Despite nationwide improvements in school safety, victimization at school continues and affects the well-being of a significant number of students. This study uses the California Healthy Kids Survey, a statewide surveillance instrument administered to students in grades 7, 9, and 11 in California (N = 70,600) to address the multiple victimization…

This is the 13th annual report on the conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District (RUSD). This year, the analysis again focuses on the long-term historical trends in RUSD and compares the district to nine peer districts across the state. The peer districts are those with the most similar enrollments to RUSD. The report is configured in…

For 24 consecutive years, the Public Policy Forum has compiled and analyzed data from southeastern Wisconsin's public school districts in order to better inform policymakers and the public about the effectiveness of the region's K-12 education system. This analysis of the 2009-10 academic year, like many of the previous reports, indicates cause…

The Commissioner's annual report provides the Governor and Legislature with information reported by school districts concerning incidents of serious student misconduct grouped into the following five major reporting categories: violence; vandalism; harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB); weapons; and substance abuse. An analysis of trends…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

Truancy (student attendance) is a serious concern that affects most school districts across the country. Truancy is a statistic that seems to elude school districts in coming up with an exact number, but they do know it exists. The reason this is so is because of a lack of a true definition of truancy. Statistics have shown that students skip…

While increasing girls' access to education is a global priority, there are numerous barriers that impede significant progress in achieving gender parity in schools. While enrollment of girl students is up in Tanzania, especially at the primary and secondary levels, AED has become concerned about the barriers girls face, including gender-based…

The current study replicates work of Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands. It describes dropout prevention programs in nine Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) school districts serving communities with populations of 24,742-107,250 (as of July 2008). All nine…

Each school day, hundreds of thousands of students are missing from their classrooms--many without a bona fide excuse. Left unchecked, truancy is a risk factor for serious juvenile delinquency. Truancy's impact also extends into the adult years where it has been linked to numerous negative outcomes. Consequently, it is critical to identify…

Procedures successful for one school in establishing good attendance include phone calls on all unexplained absences, discipline for unexcused absences, incentives for good attendance, charting attendance patterns, and staff coordination for monitoring attendance. Increased state aid, a more positive school climate, and greater student achievement…

After reviewing the extent of in-school truancy in the Detroit high schools, the author offers three recommendations centering on the adoption and enforcement of attendance policies that lead the student to acceptance of personal responsibility for his/her attendance. (Author/IRT)

Interviews with 29 British Education Welfare Officers found they were involved in 21 court cases related to truancy. Some believed legal action was valuable; others were strongly opposed. Factors influencing its use included parent cooperativeness, presence of siblings, and teacher attitudes. (SK)

Offers school administrators 10 rationales for explaining student suspensions to inquiring parents. Suspension is a way to punish parents or call an "enforced parent conference" to enlist their support. Ideally, suspension creates an opportunity for positive home/school partnerships. (MLH)

Studies suggest that student attendance in college classes increases course success. Yet, surprisingly few studies have examined strategies to increase student attendance. The goal of the current study is to consider whether contacting consistently absent students increases success in an undergraduate research methods course. Results of this…