Mirroring trends in the legal system, discipline within education has adopted zero-tolerance policies in an attempt to curb undesired behaviors in school. K-12 schools have expanded the use of exclusionary discipline policies for lesser offenses, giving way to the phenomenon known as the school-to-prison-pipeline (STPP), which disproportionately…

This exploratory-descriptive retrospective study examined the demographic, school-related, psychosocial risk factors, and service referrals among elementary school children (N=2,861) at risk for continued truancy. The study purposed to investigate the domains of staying in school and progressing in school, constructs associated with eventual…

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…

Recent research highlights the role of peer victimization in students' adjustment across a variety of domains (e.g., academic, social), but less often identifies potential mediating variables. In the current study, we tested for direct effects from peer victimization to adolescents' academic behavior and alcohol use, as well as indirect effects…

Truancy is associated with an array of negative social consequences, including poor school performance, delinquency, and dropout. Numerous individual, family, school, and community risk factors associated with truancy are also associated with adolescent substance abuse. However, little is known about substance use patterns among court-adjudicated…

Few studies investigating the validity of marijuana use have used samples of truant youths. In the current study, self-reports of marijuana use are compared with urine test results for marijuana to identify marijuana underreporting among adolescents participating in a longitudinal brief intervention for drug-involved truant youths. It was…

Substance use and sexual risk behaviors are common among adolescents, but research has focused attention on alcohol use. Much less is known about the relationship of marijuana use and sexual risk behavior among high-risk, especially truant, youths. We report interim findings from a NIDA-funded experimental, brief intervention (BI) study involving…

The relationship between substance use, mental health disorders, and delinquency among youth is well documented. What has received far less attention from researchers is the relationship between these issues among truant youth, in spite of studies that document truants are a population at risk for negative outcomes. This study bridges this gap by…

(Purpose) This study contributes to the knowledge base about strategies for helping disconnected youth re-engage with schooling. The study presents findings of a rigorous impact evaluation of the Good Shepherd Services (GSS) Transfer School Model that is grounded in developmental theory positing that social and emotional factors are essential to…

This article reviews literature describing truancy and its correlates, and it analyzes the current research on truancy prevention programs. Few truancy prevention programs exist in elementary school settings. This article describes Truancy Assessment and Service Centers, a theory-driven program providing case management services to children in 85…

Professional school counselors (PSCs) can play a vital role to help keep truant students in school by providing school-based interventions that target the personal barriers of attachment, engagement, and empowerment that may limit success in school. ASCA national standards encourage PSCs to demonstrate accountability for student outcomes. The…