Truancy and Dropout: Description and Topics

What are best practices for improving school attendance and high school graduation? How can you make a difference for young people in your community who are drifting away from school and academic success?

The National Center for School Engagement’s web-based course in truancy reduction will help you help them.

In nine units you will learn how to nip unexcused absence in the bud, identify the causes of attendance problems , and re-engage, rather than further alienate vulnerable children and their families. You will learn how other communities are successfully tackling their attendance and dropout problems , receive guidance in researching your state laws and regulations and begin thinking about ways to evaluate your efforts.

Each unit in this user-friendly course is supplemented by links to outside reading materials, websites and video clips that illustrate the main concepts taught in the unit. A Community Forum allows you to share ideas with other course-takers.

Below are the units and topics in the course.

Unit 1: Why School Attendance Matters So Much
Topics

• What’s the big deal?
• Poor attendance and high school dropout
• Kids who skip school may have other problems, too.
• A high school degree is essential
• Helping kids understand why school matters
• School attendance is the law

What you will learn

• Truancy is a big problem with serious consequences
• There is a relationship between skipping school and other problem behaviors
• Middle school attendance problems are good predictors of high school dropout
• It is vital to have a high school degree
• You can help teach kids how important a high school degree is
• Attending school is the law

Unit 2: AAA Schools: The NCSE Approach
Topics

• The three As of school engagement
• Characteristics of Triple A Schools
• Strategies for increasing school engagement
• The NCSE approach to reducing truancy

What you will learn

• Attendance, Attachment and Achievement are the three As of student engagement
• The combination of attendance and attachment leads to achievement
• Triple A Schools create environments inside and outside the classroom that encourage attendance, attachment and achievement for all students.
• The basics of building a school engagement plan for my students.

Unit 3: Causes of Truancy
Topics

• Overview
• Community-related causes of truancy
• Family-related causes of truancy
• Individual-related causes of truancy
• School-related causes of truancy
• What kids say

What you will learn

• How researchers categorize causes of truancy
• How wide the range of possible causes is
• How the problems students face can operate to put a wedge between the student, school and academic success
• How to address a number of these causes
• How deeply young people regret their academic failures

Unit 4: Patterns of Absence: What to look for
Topics

• Tardiness
• Sudden, new attendance problems
• Sporadic attendance problems
• Class cutting
• The special problem of elementary school absence
• Other factors
• Identifying students with attendance problems

What you will learn

• What attendance patterns to look for
• The best way to scan to for problems
• How the causes of school absence identified in Unit 3 result in different patterns of absence
• How to address patterns of absence once they are identified

Unit 5: Helpful Approaches
Topics

• What characteristics do effective programs share?
• Model program examples
• Where can you learn about other programs?

What you will learn

• Characteristics of effective truancy reduction programs
• Specifics of several effective programs
• Where to learn about additional programs

Unit 6: Tips for Effective Case Management
Topics

• Defining your role as case manager
• Building relationships
• Relationships with parents and guardians
• Relationships with older students
• Creating an individualized plan
• Managing your own expectations

What you will learn

• The role of the case manager
• How to approach parents and guardians
• How to approach older children with attendance problems
• Reactions to expect from parents and older children
• Walking the line between friend and disciplinarian
• Managing your own expectations

Unit 7: Compulsory School Attendance Law
Topics

• What is compulsory school attendance law?
• Finding the compulsory attendance law in your state
• Consequences of breaking the law

What you will learn

• What the term “compulsory attendance law” means
• What your state’s law says
• Some possible consequences for violating the law
• Typical consequences for violating the law are in your area

Unit 8: Keeping Track
Topics

• The importance of evaluation
• Process versus outcome evaluations
• What is a longitudinal study?
• Basic ways to collect data
• Where can I learn more?

What you will learn

• Why you should evaluate your program
• What a process evaluation can teach you
• When you are ready for an outcome evaluation
• Longitudinal analyses compare the “before” and “after” pictures of student attendance
• To think about using surveys, interviews, focus groups and records review to collect both quantitative and qualitative information about your program.
• Where to get more information about program evaluation.

Unit 9: Summary and review
Topics

• Why excellent school attendance is so important
• NCSE’s three As of school engagement
• Causes of truancy
• How to identify students who may need help
• Best practices and effective strategies used in successful programs
• The role of the case manager
• Your state law and school policies
• Data with which to evaluate your success
• Your culminating project

What you will review

• Why excellent school attendance is so important
• NCSE’s three As of school engagement
• Causes of truancy
• How to identify students who may need help
• Best practices and effective strategies used in successful programs
• The role of the case manager
• Your state law and school policies
• What data to collect so that you can evaluate your success