional options, such as non-traditional daily schedules, alternate pathways to graduation, online courses, blended learning options, themed academies, and vouchers. The causes of truancy are varied and numerous. The policies and programs offered to combat it must be as well.
SOURCE: Farah Z. Ahmad and Tiffany Miller, “The High Cost of Truancy,” Center for American Progress (July 2015).
