Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify effective actions that improve high school attendance and to determine the most common causes of absences and truancy. This study focused on successful interventions by three California high schools with high attendance rates despite levels of socioeconomic disadvantage greater than 80% and truancy rates between 1% and 25%. Methodology. The data from this qualitative study were collected primarily from 12 inperson interviews; four administrators, five clerks, and three parents, purposively selected from three Southern California high schools. Administrators and clerks answered 14 semistructured interview questions assessing their perspective on the causes of truancy, chronic absences, and actions that improve attendance. The parent participants answered three semistructured interview questions assessing the causes of truancy, chronic absences, and desired parent support. Findings. Qualitative data identified five major causes contributing to chronic absences: student engagement, family problems, physical/mental health, parental stewardship, and family logistics. Three major causes contributing to truancy: student engagement, parent stewardship, and family problems, and eight effective actions for improving student attendance: parent involvement programs, student discipline programs, student engagement programs, attendance intervention programs, passing period programs, personalization and dedicated staff, data collection and monitoring, and rewards and incentives programs. Conclusions. The data support the conclusion that school attendance is improved when professional and dedicated staff members collect and analyze data, consistently administer thoughtful student discipline, attendance intervention, passing period programs, provide engaging instruction, and attend carefully to the personal and family issues of individual students with patterns of absences and truancy. Recommendations. Further research is advised: studies of parents of truant student(s) who have improved their attendance and parent perceptions on how to increase attendance. Also, it is recommended that the study be replicated with parents of students classified as habitual truants.