Truancy

This is a community-based, trauma-informed advocacy intervention for girls 11 to 17 years old who are at risk for, or already involved in, the juvenile justice system. The program is rated Promising for reducing aggression/hostility and for improving attendance. 

This is an intergenerational mentoring initiative designed to delay or reduce substance use by increasing the resiliency and protective factors of at-risk middle school youth. The program is rated Ineffective for improving outcomes related to alcohol use, marijuana use, self-control, problem behaviors, school absences, grades, and bonding.

The program aims to reduce precursors of teen pregnancy, including sexual risk behaviors, involvement in violence, and disconnection from school. The program is rated Effective for reducing relational aggression victimization. The program is rated Promising for improving family connectedness. The program is rated Ineffective for physical violence victimization, relational aggression perpetration, physical violence perpetration, fight avoidance skills, and suspension or expulsion.

This is a community- and school-based program designed to increase academic skills and job placement in disadvantaged youth. The program is rated Effective for increasing receipt of education or training and increasing receipt of a GED. The program is rated Ineffective for increasing total earnings and employment, reducing receipt of food stamps, and reducing arrests and drug use.

This program uses a “nudge” postcard to reduce student absenteeism by increasing parents’ or guardians’ awareness of non-attendance. The postcard is designed to motivate them to encourage their children to improve attendance and academic performance. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant decrease in posttreatment absenteeism for the intervention group, compared with the control group.

This is a program for low-income elementary schools that encourages healthy and meaningful play, delivered by trained coaches. Program components include recess activities, class game time, and after-school activities. This program is rated Promising. There was a small, statistically significant increase in attendance rates for students who participated in Playworks, compared with students who did not participate.

A summer youth employment program that is designed to improve school attendance, academic achievement, and employment of low-income youth between the ages of 14 and 24. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences in school attendance or academic achievement between program participants and the control group. However, there were statistically significant differences in employment and earnings for program participants, compared with the control group.

This is a school-based program that integrates a case-management framework for providing social support to truant youth. The goals of the program are to improve school attendance and renew progress toward graduation. This program is rated Promising. Students in the intervention group were more likely to have graduated and less likely to have dropped out than students in the comparison group.

This is a police–school partnership intervention that seeks to reduce antisocial and truant behaviors among youth and increase their willingness to attend school. This program is rated Promising. The results show a statistically significant positive effect on truancy for program participants. Students who participate in the program are less likely to miss school and more likely to report being willing to attend school, compared with students who do not participate.

This is a school-based, structured mentoring program designed to reduce school absences and promote student engagement. This program is rated Ineffective. One study found students in the program had statistically significant fewer days absent and more days in school. However, program students also had statistically significant lower math scores. There were no other statistically significant differences in outcomes. A second study also found no statistically significant differences

A high school transition program that targets ninth-grade students who are at risk of dropping out. Its goal is to improve high school graduation rates. This program is rated Ineffective. The program did not have a statistically significant overall effect on students’ high school graduation rates or on several other measures (such as credits earned). There was a statistically significant positive effect on school attachment.

This program offered one-to-one mentoring to at-risk students in 7th to 9th grades in an urban middle school setting to reduce their discipline referrals and school absences and to improve their school connectedness. This program is rated Promising. The program was associated with a statistically significant decline in the number of office disciplinary referrals and a statistically significant increase in school connectedness. However, the program had no impact on unexcused absences.

This is a supervision program for high-risk youths. The program is rated Ineffective. Participants had a statistically significant decrease in the number of felony petitions, compared with the control group; however, there were no differences in petitions for new offenses, misdemeanor petitions, warrant status, days spent in custody, GPA, classes passed, classes failed, or number of days of school attended. There were also mixed findings on petitions for probation violations.

This is a school-based prevention program designed for high-risk students. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences between experimental group youth and control group youth in engagement in delinquency, alcohol use, smoking, GPA, anger, and school connectedness. There were also statistically significant negative program effects for experimental group youth in conventional peer bonding and peer high-risk behavior.

This early childhood program sought to promote child and family functioning, and social, cognitive, and language skills of children, through home visitation, parent training, and child-care beginning from birth to age 5. The program is rated Promising. Intervention children reported statistically significant higher perceptions about themselves and school, compared with control children. There were no statistically significant effects on disliked attributes and liked personal attributes.

This is a school-based program designed to improve the ease of students’ transition from elementary to middle or junior high school and address problem behavior. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group students demonstrated a statistically significant lower level of school transition stress, behavior problems, and psychological distress, and higher grade point averages, academic expectations, and improved classroom behaviors, compared with control group students.

This is a school- and family-based early intervention program that provides comprehensive educational and family support services to economically disadvantaged children. The program is rated Promising. The treatment group showed statistically significant declines in substance use, incarceration rates, and felony arrest rates at age 24, compared with the comparison group. However, there was no statistically significant effects on conviction rates or depressive symptoms.

This is a school-based youth development program for adolescents ages 12–19 that aims to prevent school failure and suspension through curriculum-guided discussion and community service. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group youth had lower rates of course failure and school suspension, compared with comparison group youth. These were statistically significant differences.

This is a comprehensive, multiyear program designed to reduce youth gang crime and violence. The program is rated Promising. The target area demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in calls for shots fired and gang-related incidents compared with the comparison area. However, there were no statistically significant impacts on calls for vandalism, incidents of serious violence, gang-related incidents of serious violence, or student attendance.

This is an out-of-school program designed to improve educational performance in adolescents. This program is rated Promising. The program showed a statistically significant positive effect on participants’ attainment of higher grades in math, reading, spelling, history, science, and social studies, and a higher attendance rate, compared with students who did not participate. However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in English, writing, and geography grades.

This is a problem-oriented policing program that offered a collection of enforcement and non-enforcement strategies designed to reduce homicide in Richmond, Calif. The initiative combined traditional law enforcement practices with prevention and intervention efforts that involved partnerships with the community, other city agencies, and local schools. This program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant reduction of homicides following the implementation of the initiative.

This is a program that combines group therapy and family therapy to treat youth, ages 10–18, who have a primary diagnosis of oppositional defiant or conduct disorder. This program is rated Promising. Findings were mixed. Intervention youth showed statistically significant decreases in rates of recidivism and improvements in behavior, compared with control group youth. However, there were no significant differences between groups on measures of readiness to change.

This is a charter middle school that serves predominately low-income, minority students (grades 6–8) in Harlem who are usually 2 or 3 years behind grade level. The program is rated Effective. Students who were admitted to the school showed statistically significant improvements in English Language Arts scores, math scores, and attendance rates, compared with students who were not admitted. However, there were no significant differences between groups on matriculation.