This study considers the issue of absenteeism in Norwegian high schools with a particular focus on the new controversial 10% ceiling, which began in August 2016. Data was obtained through documentary sources and participant observation in one high school with one of the highest absenteeism rates in the capital, Oslo. Employing Foucault's 'panoptic…

In 2009, the North Dakota legislature passed SB 2217, which lowered the penalty for truancy from a felony to an infraction for a first offense and a class B misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense. Additionally, the legislature required the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to convene a workgroup to further study truancy…

Reviews recent changes in North Carolina law and policy affecting compulsory school attendance and status offenders. Status offenders are children who commit offenses that are unique to children--such as being truant, running away from home, or being beyond the disciplinary control of their parents. (Author/IRT)

The myriad legal and economic issues that surround truancy are intertwined and interdependent. The first section describes school attendance laws, how they are applied, and the most commonly used methods of curbing truancy. Sections two and three discuss legal issues and economic issues, respectively. They address issues facing schools, truant…

An examination of the school laws in the 50 states reveals that 47 have penalties that can result in forced incarceration for young people who do not attend school. In a five-year period, 341 young persons were committed to Maryland juvenile institutions for the crime of truancy. During the same time, 2,699 young people were committed to…

This Wisconsin Legislative Council information memorandum describes 1987 Wisconsin Act 285, relating to truancy and dispositional alternatives for children adjudged delinquent or in need of protection or services based on habitual truancy. Part I of the memorandum lists eight highlights of Act 285. Part II describes statutes not affected by Act…

Examines the nature and extent of the public school attendance problems in California through studying actual school attendance counts made during the fall of 1979. Principal reasons for student absenteeism are also examined. (Author)

The article argues that the local authority attendance officers responsible for the enforcement of compulsory attendance changed their approach to truancy under the influence of child welfare legislation and changing views of the child in the first decade of the twentieth century. Some of the changes in their work emerged as a direct response to…

This article summarizes the results of a survey measuring attitudes of Tennessee secondary school principals toward student absenteeism. The author offers six suggestions intended to help alleviate this serious problem. (DS)

Investigates the enforcement of the compulsory attendance law by taking court action against parents of chronic absentees in extreme cases. Results indicate this type of enforcement can improve attendance for some students. (Author/HMV)

British standards governing school attendance have been modified and strengthened by the 1993 legislation. The required education may be received outside the public school system, but alternative schools in the private sector remain subject to control or regulation. (77 footnotes) (MLF)

The 16 school districts in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, found that the most effective method to reduce truancy is to take truants to court. As a result of truancy prosecution, hundreds of students are back in school. Outlines an eight-step program to put a solid truancy prosecution program in place. (MLF)

As one report in a comprehensive study of Illinois state mandates for elementary and secondary education, this study covers the three major areas in the Illinois compulsory attendance law: students' entrance age, their exit age, and the schools' obligation to enfore truancy regulations. After brief histories of compulsory attendance laws in the…

The problem of truancy in the elementary and junior high schools of California's Yolo County was investigated during the 1980-81 academic year by means of questionnaires completed by 16 school principals and interviews with 30 people representing schools, school district offices, law enforcement agencies, the Department of Social Services, and the…

Absenteeism has personal as well as institutional causes. It is increasingly impossible for schools to function as custodians of their student, given changing social attitudes toward both youth and authority. Therefore, schools must respond to students' needs by curricular revision, for example, in order to cut down on absenteeism. Hazell…