They may advise students to decide what to wear to school before they go to bed at night, not when they get up in the morning. They may give students wake-up calls. They might even pick students up and take them to school. They can also help students develop peer support for getting to school and devise incentives that have real meaning for young people who meet the goals of their contracts. At the same time, schools can respond by helping students reconnect with school.
Teachers can make sure students know that their return to school is noticed and valued.
Districts concerned about keeping all students in school need to rethink how school structures foster or undermine engagement. In the end, students will attend schools where they learn and feel they belong. They reject schools when they feel that the school has rejected them. Schools and communities together can be powerful partners in beginning to reduce truancy and foster engagement that will keep students in school and ensure that every single day offers a reason to stay. Anne Wheelock is an independent education researcher based in Boston who has written widely on truancy and dropout prevention programs, alternatives to tracking and ability grouping, and standards-based reform.