Gulfton Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project, Houston, TX

• Before becoming involved with case management, on average, parents reported that
their children had been absent from school occasionally, whereas after services, they
reported that their children had been absent frequently.
• Following case management services, parents were less likely to agree that the
school staff were doing good things for their child.
• Following case management services, parents were less likely to agree that they had
confidence in the people at their child’s school.
Given that these were the only significant changes, it is difficult to conclude that these
changes resulted from case management services. Nevertheless, it is possible that case
management increased parental attention given to truancy. This may have resulted in increased
awareness of the problem and perhaps the seriousness of the behavior. For instance, the fact that
they perceived students as missing more school following case management may reflect greater
awareness of the student’s behavior or a personal adjustment as to what occasionally vs.
frequently means to them. Increased awareness and involvement with the school may have
resulted in the other changes.
Conclusions: Case Management and Outcomes
These data do not show a positive impact on the outcomes of case management. At first
blush, it appears that it has little effect on attendance, achievement, or engagement; and this may
in fact be the case. However, it would be unwise to surmise that this is true for all students in
case management: there were likely some successes for some individuals. It is important to
remember that the case management students were by comparison the highest risk students. It
may be that case management is more effective for students whose truant behavior is not so
deeply ingrained. In addition, it does appear that case management was effective in improving
Evaluation of the Gulfton Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project 22