Fixing Truancy Now : Inviting Students Back to Class

Truancy is a complex issue that continues to plague schools, and many blame truancy problems on students, parents, and socioeconomic factors. However, truancy is more than juvenile delinquents skipping school to have fun or be with friends.

In Fixing Truancy Now: Inviting Students Back to Class, author Bruce S. Cooperposits that truancy is an indication that school curricula and pedagogy are not serving students’ needs as well as they should, especially when it comes to ethnic minority students and English language learners. This book explores:
different types of truancy; major research in the field;and how teachers, school leaders, and students can work together in solving this problem.
Ultimately this book offers hope that teachers, parents, and school leaders can find solutions to this multifaceted problem through collaborative problem-solving.

Bruce S. Cooper, PhD, is professor of education leadership at Fordham University Graduate School of Education, NYC. He co-authored the book Truancy Revisited with Rita Guare, which updates and reexamines the issue.

Jon Shute is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. He has over 15 years teaching experience in elementary and secondary classrooms. He also has a strong background working with at-risk students, as well as English language learners and students from diverse ethnicities.