Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the prospective associations between 17 individual, family, and community level youth assets and truancy among adolescents living in 1-parent and 2-parent households. Methods: Five waves of data were collected annually over a 4-year period from a racially/ethnically diverse sample of adolescents…

This article reports on the development and initial psychometric properties of the School Interference Questionnaire (SIQ), a questionnaire designed to assess both academic functional impairment related to mental health problems and the type and frequency of school refusal behavior. Participants were 110 youth ages 13 to 18 years (M = 15.41 years,…

Chronic absenteeism has been a growing concern for large urban districts over the last ten years as students with disabilities (SWD) are chronically absent at a much higher rate than their same-age non-disabled peers. This study examines the Truancy Task Force (TTF) recommendations that were developed to address absenteeism in a large school…

Academic performance is a growing concern for students in kindergarten through Grade 3 (K-3) in the United States, especially those students with a high number of unauthorized absences (i.e., a high truancy rate). When students are absent from school, they may have a lower chance of succeeding academically compared to students with better…

Background: Student absenteeism is a growing concern in U.S. schools. In 2015-16, states' chronic absenteeism rates -- defined as rates of students missing 10% or more of a school year -- ranged from 9.5% to 26.9% of students (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). Although abundant research exists on absenteeism and its effects on student outcomes,…

Many states place limitations on the use of suspension and expulsion. This data point captures restrictions on the use of suspension and/or expulsion that states have set in policy. At least 15 states and the District of Columbia have restrictions on the use of suspension and/or expulsion for students based on their grade level or age. At least 14…

Chronic absenteeism has been and continues to be a serious problem within the United States. This dissertation in practice sought a solution to impact the problem of students exhibiting school refusal behaviors leading to truancy, at Dover High School while providing an avenue for successful academic performance in mathematics and English Language…

Background: In efforts to address chronic absenteeism, educational stakeholders have begun to focus on which school factors might link to how and if students miss school. One underexplored area within school is the context of the classroom and, namely, the spillover effects of peers. This study examined whether students were more likely to be…

Many schools across the nation are looking for effective ways to address truancy. Considering trauma informed practices is a promising approach, but an important obstacle to implementation is the dominant perspective that a punitive approach is more appropriate or effective. By researching how partnerships between the school, juvenile courts, and…

Neurodivergent youth (i.e., autistic, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) are at increased risk for school refusal and subsequent disengagement. Factors associated with school refusal in this population remain unclear. Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify profiles of school and demographic variables associated with…

This work selects a political cite in which the state policy reform occurs to examine reasons and underlying ideologies for some consensus on the debates regarding the need to criminalize or decriminalize truancy. Studying the legislation help to unpack the nature of relationships in social systems, with the purpose of eliminating unbalanced power…

School attendance problems (SAPs) have traditionally been viewed as a result of behavioral challenges in student populations. Increasing evidence suggests, however, that a substantial portion of SAPs and school refusal behaviors are related to underlying anxiety in students. The school counselor, as an advocate for all students, is well-positioned…

This study explores trends and disparities in school discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the persistence of racial gaps in exclusionary practices. Using student-level data from Arkansas from 2017/18 to 2022/23, we study how disciplinary outcomes relate to student race while controlling for factors such as the type and frequency of…

Maryland law allows districts to apply exclusionary approaches to unexcused absences. Exclusionary practices can include removing students from the classroom and preventing students from getting credit for completed work. This report examines how long-standing policies and practices of the truancy system--the application of the unexcused absence…

Chronic absenteeism and truancy have plagued the United States for more than a century. Various interventions have been utilized, yet eight million students are absent from school every day, and seven million meet the threshold for chronic absenteeism in a school year. Some communities implemented voluntary court-based truancy diversion programs…