FIGURING OUT TRUANCY: UTA helping AISD get a handle on the problem

The University of Texas at Arlington’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice is partnering with the Arlington Independent School District to try to better understand and reduce the district’s teenage truancy rates.

Jaya Davis, UT Arlington assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice, and 10 of her students are spending two to four hours a week with a school district attendance officer and assisting in home visits with truant students and their families, court preparation and data analysis.

“Truancy can have a significant impact on our community and the students and families most affected,” said Alex del Carmen, professor and chair of the UT Arlington Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. “We’re committed to serving the needs of the community while providing for exciting service-learning opportunities for our students.”

Under state law, a student is considered truant after missing more than three days of school within a four-week period or 10 or more days during a six-month period of the same school year. Truancy can lead to suspension, expulsion, dropping out of school, delinquency, poor self-esteem and even legal consequences.

Sylvia Nichols, AISD grant coordinator, contacted UT Arlington’s Center for Community Service Learning last fall as district administrators contemplated ways to encourage better attendance rates. Center director Shirley Theriot recommended the project to Davis, former service-learning faculty fellow at UT Arlington.

Jaya Davis

Davis’s students will submit weekly reports about their experiences and discuss their observations with classmates. A final paper will help prepare them for employment in the criminal justice and juvenile justice fields, she said.

Davis said she hopes the partnership with the district will evolve into an internship with district attendance officers, with AISD using the service-learning component as a preventative measure in junior high schools.

Michael Hill, AISD assistant superintendent of administration, considers the UT Arlington project a model platform.

“The AISD and our attendance officers are looking forward to working with UT Arlington juvenile justice students as we partner to ensure that AISD students attend class in order to be successful in their journey toward college and career,” Hill said.

(Article written by Bridget Lewis, UTA. Top photo for illustrative purposes only)