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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
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Results for school dropouts
20 results foundAuthor: Fowler, Deborah Fitzgerald Title: Texas' School-to-Prison Pipeline: Dropout to Incarceration. The Impact of School Discipline and Zero Tolerance Summary: Numerous studies by national experts in the fields of education, criminal justice, and mental health have established a link between school dropout rates and incarceration. This link holds true in Texas. One in three juveniles sent to a locked down facility operated by the Texas Youth Commission has already dropped out of school - and more than 80 percent of Texas adult prison inmates are school dropouts. This study documents the impact of a "school-to-prison" pipeline in Texas and identifies policy areas in need of systemic reform. Details: Austin, TX: Texas Appleseed, 2007. 166p. Source: Internet Resource: Available at: https://www.texasappleseed.org/sites/default/files/01-STPPReport2007.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 118377 Keywords: School Discipline (Texas)School DropoutsSchool-to-Prison PipelineZero Tolerance (Texas) |
Author: Klima, T. Title: What Works? Targeted Truancy and Dropout Programs in Middle and High School Summary: In 2008, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy was directed by the Legislature to study various aspects of truancy. In the following report, we focus on findings regarding evidence-based practices for truancy reduction and dropout prevention among middle and high school students. Programs implemented by schools, courts, and law enforcement agencies were considered. Based on a national review of the literature, we conclude that: There are few rigorous studies evaluating the effects of targeted truancy and dropout programs on at-risk students. In this analysis, only 22 (out of 200) studies met our criteria for rigor. Overall, targeted programs for older student populations make small positive impacts on (1) dropping out, (2) achievement, and (3) presence at school (attendance/enrollment). When programs are divided based on their central focus or modality, alternative educational programs (e.g., schools -- within-schools) and mentoring programs are found to be effective. Specifically, Career Academies — an alternative program model that offers a strong career and technical focus — positively impact all three outcomes, as well as high school graduation. Alternative schools — separate buildings with specialized academic and other services for atrisk students — have a small negative effect on dropping out: more at-risk students drop out of alternative schools than other educational programs. Additional research is required to better understand this finding. Only one rigorous court-based program evaluation was located; thus, this analysis cannot inform court policy or practices. Because of the key role of the juvenile courts in addressing truancy in many states, additional well-designed studies are imperative. Details: Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 2009. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 1, 2011 at: http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/09-06-2201.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/09-06-2201.pdf Shelf Number: 121213 Keywords: EducationJuvenile CourtJuvenile OffendersMentoringSchool DropoutsTruancy |
Author: Sum, Andrew Title: The Consequences of Dropping Out of High School: Joblessness and Jailing for High School Dropouts and the High Cost for Taxpayers: 22% Daily Jailing Rate for Young Black Men Who Drop Out of High School Summary: The economic, social, and moral case for addressing the nation’s existing high school dropout problems was made in a report titled Left Behind in America: The Nation’s Dropout Crisis. This report called upon the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration to enact legislation to support programs at the local and state level to re-enroll existing high school dropouts to enable them to improve their academic achievement skills, obtain their high school diplomas or their equivalents, and bolster their employability through work experience and training. The nation’s young dropouts experience a wide array of labor market, earnings, social and income problems that exacerbate their ability to transition to careers and stable marriages from their mid-20s onward. This new research paper was prepared to outline the employment, earnings, incarceration, teen and young adult parenting experiences and family incomes of the nation’s young adult high school dropouts and their better educated peers in 2006 to 2008. Young high school dropouts confront a number of labor market problems in their late teens and early 20's. They are less likely to be active labor force participants than their better educated peers, and they frequently experience considerably higher unemployment rates when they do seek work. As a consequence, they are much less likely to be employed than their better educated peers across the nation, and gaps typically widen as national labor markets deteriorate such as during the current recession. The employment rates of the nation’s 16-24 year old, out-of-school youth by their educational attainment in 2008 are displayed in Chart These estimated employment rates are annual averages. Slightly less than 46 percent of the nation’s young high school dropouts were employed on average during 2008. This implies an average joblessness rate during 2008 of 54% for the nation for young high school dropouts. Their employment rate was 22 percentage points below that of high school graduates, 33 percentage points below that of young adults who had completed 1-3 years of post-secondary schooling, and 41 percentage points below that of their peers who held a four year college degree. Young high school dropouts were only about one-half as likely to be working as those youth holding a bachelor’s or higher degree in 2008. Details: Boston, MA: Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, 2009. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 29, 2011 at: http://www.clms.neu.edu/publication/documents/The_Consequences_of_Dropping_Out_of_High_School.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.clms.neu.edu/publication/documents/The_Consequences_of_Dropping_Out_of_High_School.pdf Shelf Number: 121577 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionEducationSchool DropoutsSocioeconomic Status |
Author: National Center for School Engagement Title: The Story Behind the Numbers: A Qualitative Evaluation of the Houston TX Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program Summary: The Gulfton Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project in Houston, TX, uses two primary methods of reducing truancy. The first is a case management model in which students and families are assigned to a case manager in an effort to identify and address unmet needs that may be impacting school attendance. The case manager attempts to establish a network of community resources to serve families in a variety of areas. Based upon a family’s particular needs, the case manager makes referrals to the appropriate community service agencies. These agencies provide to families of truant youth services such as temporary shelter, food, clothing and physical or mental health assistance. The case management model is used in conjunction with a second method, commonly known as “Knock and Talk,” in which police officers make visits to the homes of students with identified truancy patterns. Officers may issue tickets to the students and/or parents indicating that the student is in violation of state law for mandatory school attendance. Officers attempt to connect with families and engage them in conversation about the kinds of behaviors that lead to truancy and the importance of school attendance. Additionally, the officers attempt to build relationships with the student and families that extend beyond the formal home visit. Officers also make referrals to community agencies or to the case manager if they detect a particular need that may be impacting school attendance. In an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of these two methods, focus groups were held with three groups of people: high school and program staff (including police officers), the students receiving the services, and parents of those students. Topics discussed included the experiences with the programs, perceptions of program effectiveness, and opinions about what worked well and what could be improved. People involved with both the case management and the “Knock and Talk” interventions were included in the focus groups. This paper presents a summary of the findings from those data collection processes. Details: Denver, CO: National Center for School Engagement, 2006. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 7, 2011 at: http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/TheStoryBehindtheNumbersAQualitativeEvaluationoftheHoustonTXTruancyReductionDemonstrationProgram.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/TheStoryBehindtheNumbersAQualitativeEvaluationoftheHoustonTXTruancyReductionDemonstrationProgram.pdf Shelf Number: 122005 Keywords: Interagency CooperationSchool DropoutsStatus OffendersTruancy |
Author: National Center for School Engagement Title: Re-Engaging Youth in School: Evaluation of the Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project Summary: The following data reflect all seven demonstration sites in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Truancy Prevention project. These sites are located in Suffolk County, New York; Contra Costa, California: Tacoma and Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Jacksonville, Florida. The purpose of collecting these data was to identify the intervention population and track truant students’ progress. The first set of tables is the aggregate of these seven sites from the projects inception to July 21, 2006. Following these data are the individual site reports. This report includes the following information: • Students Served • Ethnicity of Students • Grades of Students • Age of Students • Gender of Students • IEP status • Discipline Problems • Involvement with Juvenile Justice • Primary Care Giver • Income Eligibility Status • Students who live in home with only one adult • Students who have no working adult in the home • Average Number of children in the home • Unexcused Absences over Time • Excused Absences over Time • Tardies over Time • Days of In-School Suspensions • Days of Out-of-School Suspensions • Overall Academic Performance (over time). Students Served -- There were 634 students served in the seven demonstration sites from the time of inception through July 2006. Jacksonville served the most students (172). The average amount of students served was 91. Ethnicity -- Across all sites, the ethnicity of students is a relatively good mix of White/Caucasian, Black/African-American and Latino/Hispanic. There are less Asian/Pacific Islanders and almost no representation of Native Americans. Also, a large category consists of “Other” which can include any combination of any ethnicity. This almost equitable mix is a result of where the seven sites are located. The majority of students served in Seattle are White, whereas Tacoma served a larger proportion of African-Americans. In addition, Jacksonville and Suffolk counties served approximately equal numbers of African-American and White students. Houston served a primarily Hispanic population, and Honolulu was mostly “Other”, which in this case was mostly native Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian. Honolulu also served the majority of the Asian/Pacific students across the seven sites. Grade and Age -- Although all grades K-12 are served in the project, the majority of students represented in these data are in the first and ninth grades. Correspondingly, the majority of students served are ages six to seven and thirteen to sixteen. This is largely due to the focus on elementary students in Jacksonville and Honolulu and upper middle and high school in Houston and Seattle. Gender -- In general, girls were served slightly more than boys (52% vs. 48%). Suffolk County served the largest percentage of males (74%) and Houston served the largest percentages of females (60%). Families -- Approximately 70% of truant students’ primary caregivers included mothers. Approximately 15% of case managers said that “both parents” were primary caregivers. Some caseworkers checked “mother” and “father” as separate caregivers; this may indicate that although some parents were not living in the same household, they were sharing parental duties equally. In addition, 36% of students were living with only one adult and approximately 20% had no working adults in the home. The majority of children were eligible for free or reduced lunches. Of the 634 students whose information was entered, only 85 (13%) paid a full price lunch at school. Proportionately, the majority of students who paid full price lunches were in Contra Costa, Suffolk County and Seattle. Although Seattle had the highest proportion of students living with only one adult (49%), Jacksonville had the second highest proportion (42%) and the highest proportion of unemployment. There were an average number of three children living in the home. However, not all children were siblings; in some cases multiple nuclear families were located in a single dwelling. Discipline -- Across the sites, approximately 15% of children had some sort of discipline problem and 13% had already been involved with the juvenile justice system. Sites that served younger students had fewer discipline issues. At the beginning of interventions the range of in-school suspensions (ISS) was much higher than three, six, and nine months following. However, out-of-school suspensions (OSS) did not have a similar pattern; these did not change significantly across time. Nevertheless, the numbers of children who actually had out-of-school suspensions was very low. Academics -- Approximately 19% of students had Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The sites that had the majority of these students were from Jacksonville, Tacoma, and Seattle. The lowest proportions of students to have IEPs were in Houston and Honolulu. In addition, across the sites, more students improved in their overall academic achievement compared to those who did not change or whose grades worsened. The exceptions to this were in Jacksonville and Suffolk County which remained the same at Update 2 and 3, and in Tacoma which stayed the same at Update 1. Attendance -- The overarching goal of truancy prevention is obviously to improve attendance and this effort was successful. In general, while excused daily absences did not change appreciably, unexcused daily absences fell dramatically and tardies declined. Period absences did not change linearly and therefore a meaningful trend isn’t apparent. Of the sites that reported enough update data, the most successful sites were Jacksonville and Honolulu. These sites primarily targeted parents because the target student population were elementary students. All sites had less information for students across time. One reason for this may be that students who no longer needed intervention were no longer tracked. Thus, reported improvements may actually be smaller than what actually occurred. For instance, in Tacoma, the site that showed no improvement in unexcused absences, there were 71 total kids entered at intake, only 49 three months later, and only 14 nine months later. It is likely that at least some of the students who were not followed improved their attendance and no longer needed services. This same pattern is true for Contra Costa as well, however, the drop in number of students was only a little more than half nine months later (i.e., 50 at intake to 21, nine months later). Conclusion -- Overall, sites achieved what they intended given that they all worked with at risk families and children. Jacksonville, in particular, was extremely successful given that their population was largely African-American, poor, and had the highest number of unemployed families. They made excellent improvement in attendance and achievement. Because three sites reported on less than 75 students, it is possible that success was greater in these programs than the current data suggest, assuming they served more students than were reported. In general, the elementary-level truancy issues may be easier to deal with because the children are not “deep-end” yet and the parents are the primary focus. Older truants are likely to have more challenges and thus may require more intensive services. Details: Denver, CO: National Center for School Engagement, 2006. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 7, 2011 at: http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/Re-EngagingYouthinSchoolEvaluationoftheTruancyDemonstrationProject.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/Re-EngagingYouthinSchoolEvaluationoftheTruancyDemonstrationProject.pdf Shelf Number: 122005 Keywords: School DropoutsStatus OffendersTruancy |
Author: Advancement Project Title: Test, Punish, and Push Out: How Zero Tolerance and High-Stakes Testing Funnel Youth Into the School-To-Prison Pipeline Summary: Our tragically low national high school graduation rates should shock the conscience of every American. Reform is clearly needed, but it should start with the policies and practices that have resulted in millions of children not receiving a full and equal chance to receive a high quality education. While there are many factors that contribute to this sad reality, this report explores the two policies that may pose the most direct threat to the educational opportunities of America’s youth: “zero tolerance” school discipline and high-stakes testing. While they are usually considered separately, these two policies are actually closely related. In fact, zero tolerance and high-stakes testing both share the same ideological roots, and together they have combined to seriously damage the relationships between schools and the communities they serve throughout the country. Rather than helping to provide all students with enriching learning experiences, zero tolerance and high-stakes testing lead to an impoverished education for many young people. Instead of supporting students who are struggling or in need, both needlessly punish young people and limit their opportunities to fulfill their potential and achieve their goals. Together, zero tolerance and high-stakes testing have turned schools into hostile and alienating environments for many of our youth, effectively treating them as dropouts-in-waiting. The devastating end result of these intertwined punitive policies is a “school-to-prison pipeline,” in which huge numbers of students throughout the country are treated as if they are disposable, and are being routinely pushed out of school and toward the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The first section of the report examines the common origins and ideological roots of zero tolerance and high-stakes testing. In the 1980s, a movement began to implement far more punitive policies in both the criminal justice and public education systems. Modern zero tolerance (throughout this report, “zero tolerance” is used as shorthand for all punitive school discipline policies and practices) and high-stakes testing policies are the direct result of that movement. Within criminal justice policy, it was zero tolerance-style policing strategies implemented starting with the “War on Drugs” that led to the massive expansion of the adult prison population. This “get-tough” approach was eventually exported to schools, leading to a huge increase in the police and security presence in schools and far more harsh responses to student behavior. The results have been devastating, as across the country there have been dramatic increases in the use of lengthy out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, referrals to alternative schools, referrals to law enforcement, and school-based arrests. In effect, these policies and practices have blurred the line between the education and criminal justice systems. In public education, the equivalent to the War on Drugs was the crackdown on so-called “failing schools” following the 1983 publication of “A Nation at Risk.” That led to a push for greater school accountability, which came to mean broader use of standardized tests to measure achievement. As with zero tolerance, over time policymakers began using these tests punitively, in this case against both students and educators. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was both a product of this movement and a catalyst for its growth, as it has ushered in a new wave of inflexible, test-based accountability. Since the passage of NCLB in 2002, both the use of highstakes tests and the severity of the consequences attached to them have risen dramatically, leading to a rapidly dwindling set of opportunities for students who do not score well on these exams. Moreover, this “test and punish” approach has had a devastating effect on the quality of education being offered at many schools. Because of the severe consequences attached to these tests, many schools have been turned into test-prep factories, with narrowed, distorted, and weakened curricula often dominated by mindless drilling, rote memorization exercises, and “teaching to the test.” This has suffocated high-quality instruction, and made it more difficult than ever for teachers to engage students and create authentic and sustained learning. Thus, this “get-tough” approach to accountability has created an education system that increasingly turns students off to learning and teachers off to teaching. Despite substantial evidence of the damage caused by zero tolerance and high-stakes testing and the overwhelming body of research supporting alternative approaches, these policies have spread like wildfire due to their easy political appeal. The promoters and defenders of these policies have used the same, undeniably persuasive arguments grounded in principles of accountability and personal responsibility that many Americans associate with success in other fields, such as business. Indeed, the driving ideology behind both high-stakes testing and zero tolerance comes right out of the corporate playbook, as it is based on the notion that problems are solved and productivity is improved through rigorous competition, uncompromising discipline, constant assessment, performance-inducing incentives, and the elimination of low performers. While these principles may work in the business world, they are simply a bad fit in the context of public education. They are based on faulty assumptions, fail to create real improvement in schools, ensure that large numbers of students will fail academically, and fall far short of the democratic purposes of our public education system. Nevertheless, zero tolerance and high-stakes testing have followed the same path on their way to being frequently – and inappropriately – substituted for meaningful education reform. The second section of the report examines the current state of zero-tolerance school discipline across the country, and includes local, state, and national data. School districts around the country have adopted extraordinarily severe discipline policies and practices in recent years. These punitive measures extend far beyond serious infractions; instead, the vast majority of punitive disciplinary consequences tend to result from relatively minor misbehavior or trivial student actions. In fact, the problem in most cases is not the student, but, rather, the adults who react inappropriately to youthful behavior. Details: Los Angeles: Advancement Project, 2010. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 5, 2011 at: http://www.advancementproject.org/sites/default/files/publications/rev_fin.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.advancementproject.org/sites/default/files/publications/rev_fin.pdf Shelf Number: 118080 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionEducationSchool DisciplineSchool DropoutsZero Tolerance Policies (Schools) |
Author: Vermeire, Diana Tate Title: Discipline in California Schools: Legal Requirements and Positive School Environments Summary: The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) has a longstanding commitment to educational equity and ensuring that all California students are guaranteed their fundamental right to an education as promised under the California Constitution. Among the most serious of the issues facing our state’s public education institutions is the “pushout” phenomenon, where students either leave school voluntarily or are forced to leave. Racially disparate and punitive discipline, among other things, underlies the phenomenon; we believe it to be one of the reasons California fails to graduate many of its students. Although inconsistent discipline is by no means the sole cause of the dropout crisis, it is certainly a significant contributor. ACLU-NC has long worked with the educational community — school administrators, principals, and teachers — to reach our common goals of educating students, protecting them from harm, and helping them reach their full potential through a meaningful and equal educational experience. In order to combat pushout, school discipline policies and practices must be fair and equitable — both in their writing and their implementation. ACLU-NC’s varied litigation, policy advocacy, and organizing experience gained through our school bias and pushout work has given us insight into some of the successful strategies employed by — as well as common mistakes made by — California school districts in implementing effective and fair school discipline. In general, schools with the least number of suspensions and referrals maintain clearly defined policies, and the principal and teachers have established protocol that enables them to handle individual cases of misbehavior consistently. On the other hand, schools with the highest number of suspensions and referrals tend to have rigid, yet vague, discipline policies that do not incorporate preventive measures or positive interventions. Schools that shift to clearly defined discipline policies will most likely not only reduce discipline referrals and improve school environment but also improve students’ academic performance: schools that significantly lower their suspension and expulsion rates find that improved scholastic performance follows. Discipline in California Schools: Legal Requirements and Positive School Environments is intended to help school districts develop and implement more successful school discipline policies and therefore reduce pushout. It is based on the work of the ACLU-NC and the expertise of other organizations and individuals committed to ending racially disparate discipline in our nation’s schools. In particular, we want to acknowledge the excellent work of the following organizations: the Advancement Project; national American Civil Liberties Union; American Civil Liberties Unions of Florida and Washington; New York Civil Liberties Union; Dignity in Schools Campaign; UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access; Southern Poverty Law Center; and Equity Project at Indiana University. Discipline in California Schools also incorporates the admirable work of the California Department of Education (CDE) to address school discipline and environment through CDE policy guidelines and resources, sample policies, and other materials. This guide is intended to highlight successful approaches and common mistakes without purporting to cover all potential best practices and pitfalls. Details: San Francisco: ACLU of Northern California, 2010. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 11, 2011 at: http://www.aclunc.org/docs/racial_justice/discipline_in_california.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclunc.org/docs/racial_justice/discipline_in_california.pdf Shelf Number: 123314 Keywords: School Crime and DisorderSchool Discipline (California)School Dropouts |
Author: Florida Department of Education Title: Developing Effective Education in Department of Juvenile Justice and other Dropout Prevention Programs Summary: The purpose of this report is to provide the Florida legislature with the information required by section 1003.52(19), Florida Statutes (F.S.), Educational services in Department of Juvenile Justice programs, and section 1003.53, F.S., Dropout prevention and academic intervention. Section 1003.52, F.S., requires the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) and the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to report annually on the progress toward developing effective educational programs for juvenile delinquents. The report is divided into seven sections. The first section provides demographic data for all students served in dropout prevention (DOP) programs. The second section addresses the types of data indicators used to measure student outcomes in dropout prevention programs, followed by four sections that address these outcomes in each of the four major dropout prevention programs: educational alternatives, teenage parent, disciplinary, and educational services in Department of Juvenile Justice programs. The final section addresses additional juvenile justice topics required by s. 1003.52, F.S. This section includes information on funding and expenditures, cooperative agreements and educational service contracts, school improvement plans, services to exceptional education students, and recommendations for system improvement. Details: Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Education, 2012. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2012 at: http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-6321/dps-2012-23a.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-6321/dps-2012-23a.pdf Shelf Number: 124774 Keywords: Education (Florida)Juvenile DelinquencyJuvenile OffendersSchool DisciplineSchool Dropouts |
Author: MacGillivary, Heather Title: Truancy in Denver: Prevalence, Effects and Interventions Summary: Truancy is a gateway offense that generates the involvement of non-attenders in many service systems. Delinquent truants may become involved with the state juvenile or municipal court. Drug using truants may enter alcohol and drug abuse services. Truants with social emotional difficulties may require mental health or special education services. Neglected or ungovernable truants often end up on human service case loads. Pregnant truants are served by the public health system. Since so many sectors are affected by truancy, prevention and reduction activities must include a large cross section of agencies. Denver has a long history of collaboration between educators, judges and social services workers to tackle truancy. In the mid nineties, a city attorney from the Department of Human Services recognized that the families and children served by social services were involved in many different agencies. He brought together a committee to discuss a fictitious, multi-problem family. Through this case study, the committee recognized that school nonattendance was at the heart of the issues. This recognition initiated the Geraldine Thompson Family Project (GTFP) which consisted of numerous professionals who met monthly until 2004 to discuss how to prevent and reduce truancy in Denver by focusing on systems coordination and integration. A subcommittee of GTFP was formed in 1996 to explore programmatic options. This committee was aptly named, the Creative Options Committee (CO). This committee operated parallel to GTFP, with CO meeting in the evenings and GTFP meeting over the lunch hour. The membership of these committees was very diverse, including school staff, judges, magistrates, social service workers, city government representatives, and law enforcement. As a result of these discussions and the attention to the issue of truancy, funds were obtained from the City of Denver (Safe School and Healthy Student Initiative and Drug Free Schools) and the Denver school district for truancy intervention programs. In the late 1990’s, interventions focused on middle schools. Many of the middle schools had truancy officers, catch-up classrooms, and Student Attendance Review Boards (SARB). Unfortunately, budget cuts in early 2000 to 2003, eliminated many of these interventions and supports. In 2005, the GTFP essentially disbanded and the Creative Options Committee continued to meet. In spring 2004, the committee recognized that many ideas were suggested but very little data was available to inform action. For this reason a planning grant from the National Truancy Prevention Association (NTPA) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) was pursued and secured. Creative Options partnered with The National Center for School Engagement (NCSE) to conduct this needs assessment. The findings from the 10-month study are described in this report. Details: Denver, CO: National Center for School Engagement, 2006. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2012 at: https://www.denvergov.org/Portals/713/documents/FinalReportCreativeOptions.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/108.pdf Shelf Number: 124860 Keywords: EducationSchool DropoutsTruancy (Colorado) |
Author: Virginia. The Virginia Commission on Youth Title: Study of Truancy & School Dropout Prevention Summary: This study originated at the Commission on Youth’s April 23, 2008, meeting, during which the Commission adopted a two-year plan to study truancy and dropout prevention in Virginia. Specifically, the Commission was to study the provisions set forth in House Bill 1263 (Appendix A), to include a review of policies and procedures that address truancy and dropout prevention, including enforcement of compulsory attendance laws. As part of the study, the Commission established an Advisory Group consisting of stakeholder representatives, including members of the Commission, the Virginia 2 Department of Education, law enforcement and court agencies, child and family advocacy groups, and parent organizations. Although students were not official members of the Advisory Group, the Commission sought student input by inviting youth to speak at Advisory Group meetings and roundtables. Details: Richmond, VA: The Virginia Commission on Youth, 2010. 68p. Source: Final Report: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2012 at http://leg2.state.va.us/dls/h&sdocs.nsf/fc86c2b17a1cf388852570f9006f1299/9e96abbe33032fb6852577f90077957f/$FILE/RD392.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://leg2.state.va.us/dls/h&sdocs.nsf/fc86c2b17a1cf388852570f9006f1299/9e96abbe33032fb6852577f90077957f/$FILE/RD392.pdf Shelf Number: 124975 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionLegislationSchool DropoutsTruancy |
Author: Mosehauer, Katie Title: Reclaiming Students: The Educational and Economic Costs of Exclusionary Discipline in Washington State Summary: In 2010, aware that youth in the state of Washington were not exempt from the pushout occurring in schools across the country due to exclusionary disciplinary practices, advocates began the process of sifting through public records and collecting data on the effects of the state's school discipline policies. Based on data from the 2009-2010 school year, the report takes a statewide look at the use of suspensions and expulsions and their impact on students and communities in the state. Details: Seattle: Washington Appleseed and Team Child, 2012. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 23, 2013 at: http://www.teamchild.org/docs/uploads/Reclaiming_Students_-_a_report_by_WA_Appleseed__TeamChild.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.teamchild.org/docs/uploads/Reclaiming_Students_-_a_report_by_WA_Appleseed__TeamChild.pdf Shelf Number: 127354 Keywords: School Discipline (Washington State)School DropoutsSchool Suspensions |
Author: Cook, Philip J. Title: Birthdays, Schooling, and Crime: New Evidence on the Dropout-Crime Nexus Summary: Based on administrative data for five cohorts of public school children in North Carolina, we demonstrate that those born just after the cut date for starting school are likely to outperform those born just before in reading and math in middle school, and are less likely to be involved in juvenile delinquency. On the other hand, those born after the cut date are more likely to drop out of high school before graduation and commit a felony offense by age 19. We also present suggestive evidence that the higher dropout rate is due to the fact that youths born after the cut date have longer exposure to the legal possibility of dropping out. The “crime” and “dropout” differences are strong but somewhat muted by the fact that youths born just before the cut date are substantially more likely to be held back in school. We document considerable heterogeneity in educational and criminal outcomes by sex, race and other indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper Series; Working Paper 18791: Accessed February 12, 2013 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w18791 Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w18791 Shelf Number: 127584 Keywords: Education and CrimeSchool DropoutsSocioeconomic Status |
Author: Ludwig, Jens Title: Preventing Youth Violence and Dropout: A Randomized Field Experiment Summary: Improving the long-term life outcomes of disadvantaged youth remains a top policy priority in the United States, although identifying successful interventions for adolescents – particularly males – has proven challenging. This paper reports results from a large randomized controlled trial of an intervention for disadvantaged male youth grades 7-10 from high-crime Chicago neighborhoods. The intervention was delivered by two local non-profits and included regular interactions with a pro-social adult, after-school programming, and – perhaps the most novel ingredient – in-school programming designed to reduce common judgment and decision-making problems related to automatic behavior and biased beliefs, or what psychologists call cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We randomly assigned 2,740 youth to programming or to a control group; about half those offered programming participated, with the average participant attending 13 sessions. Program participation reduced violent-crime arrests during the program year by 8.1 per 100 youth (a 44 percent reduction). It also generated sustained gains in schooling outcomes equal to 0.14 standard deviations during the program year and 0.19 standard deviations during the follow-up year, which we estimate could lead to higher graduation rates of 3-10 percentage points (7-22 percent). Depending on how one monetizes the social costs of crime, the benefit-cost ratio may be as high as 30:1 from reductions in criminal activity alone. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013. 81p. Source: Internet Resoruce: NBER Working Paper 19014: Accessed May 9, 2013 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19014 Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19014 Shelf Number: 128689 Keywords: At-risk YouthCost-Benefit AnalysisDelinquency Prevention (U.S.)Education and CrimeSchool AttendanceSchool Dropouts |
Author: Ludwig, Jens Title: Think Before You Act: A New Approach to Preventing Youth Violence and Dropout Summary: Improving the long-term life outcomes of disadvantaged youths remains a top policy priority in the United States. Unfortunately, long-term progress in improving outcomes like high school graduation rates and reduction of violent crime has been limited, partly because finding ways to successfully improve outcomes for disadvantaged youths (particularly males) has proven to be challenging. We believe one reason so many previous strategies have failed is because they at least implicitly assume that young people are forward-looking and consider the long-term consequences of their actions before they act. But a growing body of research in psychology and behavioral economics suggests that a great deal of everyone's behavior happens intuitively and automatically, with little deliberate thought. Although it is often helpful for us to rely on automatic responses to guide our daily behavior, doing so can also get us into trouble, with consequences that are particularly severe for young people growing up in distressed urban areas where gangs, drugs, and guns are prevalent. We thus propose that the federal government aim to provide each teenager living in poverty in the United States with one year of behaviorally informed programming, intended to help youths recognize high-stakes situations when their automatic responses may be maladaptive. Such a program could teach young people to slow down and think about what they are doing, or could help them "rewire" their automatic responses. Our team has carried out several randomized controlled trials in Chicago that demonstrate that this approach, which is a version of what psychologists call cognitive behavioral therapy, can reduce arrests for violent crime by 30 to 50 percent, improve schooling outcomes, and generate benefits to society that may be up to thirty times the program costs. We suggest that the federal government scale up the program over five years, and that it combine this scale-up with rigorous evaluation to learn more about how best to implement (and, if needed, modify) the program at scale in different contexts across the country. The demonstration phase of the project would cost $50 million to $100 million per year over five years, while the at-scale cost would be $2 billion annually. The demonstration and eventual scale-up would be led by the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. If successful, this effort would improve the long-term well-being of our nation's most disadvantaged young people, reduce crime, improve schooling attainment, reduce income inequality, and enhance the nation's overall economic competitiveness. Details: Washington, DC: The Hamilton Project, 2014. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper 2014-02: Accessed May 10, 2014 at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2014/05/01%20preventing%20youth%20violence%20and%20dropout%20ludwigj%20shaha/v10_thp_ludwigdiscpaper.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2014/05/01%20preventing%20youth%20violence%20and%20dropout%20ludwigj%20shaha/v10_thp_ludwigdiscpaper.pdf Shelf Number: 132319 Keywords: At-Risk YouthCognitive Behavioral TherapyDelinquency PreventionDisadvantaged YouthSchool Dropouts |
Author: Hwang, Sophia Title: Supporting the Needs of Students Involved with the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice System in the School District of Philadelphia Summary: In January 2013, PolicyLab at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) was commissioned by the Mayor's Office of Education (MOE), School District of Philadelphia (SDP), Philadelphia School Reform Commission (SRC), and Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) to examine the distribution, concentration, and academic outcomes of youth in Philadelphia's public schools involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system. The research was requested to inform policy decisions intended to improve educational success for youth involved with DHS in Philadelphia. This report presents data from a targeted cross-system review of students in the 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 12th grades from the 2011-2012 academic year across all schools within the SDP. The goals of the review were to (1) describe the level of both ongoing and previous child welfare and juvenile justice involvement of students in the SDP and (2) better understand these students' educational needs. The key findings are highlighted below. KEY FINDINGS: I The population of students who have ever been involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system across the School District of Philadelphia is substantial. A Overall, 17% of students have ever been involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system-this increases to one in five for high school students. B Almost half of the high schools in the School District of Philadelphia have more than 100 students ever involved with DHS or more than 20% of the population ever involved with DHS-with some schools having both. C The enrollment of students ever involved with DHS is geographically dispersed across the School District of Philadelphia. II Students who have ever been involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system have greater identified educational needs than their peers. A Nearly one in four students ever involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system received special education services, a rate 64% greater than their peers who never had child welfare and/or juvenile justice involvement. B Educational outcomes (measured by Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores, high school credit accumulation, and grade promotion) and attendance rates were poorer among students ever involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system. III Although enrollment of students who have ever been involved with DHS is geographically dispersed across the school system, these students tend to cluster in certain school types and have lower educational outcomes than students without DHS involvement. However, within the same school type, the performance of students with DHS involvement over time is similar to that of their peers without DHS involvement. A Students ever involved with DHS are concentrated in Comprehensive and Alternative Education Schools compared to Traditional Charter or Special Admission and Citywide Schools. B Educational outcomes vary by school type, but within similar settings, students ever involved with DHS tend to mirror the performance of their peers who never had DHS involvement. Details: Philadelphia: PolicyLab, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2014. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://policylab.chop.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/PolicyLab_Report_Supporting_Students_Involved_with_Child_Welfare_June_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://policylab.chop.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/PolicyLab_Report_Supporting_Students_Involved_with_Child_Welfare_June_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 132515 Keywords: Educational ProgramsHigh School StudentsJuvenile OffendersSchool DropoutsSchools |
Author: Aird, Elyse Title: Impact of ICAN Flexible Learning Options on Participant Offending Behaviour Summary: Innovative Community Action Networks (ICAN) is a Department for Education and Child Development (DECD)-led community driven social inclusion initiative that aims to re-engage young people who have disengaged from school or are at risk of doing so. An ICAN developed learning strategy known as a Flexible Learning Option (FLO) provides funding and support for young people to engage in different accredited learning and engagement activities while still enrolled in their school. OCSAR was approached by ICAN representatives and asked to investigate the offending behaviour of FLO participants. Anecdotal evidence suggests that involvement in ICAN and FLO may be associated with a reduction in offending behaviour (ARTD Consultants 2012, Atelier Learning Solutions 2007). Although preventing offending is not a primary objective of ICAN, it is known that disengagement from education is associated with an increased risk of contact with the justice system (Henry, Knight & Thornberry 2012), and it is therefore possible that an improvement in engagement in education would be associated with a reduction in contact with the justice system. The aims of the current study are to: - determine the offending profile of a group of ICAN Flexible Learning Options (FLO) participants before, during and after enrolment in FLO; and - examine the impact of the ICAN FLO strategy on participant offending behaviour. The specific research questions for the study are: - What proportion of FLO students had a record of recent formal contact with the police and/or a proven conviction/s prior to FLO enrolment? - For those who had recent formal contact with police or had been convicted of an offence/s, what is the nature of the offending? - How did the offending profile of FLO students change during and after their FLO enrolment, in terms of rate, type and severity of offending? - How do outcomes following FLO vary according to student characteristics such as Indigenous status, disability status, geographical area and Guardianship status? - How do the age-specific offending rates for FLO-enrolled young people compare with those of the South Australian population? Details: Adelaide, SA: Office of Crime Statistics and Research, Strategic Policy and Organisational Performance, South Australian Attorney-General's Department, 2014. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 11, 2014 at: http://www.ocsar.sa.gov.au/docs/evaluation_reports/ICAN.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://www.ocsar.sa.gov.au/docs/evaluation_reports/ICAN.pdf Shelf Number: 132746 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionEducationJuvenile Offenders (Australia)School AttendanceSchool Dropouts |
Author: Gupte, Jaideep Title: Can Targeted Transition Services for Young Offenders Foster Pro-Social Attitudes and Behaviours in Urban Settings? Evidence from the Evaluation of the Kherwadi Social Welfare Association's Yuva Parivartan ProgrammeJaideep Summary: Can targeted preventive action and access to employment for school dropouts act as a preventive measure against delinquency and crime? Kherwadi Social Welfare Association's Yuva Parivartan (Youth Betterment) programme is evaluated through a mixed-methods approach on the following five programme-specific Sub-Questions (SQs): SQ1: Is the Yuva Parivartan (YP) programme effective at imparting on youth a set of prosocial values that are consistent with job-seeking and crime-avoidance behaviours? SQ2: Are the benefits of the YP programme reaching the population who self-report committing a crime? SQ3: Does the YP programme lead to pro-social behavioural changes? SQ4: Is there a relationship between attitudes towards aggressive and/or violent behaviour, entitlement, anti-social intent and employment outcomes? SQ5: Does the YP programme manage to instill a feeling of confidence among the trainees about their future prospects of finding a job? The evaluation design enables a critical comparison of employment outcomes and behavioural changes among cohorts of school dropouts varying by time since participating in the vocational training programme. Results are interpreted in conjunction with detailed indepth narratives describing the experiences of young offenders as well as key insights into the perceptions of programme effectiveness. The sample comprised 1,207 youth (average age of 20 years), who were either aspiring to enroll in the programme, were currently enrolled, or had graduated from the programme up to three years prior to the survey. Respondents within each group were randomly selected from a roster of all programme participants past, present and prospective across urban Maharashtra. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2015. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Evidence Report no. 136: Accessed July 13, 2015 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/6167/ER136_CanTargetedTransitionServicesforYoungOffendersFosterPro-SocialAttitudesandBehavioursinUrbanSettings.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: India URL: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/6167/ER136_CanTargetedTransitionServicesforYoungOffendersFosterPro-SocialAttitudesandBehavioursinUrbanSettings.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 136010 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionEmployment ProgramsJobsJuvenile OffendersSchool DropoutsYouthful Offenders |
Author: Voices of Youth in Chicago Education Title: Failed Policies, Broken Futures: The True Cost of Zero Tolerance in Chicago Summary: In 2011, VOYCE released our second report,"Failed Policies, Broken Futures: The True Cost of Zero Tolerance in Chicago." This original cost-analysis report, written in partnership with the national civil rights organization Advancement Project, found that harsh discipline policies at CPS have negatively impacted school safety and student achievement, at a huge cost to taxpayers. VOYCE collected student stories, CPS budget information, and multiple research sources and concluded that harsh discipline policies are highly overused in Chicago, keeping students out of valuable learning time, decreasing students’ chances of graduating, and costing the city millions of dollars: In 2009, there were 4,597 school-based arrests of CPS students age 16 and younger. 78% were for minor offenses. Students who have been arrested are 50% more likely to drop out. Based on the cost of each lost graduate, the report predicts that CPS's school-based arrests in 2009 alone will cost Chicago taxpayers around $240 million in long-term costs. Simply cutting the annual number of arrests in half would result in $120 million in long-term economic benefits to the city per year The report also examined the CPS budgets and found that this zero tolerance approach has diverted funds from more effective and proven approaches to school safety, such as guidance counseling, mental health supports, and peer mentoring. In 2010, the budget of the Office of Safety and Security was 48 times larger than the budget of the Office of Student Support and Engagement, and 84 times larger than the budget of the Office of Teaching and Learning. In 2010, CPS allocated just $3.5 million towards school-based college and career coaches, and $51.4 million towards school-based security guards. The findings from "Failed Policies, Broken Futures" are currently being used by VOYCE youth leaders and their allies to demand strong limits on harsh disciplinary actions at all CPS schools, the creation of a detailed public database on the school-level use of suspensions, expulsions, arrests and referrals, and increased investment in effective prevention and intervention strategies. Details: Chicago: Voices for Youth in Chicago Education, 2011. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 27, 2017 at: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/216318-voyce.html Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/216318-voyce.html Shelf Number: 144594 Keywords: Cost-Benefit Analysis School Crime School Discipline School DropoutsSchool Suspensions Zero Tolerance |
Author: Crumpton, C. David Title: Assessing School Attendance Problem and Truancy Intervention in Maryland: A Synthesis of Evidence from Baltimore City and the Lower Eastern Shore Summary: The Maryland Judiciary shares responsibility with Maryland's Executive Branch and local school systems in enforcing the state's mandatory school attendance and truancy laws. An innovation to address the truancy issue was introduced in 2004 when the General Assembly authorized the establishment of the Truancy Reduction Pilot Program (TRPP) in the First Judicial Circuit comprised of four counties located on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore. The authorizing legislation also required the Judiciary to perform an evaluation of the program. This initiative stimulated an intensive process of policy and program analysis by the Judiciary concerning the most appropriate, efficient and effective roles of courts and judges in responding to truancy. This effort was given additional impetus as the result of the State Justice Institute's (SJI) award of a grant to the Judiciary in 2008. Under the SJI grant, the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) evaluated three alternative approaches to truancy intervention in Baltimore City and the First Judicial Circuit (including TRPP), assessed the context of truancy in Baltimore City and the First Judicial Circuit and synthesized the findings from this research to support an assessment of the school attendance and truancy intervention policy and program framework from the perspective of the Judiciary. The current report represents this synthesis. The Maryland programs discussed in this report represent a continuum of court involvement, with no judicial presence in BSMART, participation of judges in an unofficial capacity in TCP, and judges exercising their full authority in TRPP. Process and outcome evaluations provide some level of support for continuing the BSMART, TCP, and TRPP interventions. Research has shown that truancy is related to a number of negative social and behavioral outcomes, including poor school performance, high dropout rates, and increased involvement in juvenile and adult criminal behavior. Truancy is typically caused by factors from four levels: the individual, the family, the school, and the neighborhood and community. Recommended approaches to reducing truancy emphasize family involvement, interagency collaboration, provision of services that address the needs of students and their families, and incentives and sanctions. The contextual analysis provided documentation of the levels of truancy in school districts across Maryland and the relationship of truancy levels to other variables. Qualitative information provided by respondents involved in school attendance issues in the study jurisdictions mirrored the national perspective that truancy is related to a complex, multi-level set of factors and requires holistic solutions. Statewide in Maryland, 2.25% of students (or roughly 20,000 students) were identified as habitually truant during the 2009-2010 school year because they were absent without a valid excuse for more than 20% of school days. The rate of habitual truancy varies by jurisdiction. Among the jurisdictions that are the focus of this report, the counties on the Lower Eastern Shore (Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester) have habitual truancy rates ranging from 0.29% to 1.49%, whereas Baltimore City has a habitual truancy rate of 8.00%. Although the overall rates for the counties on the Lower Eastern Shore are relatively low, in three of the four counties, truancy rates in individual schools exceeded the state average. Analysis of data across Maryland school systems revealed the following relationships between truancy and other variables: strong positive correlations between rates of habitual truancy and dropout rates, African American students as a percentage of school enrollment, special education students as a percentage of school enrollment, and teen birth rates strong negative correlations between rates of habitual truancy and white students as a percentage of school enrollment and percentages of adults in the community who are high school graduates moderate positive correlation between rates of habitual truancy and poverty rates weak positive correlation between rates of habitual truancy and percent of children living in poverty weak negative correlation between rates of habitual truancy and median household incomes no significant correlation between rates of habitual truancy and unemployment rates or rates of referrals for juvenile delinquency With a few exceptions, Baltimore City and the counties on the Lower Eastern Shore rank among the highest in the state in those variables for which positive correlations with truancy were found (e.g., dropout rates, poverty levels, and teen birth rates) and among the lowest in the state in those variables that have negative correlations with truancy (e.g., median household income and high school completion rates). Knowledgeable informants, including parents, school officials, legal officials, and service providers, identified the following factors as contributing to truancy problems in the five study jurisdictions: impact of poverty, value placed on education, individual needs of children, inadequate monitoring, transportation challenges, safety, and family difficulties, While acknowledging the need to hold parents accountable, respondents generally favored non-punitive solutions to truancy that address the needs of families. The Dropout Prevention Resource Guide published by the Maryland State Department of Education identifies 265 initiatives in Maryland schools that address many of the issues that can impact school attendance. These initiatives include alternative programs, alternative school schedules, alternative schools, attendance accountability, clinical interventions, community service, enhanced counseling, graduation preparation, holistic intervention, justice system coordination, life skill development, mentoring, student parenting, specialized staff, tutoring. The Dropout Prevention Resource Guide does not present school attendance as a central issue to be addressed in reducing dropouts, however, and MSDE does not appear to have a policy or operating focus on truancy and school attendance problems. The three Maryland programs that were evaluated are Baltimore Students: Mediating About Reducing Truancy (BSMART), Truancy Court Program (TCP) and Truancy Reduction Pilot Program (TRPP). BSMART is operated by the University of Maryland School of Law's Center for Dispute Resolution in conjunction with Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS). TCP is operated by the University of Baltimore School of Law's Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) in conjunction with BCPSS. TRPP evaluated in these reports are operated in the Circuit Courts for Dorchester County, Somerset County, Wicomico County and Worcester County. These programs reflect the national literature concerning the intent and design of truancy interventions. They have a problem-solving orientation, involve both parents and students, and are progressive responses involving interagency collaboration. These programs also represent a continuum of court involvement, with no judicial presence in BSMART, Details: Baltimore: Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts, 2011. 111p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2017 at: http://www.igsr.umd.edu/applied_research/Pubs/Truancy%20Intervention%20Synthesis%20Report.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.igsr.umd.edu/applied_research/Pubs/Truancy%20Intervention%20Synthesis%20Report.pdf Shelf Number: 131205 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionPovertySchool AttendanceSchool DropoutsTruancy |
Author: Gutierrez, Italo A. Title: Stand Against Bullying: An Experimental School Intervention Summary: Despite the growing evidence on the negative consequences of school bullying, there is no consensus regarding the most effective strategies to fight this problem. We study the impact of a randomized intervention to reduce school bullying in urban public schools in Peru, a country where violence re-mains a major challenge. The intervention consisted of two components: i) increasing awareness among students about the negative consequences of bullying and encouraging them to stand against this problem, and ii) facilitate students' ability to report violent incidents, by promoting the use of a new Government program for submitting online confidential reports. Our results indicate that the intervention reduced students' bystander behavior and increased their willingness to report violence. Using administrative data, we also find that the intervention reduced the likelihood of changing schools and of dropping out, and improved student achievement in standardized tests in the medium term. Importantly, we find that the intervention had a more limited impact among children that are exposed to violence at home. While depression and isolation were significantly reduced among non-exposed students, this effect disappears among children living in a violent environment. Overall, these findings are promising and reveal that encouraging students to stand up against bullying and providing them with the means to do it may have beneficial effects over their well-being and educational performance, even in violent settings Details: Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), 2018. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 11623: Accessed July 18, 2018 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11623.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Peru URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11623.pdf Shelf Number: 150900 Keywords: Bullying School Bullying School DropoutsSchool Violence |