Gulfton Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project, Houston, TX

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have had difficulty with the enrollment process or simply getting into the routine necessary for daily attendance. Sixty-five percent said they were failing classes and 58% said they had difficulty understanding homework and assignments. In addition, 71% said they needed academic help. Most often, officers referred students to academic tutoring and did not issue tickets for truancy. Case management services were not effective for the majority of students. The current study found that case management was primarily targeted at students who were most at-risk. Truants receiving case management were compared to truants not receiving case management to explore the effectiveness of case management. Findings suggested that truants who did not receive case management were not struggling as much as those receiving services. In general, attendance, grades and school engagement were worse for truants receiving case management than for truants who were not given the services. Nevertheless, it was found that case management did not improve attendance nor did it improve grades or school engagement for the group as a whole. However, this is not to say that case management was ineffective for every single student. The effect of improving just one student’s attendance and grades resulted in an estimated return of investment of over $4.00 for every $1.00 spent in providing case management. This fact is reason enough to continue the Houston Truancy Reduction case management efforts. Given that home visits from police are successful in improving short-term attendance, it is recommended that follow-up with the student occur within two weeks of the visit. Academic tutoring and other activities to increase school engagement should be provided immediately to ensure long term success. In general, case management may be more successful for truants if provided earlier in their school careers. Achievement levels were very low for the students involved in case management. Reaching these students before school failure is eminent would likely improve the outcomes of services. Evaluation of the Gulfton Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project III
Acknowledgements Special thanks to the individuals who dedicated time and hard work to participating in this evaluation. Houston Independent School District staff, such as, Vernie Dearbonne, Celeste Varela, Patty Moreno, Principal Richard Barajas, and Principal Steve Amstutz were instrumental in providing data and information. In addition, Susana Herrera, Patricia Harrington, and Victor Gonzales at the Mayor’s office provided helpful feedback in addition to valuable data. We would also like to acknowledge the helpful staff at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, who also provided constant feedback, support and suggestions. Finally, a special thanks is extended to Antonio Olmos-Gallo, who donated his time to provide technical assistance on the statistical analyses. This report was supported by Grant No. 2005-JPFX-0059 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Evaluation of the Gulfton Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project 1
Page 1 and 2: RE-ENGAGING YOUTH IN SCHOOL EVALUAT
Page 3: EVALUATION OF THE GULFTON TRUANCY R
Page 7 and 8: Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Pr
Page 9 and 10: Table 1: Lee and Milby High School
Page 11 and 12: eferred to various other options, l
Page 13 and 14: straight line shows that there is a
Page 15 and 16: mean absences 0.50 Observed Linear
Page 17 and 18: Grades Given that grades are likely
Page 19 and 20: CHAPTER THREE: CASE MANAGEMENT Scho
Page 21 and 22: failed to effect achievement. Never
Page 23 and 24: test increased. It is difficult to
Page 25 and 26: It is commonly believed however, th
Page 27 and 28: attendance at some level, given tha
Page 29 and 30: 2) Moderate: Success is defined as
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOM
Page 33 and 34: Appendices Evaluation of the Gulfto
Page 35 and 36: National Center for School Engageme
Page 37 and 38: 22. How much do you agree with each
Page 39 and 40: 26. During the past 12 months, how
Page 41 and 42: Appendix B: Tables of Differences b
Page 43 and 44: Most of my teachers understand me.*
Page 45 and 46: I feel excited by the work in schoo
Page 47 and 48: I try my best at school. I skip (cu
Page 49 and 50: School is a waste of time. I follow
Page 51 and 52: LEE H.S. (TREATMENT GROUP) AND MILB
Page 53 and 54: LEE H.S. (TREATMENT GROUP) AND MILB
Page 55 and 56:
During the last 3 months, how often
Page 57 and 58:
LEE H.S. (COMPARISON GROUP) - PRE-
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Gulfton Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project, Houston, TX

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