Considerations in Truancy Reduction

Our approach to working with students and families when unexcused absences occur greatly impacts the long-term outcomes for the goals we are trying to achieve. There are many reasons why school staff monitor attendance and connect with students and families to problem-solve attendance barriers. Primarily, staff need data to gauge the ability of every student to access needed educational resources and to assess student engagement. There are plenty of data available indicating worse outcomes for students with high rates of absence, and simply put, if students are not present and engaged, they cannot learn (U.S. Department of Education 2016; Balfanz and Byrnes 2012).

When students miss school, they miss out on the opportunity to interact with learning materials and to connect with people in the school community. Because attendance is such an important indicator of school success, truancy concerns must be prioritized and assessed. The average child with even just one unexcused absence does much worse academically than peers with none (AttendanceWorks 2020). Our approach is built upon our beliefs about what unexcused absences are telling us, and these beliefs affect our policies and procedures. When we believe that students want to do well, and that unexcused absences are the symptoms of issues on various system levels, our approach to problem-solving will be collaborative, multi-faceted, and more effective.

Wisconsin educators strive for high graduation rates with healthy and well students. Since regularly missing school has a significant impact on student achievement and positive youth development, truancy laws aim to deter students from skipping school, encourage students to attend, and encourage caregivers to get kids to school. The hope is to ultimately increase graduation rates, improve the workforce, build community, support wellbeing, reduce the risk of negative outcomes, and increase protective factors and positive outcomes. It is helpful for school staff to keep the purpose of truancy reduction in mind when approaching policy and practice considerations.

The most effective school-based truancy reduction strategies include activities implemented across a continuum of supports within an equitable Multi-Level System of Support (MLSS) combined with proactive interagency collaboration. A continuum of support includes strong universal and prevention practices, with additional supports added, as needed, based on data and student voice. It should be noted research suggests youth may be chronically absent for multiple reasons spanning several different categories – underscoring the importance of using a continuum of supports rooted in prevention, as well as a collaborative approach with other systems to address unmet needs. A collaborative approach includes students, families, schools, law enforcement, youth justice, child welfare, and the courts working together to set up attendance improvement strategies. It is best to establish a collaborative cross-agency group to meet proactively and regularly. Effective truancy strategies are multi-leveled, with early interventions provided by schools and community agencies and the justice system acting as a “last resort” for a much smaller number of youth and families requiring more intensive support (Weber 2020; George 2011; Attendance Works n.d.-a.).

When a student is identified as habitually truant, school staff are encouraged to follow procedures outlined in state statute in a trauma-sensitive manner. If a student is absent without an acceptable excuse for all or part of five or more days during a school semester, they meet the definition of habitually truant. Wisconsin statute allows, but does not require, schools to refer students who are habitually truant to juvenile court intake or municipal court only after satisfying the steps detailed in Wis. Stat. §118.16(5). These steps include understanding what might be getting in the way of a student attending and being engaged through evaluation of the learning and social contexts. Another specific step schools must follow is to invite a parent or guardian to meet and discuss the student’s truancy. Keep in mind that the required habitual truancy notification letters may be written using trauma-sensitive and simpler language and fewer words to improve their effectiveness. Further, school staff should develop attendance improvement plans that are led by student and parent perspectives, goals, and needs. Attention should be paid to how responses to truancy increase a student’s relationships between adults and peers, and contribute to a sense of belonging in the school community. Practices that further punish traditionally marginalized students should be avoided, so that practices reduce harm and increase connection.  When problem-solving approaches for truancy reduction are collaborative, multi-leveled, and include the considerations outlined above, school districts have a greater chance of meeting the purpose of truancy laws and helping students to succeed.

Absences also impact the ability of students with disabilities to receive a free appropriate public education, and to make progress toward their annual individualized education program (IEP) goals and within the general education curriculum. If a student with a disability is frequently absent, the IEP team must meet to review the student’s IEP and determine if there are additional supports and services required to address the absences. In conducting this review, the IEP team must consider input by the parents, who are members of the team, and the student, when appropriate. The IEP team meeting should be held before the number of absences are reached where the student is identified as habitually truant.

It is important to note per Wis. Stat. §118.15(4), homeschooling that meets specific criteria may be substituted for attendance at a public or private school. Under current law, homeschooling parents are required to file the online PI-1206 homeschool report annually, on or before October 15. Under Wis. Stat. § 115.30(3), no school district can compel the submission of the form prior to October 15. If a parent communicates to their residents district their intent to homeschool their student(s), a district should consider that sufficient notice up to the October 15 deadline to submit a PI-1206 form.

Additional policy and practice considerations, with links to implementation resources, can be found in the recently publishedBest Practice Approaches to Truancy Reduction: Information for School Attendance Officers.

By Julie Incitti, School Social Work Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 

References:

AttendanceWorks. 2020. “The Urgent Need to Avoid Punitive Responses to Poor Attendance.” Accessed September 2021.https://www.attendanceworks.org/the-urgent-need-to-avoid-punitive-responses-to-poor-attendance/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AttendanceWorks+%28Attendance+Works%29.

AttendanceWorks. n.d.-a. “Three Tiers of Intervention.” Accessed September 2021.https://www.attendanceworks.org/chronic-absence/addressing-chronic-absence/3-tiers-of-intervention/.

AttendanceWorks. n.d.-b. “Why Are So Many Students Missing So Much School?”  Accessed August 2021.https://www.attendanceworks.org/resources/toolkits/teaching-attendance-2-0/use-data-for-intervention-and-support/strategy-2-consider-needed-supports/why-are-so-many-students-missing-so-much-school/.

Balfanz, Robert and Vaughn Byrnes. 2012. Chronic Absenteeism: Summarizing What We Know from Nationally Available Data. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools. Accessed August 2021.https://new.every1graduates.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/FINALChronicAbsenteeismReport_May16.pdf.

George, Thomas. 2011. Truancy in Washington State: Trends, Student Characteristics, and the Impact of Receiving a Truancy Petition. Olympia, WA: Washington State Center for Court Research. Accessed August 2021.https://www.courts.wa.gov/subsite/wsccr/docs/TruancyEvalReport.pdf.

Weber, Josh. 2020. Rethinking the Role of the Juvenile Justice System: Improving Youth’s School Attendance and Educational Outcomes. Center for State Government Justice Center. Accessed August 2021.https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CSG_RethinkingtheRoleoftheJuvenileJusticeSystem_15SEPT20.pdf.

U.S. Department of Education. 2016. “Chronic Absenteeism in the Nation’s Schools.” Accessed August 2021.https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/chronicabsenteeism.html#four.