While existing literature documents disparities in and implications of absenteeism and truant behavior, less is known about truancy as defined in state laws. Habitual truancy, which can trigger external punitive responses, is particularly underexplored. The current study utilizes administrative data from the universe of Pennsylvania schools to…

Background/Context: Chronic absenteeism has received increased attention from educational leaders and policy makers, in part because of the association between attendance and important student outcomes. Student attendance is influenced by a range of student-, school-, and community-level characteristics, suggesting that a comprehensive and…

School learning starts with school attendance. Students need to be in school to receive instruction and learn from their teachers and peers. When schools have high rates of poor attendance, their academic achievement levels suffer. Ninth grade is a critical juncture that comes with increased student autonomy -- and new pitfalls, including the…

This study explored significant predictors of student's Grade Point Average (GPA) and truancy (days absent), and also determined teacher effectiveness based on proportion of variance explained at teacher level model. We employed a two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) with student and teacher data at level-1 and level-2 models, respectively.…

To assess whether a 5-month program involving attendance monitoring, sports participation, and a moral character class would reduce absenteeism, 40 students in a small transitional high school were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups and assessed pre- and postintervention on educational expectations, attitude toward education, and…

Problematic school absenteeism in youth has long been a complex and vexatious issue for psychologists, educators, and researchers from other disciplines. An examination of problematic school absenteeism from different perspectives over many decades has led to poor comparability across publications, policies, and assessment and intervention…

Truancy is not a new problem, but schools are in need of new solutions (Gullat & Lemoine, 1997). Truancy is a known predictor of students leaving school prior to graduation (Garry, 1996). In this article, the author defines truancy and addresses the views of educators and community members on the topic. The discussion will also include…

Truancy is a considerable problem among adolescents. Considering the historical emphasis on studying truancy in urban regions, a concerted effort is needed to extend this research into rural areas to examine cultural generalizability of findings. The purpose of this study was to assess variables associated with truancy in a rural sample (N = 367)…

Mean attendance and truancy rates for 879 Glamorgan pupils were 91.95 and 1.72 percent, respectively. Sex differences were insignificant, but both rates varied seasonally, with Autumn term the best attended. A 'day of the week' effect occurred, with absenteeism rising toward Friday. Other English data are compared. (Author/SJL)

From an analysis of attendance records of pupils in a comprehensive secondary school and their attendance at primary school, the authors describe weekly and daily patterns of absence. They also conclude that the potential truant from secondary school can be identified from his primary school attendance record. (Author)