Teacher perceptions regarding truancy: causes and early intervention strategies

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of elementary school teachers, in a school district in west central Wisconsin, regarding the causes of truancy and high rates of excused absences and prevention and intervention strategies utilized to address these issues. The subjects of the study were 34 teachers who voluntarily completed a survey developed by this researcher for the study. The subjects of the study were selected based on this researcher’s familiarity with the area and out of convenience of locality to this researcher. The elementary schools were located in a city with a population of approximately 60,000, in west central Wisconsin. Since the district has 15 elementary schools, a sample population was selected from these schools based on the socioeconomic status of the population attending the school. Socioeconomic status was determined based on the number of students receiving free and reduced lunch at each particular school. Therefore, the schools selected represented the two top, the two middle, and the two low socioeconomic areas in the school district. The survey consisted of a demographic section and nine questions. The first four questions were asked to provide an understanding of the teacher’s awareness of their school district’s policies and procedures for addressing truancy and high rates of excused absences. The next two questions were asked to gain an understanding of the teacher’s perceptions regarding the causes of truancy and high rates of excused absences. The last two questions were asked to provide an understanding of the teacher’s awareness of their school’s prevention and intervention services for addressing the same issues. The data from the surveys was analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. Also, lists of responses regarding services were generated by this researcher. The results show that the majority of the teachers in the sample population were aware of their school’s policies and procedures for addressing truancy and high rates of excused absences. They were also aware of the social causes of truancy but were not as aware of the psychological and educational causes. And, only half of the teachers in the sample population were aware of their school’s prevention and intervention services for addressing attendance issues. Based on the results of this study, it was recommended that the school district offer this survey to the entire district teaching staff, that a needs assessment be conducted to determine the educational needs of the teachers in relation to these issues for in-services, and that a follow-up study be conducted after implementation of the in-services. In order to effectively deal with issues of absenteeism, it is critical to understand the causes of truancy and high rates of excused absences, as well as their prevention and intervention strategies.