Scholarly Work

Truancy prevention in Southwest Virginia

Public Deposited

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a truancy prevention program operated by a rural school district in southwest Virginia in reducing absenteeism and improving academic performance for students. The truancy prevention program consists of an early warning system by which school personnel and other professionals (known as the Truancy, Academic, Assistance, and Response Team or TAART) meet with students with frequent absences, poor academic performance, or behavioral problems. Referral to a truancy officer, who pursues legal action against chronically absent students and/or their parents, is a commonly used intervention, but other supportive measures are also utilized. Analysis using repeated measures t-tests indicated no observable impacts on student attendance or academics after participation in the TAART meetings at one-year follow-up or from last semester when data was available. Correlations using change scores did not yield significant relationships between absences, numerical grades, or number of TAART meetings attended.

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