Anti-Truancy Strategies
Madison Medenwaldt and Chelsey Brinker,
Dr. Susan Wolfgram, University of Wisconsin-Stout
Research Question
What are the attitudes of truancy workers from a small western
Wisconsin non-profit that works with youth and families regarding
effective developmental strategies when working with truant students
grades 6-12?
Theoretical Framework
Interview Questions and Themes Derived
from Interviews
Each Participant was asked if the
strategy listed was effective from
Hypothesis
their perspective followed by the
Our hypothesis was that the more individualized, long term, and personal
choice to share more information
strategies (examples: Case Management, Family Support) will be more effective with the researchers:
than the impersonal, “pre-packaged” strategies (examples: warning letter, fine
enforced
• One-on-one case management
Purposes of Study
•One was to examine the attitudes of truancy workers towards
common truancy prevention strategies with a sample of one
current and one former truancy specialist
•The second was we followed qualitative email interview protocol.
•Third was that the results from this study would increase the
awareness of truancy workers about which truancy strategies are
most and least effective, thus making their work more efficient
because they will be able to put their efforts into more effective
practices
The themes and findings that
came from the specific
questions that we asked our
participants.
• Develop personal
connection with students
• Mailing a letter home to the
students parent’s
• Identify specific barriers
• Facilitating a family meeting
• Avoid impersonal
approaches
• Giving a reward for perfect
attendance
• Taking privileges away from
the student
Literature Review
• Involve the family and
other support systems
• Individualize as much as
possible
• Giving a fine to the parent or
• Help the student discover
youth
for
being
truant
Thomas, Lemieux, Rhodes, and Vlosky (2011), It was found that truancy clearly
their value and the value
declined with the case management; however, the truancy stayed the same for
in school
•
Group
case
management
those who received the warning letter.
Hendricks, Sale, Evan, and McKinley, and DeLozier (2010) The results show
that the Prevention Program was effective on the attendance rates but not for
long-term results.
Peek (2009) They compared the two intervention strategies and Perfect Pals
was found to be the most effective program with 71% of the people choosing
it; the results show that these programs were very effective for students and
they helped improve attendance rates.
Enea and Dafinoiu (2009) Qualitative themes emerging from the motivational
interviewing included that students wanted immediate results and additional
advantages to attending school. As professionals, we need to identify new
support/encouragement strategies as opposed to punishment.
Newsome, Anderson-Butcher, Fink, Hall, and Huffer (2008) They found that
increasingly intensive interventions promoted better outcomes, and by
pursuing their work from a “whole picture point of view”, a view that would
encompass the student, family, school, and community as a whole, is more
effective than targeting just one of those areas
• Any other information you
would like us to know
• Advocating for students is
important
“In order to make a lasting and effective
change, the student needs to identify their
need to attend school and their own resolve
to overcome whatever barriers are hindering
their attendance – whether that be
emotional, psychological, environmental,
etc.” (Alyssa)
Social Exchange Theory (Strong, DeVault, Cohen, 2005)
Reward – Cost = Outcome
How this applied to our study:
Rewarding strategies would help the student feel that the benefits of attending
school may be worth the costs Punishing students for not attending school
would not show the truant student a positive outlook on school. This would
lead to the student not seeing the value in school and chances are would not
decrease truancy rates. By individualizing each reward it would show the
student he/she is valued, making the benefits of school higher than the costs
Participants
Gender
Participant 1
Participant 2
Female
Female
Years of Experience 1
Degree
5
Criminal Justice Vocational Rehabilitation
Methods
The purposive sampling method was used because us as researchers wanted
to speak with specific truancy professionals and we went to them to get
their knowledge on the questions that we had. The snowball sampling was
used, as Madison was the insider who introduced her partner to the
participants. Email Interviews were used for data collection (Meho, 2006)
The reason we chose to do our research via email was it was the most
flexible method to accommodate our sample and was useful under our time
restrictions.
Implications for Future Research
from Investigator’s Perspective
Larger number of participants-More perspectives and More varied
demographics
Quantitative as well-Adding a quantitative component to investigate a larger
sample of truancy workers
Conclusion
This research is very important in our field because the faster you begin
implementing successful strategies with truant students the sooner these
children begin on the path to a better future. Both of our truancy experts
felt that one-on one case management is the best way to ensure that you
get to the real reason that the student is truant. By finding the strategies
that have been shown to be most effective for truant students it really
speeds up the process to really lowering truancy numbers and the students
on their way to be successful individuals.