The Efficacy of Truancy Prevention Programs: A Reduction of Truancy, Juvenile Crime and Dropouts
The impact of truancy on the nation's educational system are staggering because it transcends the immediate school setting and assumes lifelong implications for many of the young people that take part in this behaviors. Indeed, more than one million of the two million inmates incarcerated in the United States today are high school dropouts, and the primary reason reported for their dropping out of school in the first place was a general lack of personal development that caused them to become disenchanted with the school system and stop actively participating (Cassel, 2003). Unfortunately, boards of education and the public they serve in the U.S. have been largely unable to agreed on which issues are most important in resolving truancy in the schools, but studies have shown time and again that the nation's schools do have major effects on children's development and it has been argued that school effectiveness is perhaps best seen as a relative term the is related to the time period, educational outcomes, and student age groups involved (Johnson, Livingston, Schwartz & Slate, 2000). Complex problems require complex solutions, of course, and truancy is no exception; however, the problems and their respe
Family structure and demographic characteristics; 2. Likewise, when something is made a priority, it is supposed to get better; unfortunately, it remains unclear whether the millions of dollars invested in truancy prevention programs have been worth the time and resources used to date, particularly in view of a lack of a benchmark. For example, according to Greene and Vourlekis, school counselors should ensure that their truancy prevention programs are supported by other available resources within the community, the school and to the maximum extent possible, support from the parents as well. According to Bedard (1996), in 1996, President Clinton approved a $10 million grant program intended to combat truancy in spite of some uncertainty about the extent of the problem on the part of his own Secretary of Education, who made it clear why cabinet members get the big bucks: "It's hard for us to say [whether the problem is getting worse]," Education Secretary Richard W. Create meaningful incentives for parental responsibility;4. This means using a "carrot-and-stick" approach that draws on both the law enforcement community to deliver any requisite stick and resources in the community to provide the necessary carrot to evoke substantive personal changes in the truant student. These recommendations largely mirror those contained in the aforementioned manual promoted by President Clinton: 1. Major events or crises in the family's history such as divorce, death, unemployment, migration, and natural disasters; 3. Use one-on-one case management to teach self-sufficiency to kids who have seen little except joblessness and welfare (Hunzeker, 1993). Provide services and support to address family stress, including unemployment, marital conflict, divorce and single parenting. Ensure that truant students face firm sanctions;3. Resources available to the family (Greene & Vourlekis, 1992). Crises in the health of the child such as surgery or hospitalizations; 7. Fortunately, empirical observations and a few scholarly studies have emerged in recent years to help educators fine-tune their truancy prevention programs to meet these challenges, and these issues are discussed further below.
Common topics in this essay:
Violence Hunzeker,
Greene Vourlekis,
Schwartz Slate,
Background Overview,
Prevention Programs,
Secretary Riley,
President Clinton,
Questions Study,
truancy prevention,
truancy prevention programs,
prevention programs,
Secretary Education,
Richard Riley,
greene vourlekis,
law enforcement,
bedard 1996,
hunzeker 1993,
greene vourlekis 1992,
vourlekis 1992,
skills johnson et,
incidence truancy,
school system,
cultural socioeconomic,
et al 2000,
johnson et al,
|
Acceptance Essays
