The Attendance Improvement/Dropout Prevention (AI/DP) Program is an umbrella program serving high-risk students in New York City's public schools. This report focuses on the high school AI/DP program, serving mainly ninth and tenth grade students who met truancy and academic failure criteria. The three short-term program objectives were: (1)…

This study evaluates the process and procedures of the New York City Board of Education in the definition, identification, tracking, and monitoring of student dropouts in selected New York City high schools. The full report is organized in three parts. Part One provides a summary of data obtained (through observations and interviews) from visits…

A review of court opinions on school discipline suggests that the use of academic penalties as a sanction for student misconduct is widespread and increasing. In 12 cases during the past decade examined in this chapter, students won 5 and lost 7. In challenges of school board policies that assess academic penalties for truancy, students won in…

This is the 14th report of the Illinois School Problems Commission, a continuing legislative commission since 1957. The 14th School Problems Commission began its work at an organizational meeting in October 1975. Public hearings were held in early 1976 to identify crucial problems and issues. During the later half of 1976 and early 1977, four…

Based on surveys of 125 school trustees and administrators and 186 student dropouts and truants in California, this guidebook examines the causes of student attendance problems, discusses guidelines and ideas for programs to combat these problems, and presents exemplary programs in three California school districts. A profile of a hypothetical…

Networking among youth service and juvenile justice agencies can help coordinate their functions and increase mutual cooperation and communication, with the goal of maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of services. This bulletin describes three such networks and their planning and implementation. (Author)

A 50-item questionnaire was developed with the assistance of a group of five current truant, five former truant, and five nontruant junior high students for distribution to students and teachers at one junior high within the Iowa City Community School District. Survey results indicated that most student and teacher respondents believed that…

This issue focuses on the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, P.L. 94-142, and its impact on the role of school social workers, including relationships with students, school personnel, parents, and community service agencies. Other articles address the following areas of concern: (1) truancy and due process; (2) play therapy; (3) issues of…

The author presents contemporary views of the quest for knowledge about human beings and the human experience. She then presents criticism of the natural science model as a basis for social and behavioral science research. She notes that the human being and his behavior are so complex that unidimensional research models are inadequate. However,…

The history of school social work is presented with an emphasis on its value for at risk students in urban schools. These services have maximized equal educational opportunity with both cognitive and affective outcomes. The service works best when the social worker works in collaboration with school personnel. (VM)

A review of court decisions indicates that schools may consider absence from class as a factor in overall academic evaluation and may impose academic penalties for absences due to truancy, suspension, or expulsion. However, academic penalties may not be imposed for misconduct that does not result in absence from class. (MLF)

The first stage for school improvement is to find constructive ways to better serve students who are not realizing their full capabilities. Potentially marginal students pass through various levels (testing limits, coasting, retreating and rebelling), and deliberate and constructive intervention can be implemented at each level. (GC)

In this publication, six critical components of successful truancy intervention programs have been identified. Each component is discussed based on the research as well as practical considerations. Several program examples are provided at the end of each discussion. Approaches employed by these examples are designated model programs, promising…

This study used linked maternal-child data from the 1997-1998 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to explore the wellbeing of children born to teenage mothers. Two econometric techniques explored the causal impact of early childbearing on subsequent child and adolescent outcomes. First, a fixed-effect, cousin-comparison analysis controlled for…

This booklet is one in a series of "hot topics" reports produced by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. These reports briefly address current educational concerns and issues as indicated by requests for information that come to the Laboratory from the Northwest region and beyond. This document focuses on student attendance. During a…