Re-Engaging Youth in School: Evaluation of the Truancy Demonstration Project

• NCJ Number: 212158
• Author(s): Krystina Finlay, Ph.D.
• Date Published: August 2006
• Length: 86 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1999-MU-MU-0014
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

This report presents evaluation data for the seven demonstration sites of the "Evaluation of the OJJDP Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program" project sponsored by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Abstract

The seven sites are Suffolk County, NY; Contra Costa, CA; Tacoma and Seattle, WA; Houston, TX; Honolulu, HI; and Jacksonville, FL. The data and their analysis encompass the characteristics of the intervention population and students' progress from the start of the project on July 1, 1999 to July 1, 2005. Data on the intervention population at each site address the students' ethnicity, grades, age, IEP status, discipline problems, involvement with juvenile justice, primary caregiver, income eligibility status, whether living in a home with only one adult, whether there is no working adult in the home, and the average number of children in the home. Data on students' progress under the truancy prevention program address unexcused absences over time, excused absence over time, tardies over time, days of in-school and out-of-school suspensions, and overall academic performance over time. Given that the primary goal of the project was to improve student attendance, overall the project achieved this. Although excused absences and tardies did not change appreciably, unexcused absences declined dramatically across the seven sites. The most successful sites were Jacksonville, and Honolulu. These sites primarily targeted parents, because the target student population was elementary students. Jacksonville was particularly impressive, because the intervention population was largely Black, poor, and with a high percentage of unemployed parents. Tables present both aggregate data for all seven sites and data for each site.