INTRODUCTION
Truancy has been referred to as a "first step to a lifetime of problems" for youth (Garry, 1996). Truant students have a higher risk than nontruant students of involvement in drug and alcohol use, violence, and gang activity (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1996). Police departments across the nation report that many students who are not in school during regular hours are committing crimes, including vandalism, shoplifting, and graffiti. According to a 1996 report, 44 percent of violent juvenile crime occurred between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in San Diego, Calif., (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice). Thus, student nonattendance is a problem that extends much further than the school. Truancy affects the student, the family, and the overall community (ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management and Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1999).

Examination of the truancy problem requires investigation into the possible reasons that students may choose to engage in truant behavior. Statistics have shown that a student's decision to skip or drop out of school might be the product of many factors, including family problems, drug and alcohol abuse, illiteracy, and teenage pregnancy (Cantelon and LeBoeuf, 1997). According to the U.S. Department of Education, when young people start skipping school, they are telling their parents, their school, and the community at large that they are in trouble and need our help if they are to keep moving forward in life (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1996).

The self-reported reasons for truancy vary considerably. According to a 1992 report by the National Center for Education Statistics (McMillen et al., 1993), 4 dropouts in 10 said that they left school because they were failing or they did not like school, and males and females reported in roughly equal numbers that they were leaving school because of personality conflicts with teachers. More males than females dropped out of school because of school suspension or expulsion. The dropout rate among 16- to 24-year-olds who had repeated more than one grade was 41 percent, compared with 17 percent of those who had repeated only one grade and 9 percent of those who had not repeated any grades. Dropout rates were highest among those who had repeated grades 7, 8, or 9. Although most dropouts reported school-related reasons for leaving school, most female dropouts reported family-related reasons. Among dropouts, 21 percent of females and 8 percent of males dropped out because they had become parents (McMillen et al., 1993).

Not all indicators of truancy point to students' personal or family problems. In fact, students and school staff often disagree on the reasons for truancy. In one survey, students cited boredom, loss of interest in school, irrelevant courses, suspensions, and bad relationships with teachers as major factors leading to the decision to skip school. In contrast, school staff believed truancy to be related to students' problems with their families and peers (ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management and Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1999).

Consistent with the observations of some school staff, some criminal justice scholars have speculated that parental neglect may be a common cause of truancy. According to Garry (1996): "Many parents of truant students do not value education. Some children are kept at home to work or babysit preschool siblings. Others are prevented from attending school because of problems at home, at school, or in neighborhoods." Rohrman (1993) conveys that most parents appreciate the need for children to attend school, but some are unaware that children are truant, do not know how to increase their attendance, or may believe that meeting family needs is a satisfactory reason for absence. Rohrman also points out that some immigrant parents may not understand that attendance is compulsory.

An additional consideration is that the trip to and from school takes some students through sections of their neighborhoods where they may feel intimidated. In one study on factors contributing to school truancy, 80 percent of youth surveyed said they feared the trip to and from school, reporting that they were forced to cross the "turf" of hostile gangs and that they often skipped school rather than risk violence (University of Colorado at Boulder, 2000).

THEORETICAL CONTEXT
Truancy has been clearly identified as one of the early warning signs that youth potentially are headed for delinquent activity, social isolation, or educational failure. Several studies have established lack of commitment to school as a risk factor for substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, and dropping out of school (Bell, Rosen, and Dynlacht, 1994; Dryfoos, 1990; Huizinga, Loeber, and Thornberry, 1995; Rohrman, 1993). In addition, decades of research have also identified a link between truancy and later problems such as violence, marital problems, job problems, adult criminality, and incarceration (Dryfoos, 1990; Catalano et al., 1998; Robins and Ratcliff, 1978; Snyder and Sickmund, 1995). More recent studies, such as OJJDP's Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency (Kelley et al., 1997), indicate that truancy may be a precursor to serious violent and nonviolent offenses and that the connection between truancy and delinquency appears to be particularly acute among males. Moreover, findings from OJJDP's Study Group on Very Young Offenders (Loeber and Farrington, 2000) indicate that chronic truancy in elementary school is linked to serious delinquent behavior at age 12 and under. The financial impact of truancy and the dropouts that result can be measured in at least four ways:

• A less educated workforce
  
• The business loss attributable to youth who "hang out," shoplift, or do both during the day
  
• Higher daytime crime rates (in some cases)
• The cost of social services for families of children who are habitually truant

Truancy, however, has an even more direct financial impact on communities: the loss of Federal and State education funding (Baker, Sigmon, and Nugent, 2001).

TYPES OF TRUANCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS
Truancy prevention programs are designed to promote regular school attendance through one or more strategies, including the following:

• Court alternatives
  
  
• Mentoring programs
  
  
• Law enforcement participation
  
  
• Increasing parental involvement
  
  
• Other strategies, such as improving parent-teacher communication and drawing upon community resources

EVIDENCE OF IMPACT
The U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice suggest that the communities that have had the most success in deterring truancy not only have concentrated on improving procedures but also have implemented a comprehensive strategy that emphasizes incentives and sanctions for truants and their parents. They name five primary elements of a comprehensive community and educational strategy to combat truancy:

• Involve parents in all truancy prevention activities (e.g., increasing parent-teacher communication and initiating programs such as "homework hotlines" and appointing a parent liaison).
  
  
• Ensure that students face firm sanctions for truancy (school districts should communicate a "zero tolerance" policy that carries strict ramifications for violators).
  
  
• Create meaningful incentives for parental responsibility to ensure that children go to school (e.g., parents of truant children may be asked to participate in parenting education programs, truancy can be subject to formal sanction, or demonstration of regular school attendance could directly affect parents' eligibility for certain public assistance).
  
  
• Establish ongoing truancy prevention programs in school by addressing the needs of individual children and developing initiatives to combat the root causes of truancy (e.g., tutoring, increased security, drug prevention, mentorship, increasing parental involvement, and providing referrals).
  
  
• Involve local law enforcement in truancy reduction efforts (e.g., community-run detention centers or "sweeps" of neighborhoods in which truants are often found). [U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1996]

Similarly, the National Association of Secondary School Principals makes several recommendations concerning attendance policies that work (Bartlett et al., 1978):

• Policies should be strong. Schools that invest thought and effort into solving problems make the most headway.
  
  
• Participation in the formulation of the attendance policies should be broadly based.
  
  
• Attendance expectations, as well as consequences of good and poor attendance, should be specified in writing.
  
  
• Policies should be well publicized.
  
  
• Policies should be consistently enforced at every level-by teacher, counselor, and principal.
  
  
• Student absences should be followed by a telephone call or letter home from a school official.

In addition to the points made above, other professionals have contended that schools should clearly state that attendance is the responsibility of the student and parents, and that they will be held accountable for absences. Policies should be educational rather than punitive, should include due process provisions, and should be flexible enough to deal with extenuating circumstances (ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education and Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1997).

References

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