Post by Logan on Mar 12, 2016 21:48:38 GMT -6
Skipping too much school in Washington state is illegal, but sending kids to juvenile court for a stern lecture and the threat of detention isn’t working.
What can work is bringing educators, court officials and community experts together to help families overcome the obstacles that are keeping kids out of school, without resorting to formal legal action.
In one Spokane County school district, that kind of collaboration, known as a community truancy board, has helped as many as 82 percent of truant students earn a diploma or GED — 18 percentage points higher than neighboring districts that don’t have such boards. That program, featured in The Seattle Times’ Education Lab last fall, has drawn national interest.
Roughly 70 percent of Washington’s 295 school districts don’t have such boards — or any other truancy program — although that now may change.
Read more: www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/bill-requiring-community-truancy-boards-across-state-is-okd/
What can work is bringing educators, court officials and community experts together to help families overcome the obstacles that are keeping kids out of school, without resorting to formal legal action.
In one Spokane County school district, that kind of collaboration, known as a community truancy board, has helped as many as 82 percent of truant students earn a diploma or GED — 18 percentage points higher than neighboring districts that don’t have such boards. That program, featured in The Seattle Times’ Education Lab last fall, has drawn national interest.
Roughly 70 percent of Washington’s 295 school districts don’t have such boards — or any other truancy program — although that now may change.
Read more: www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/bill-requiring-community-truancy-boards-across-state-is-okd/