Truancy: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Methodology 
Setting and Participants 
The research was conducted at a charter school within a large urban school district in 
western New York. This is a school for students living within the area of the larger urban 
district and provides students and their families with an alternative to the consistently low-
performing urban school district. This site was selected because it was the school in which I 

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Truancy: Causes, Effects, and Solutions 
14 
was employed and also because truancy was a major issue affecting our underachieving 
student population.
The participants included two ninth and tenth grade classes and all teachers in grades 
seven through ten. This population of the ninth and tenth grade student body was selected 
because I teach each class and the majority of the students have illegally missed at least one 
day, and many have illegally missed consecutive days of school; therefore earning the “at-
risk” student population title for this research. Moreover, to increase student achievement, all 
students should become aware of how missing school affects their learning, and as a result I 
will share my findings with them. I selected all teachers in grades seven through ten because I 
wanted to determine where our school’s staff’s beliefs currently are and to determine where 
our teachers stand with regard to improving chronic illegal student absenteeism. Multiple 
teachers have requested a copy of my research, and I will be providing them with a copy of 
my research at the end of the school year.
Data Collection and Analysis
Three types of data collection were utilized to provide for analysis. Reading peer-
reviewed literature on truancy provided much of the data for my research. Some research had 
been previously conducted in some of the topic areas. Second, student information from 
surveys, academic records, and attendance records provided student specific data. Lastly, 
teacher surveys provided teacher specific data. The student and teacher specific data is 
compared and contrasted to the findings and ideas of others contained in the peer-reviewed 
literature to determine the most appropriate solution for my school to initiate as a concerned 
effort to reduce, or eliminate truancy altogether. The research began in September of 2009 
and continued through to April of 2010. 

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Truancy: Causes, Effects, and Solutions 
15 
Data Analysis 
The data analysis addressed three general issues concerning 9
th
and 10
th
grade illegal 
absenteeism in my school. First, student responses concerning frequency of illegal absences 
and the use of legal excuses were interpreted and compared to documented student attendance 
statistics. Next, student responses for committing illegal absenteeism were interpreted and 
organized into one of four categories: family factors, economic influences, student variables, 
or school factors. Lastly, teacher responses were interpreted and organized into one of the 
following five categories concerning teacher beliefs: student achievement/ success, 
consequences for illegal student absenteeism, causes of illegal student absenteeism, effects of 
illegal student absenteeism, and solutions for decreasing, or eliminating truancy altogether.