This article examines various aspects of school physical characteristics relating to problem behavior among students. We hypothesize that an attractive physical environment will be associated with less truancy, cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use, whereas a negative physical environment will be associated with higher levels of these behaviors.…

Most high schools face the problem of the chronically absent student. In the fall of 1985, the Centennial Effective Schools Committee in Gresham, Oregon established a subcommittee to examine chronic absenteeism among its student body. The committee interviewed 50 students with a history of poor attendance and developed a profile of the typical…

The school-related problems discussed in this article cover three major areas: disruptive behaviors in the classroom; academic behaviors in the classroom and at home; and school attendance as related to both truancy and school phobias. (Author/AM)

There is a consensus among Pupil Personnel Workers that a problem exists in the area of enforcement of attendance within a small minority of pupils in the school systems of Maryland. Discusses recommendations for improving public school attendance. (Author)

Describes the Mercy Tutoring Services Program, which provides individualized instruction in basic academic and life skills for high school dropouts, suspended or expelled students, those assigned to the program by Juvenile Court, or students with chronic truancy or behavioral problems. Suggests ways of implementing the model elsewhere. (AYC)

Compared attitudes and behaviors of parents and teachers toward junior-high habitually truant students (N=94) and regular attenders (N=94). Data from the Little Parenting Valuing Styles Scale and Little Teacher Valuing Styles Scale suggest parents may contribute to truancy by being overprotective and overindulgent. Teachers may reject and…

In the United Kingdom social workers perform two major functions: they work with students with behavior problems who have been referred to them by schools as a last resort, and they ensure that needy students receive benefits such as clothing, maintenance allowances, boarding school assistance, and transportation to and from school. These services…

The authors studied truancy in junior high school students through structured interviews with 33 truants. Truancy at this age was commonly associated with significant difficulties at home, at school, and with peers. Two types of truants were delineated: "authority-defying" and "peer phobic." The school's role is discussed. (Author/SJL)

To be a marginal student is to experience a strained, difficult relationship with the school environment. It is crucial to understand marginality and to analyze its extent in today's schools. The more intractable problems of school learning are most effectively addressed at an early stage when the relationship between individual and school…

Attempts to clarify the complex relationship between the identification of at-risk students and the ways educators try to retain them in school. Examines student problems from three different perspectives: the idiosyncratic, the sociocultural, and the institutional. Common student problems of learning, inappropriate behavior, depression, and…

The purpose of the High School Development Center, an alternative school in Detroit, Michigan, is to provide educational opportunities for 300 students identified as unsuccessful by principals of five high schools. Students in grades 9 and 10 are selected for the program if they exhibit two of the following: (1) very low academic achievement; (2)…

The purpose of the High School Development Center, an alternative school in Detroit, Michigan, is to provide educational opportunities for 300 students identified as unsuccessful by principals of five high schools. Students in grades 9 and 10 are selected for the program if they exhibit two of the following: (1) very low academic achievement; (2)…

This report reviews the research literature from 1975-1983 on potential secondary school dropouts and strategies for effective dropout prevention programs. The information provided is intended to help communities in modifying and/or constructing treatment programs for potential dropouts. The report is divided into three sections. In the first…

The years between 1900 and 1920 marked the formative era in the history of school social work. Social work programs were introduced into the schools by private organizations and community groups and were formed to prevent truancy and delinquency, to rehabilitate poor families through relief services, and to "Americanize" the foreign-born…