1. Research. Development.
Justice. Reform.
520 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10018
P. 646.386.3100 F. 212.397.0985 courtinnovation.org
The Challenge
While overall attendance rates have been
improving in New York City, chronic truancy rates
remain consistent: an estimated 20 percent of
the city’s public school students miss at least one
month of school per year. Efforts to respond to
this problem have traditionally been based outside
of schools, led primarily by law enforcement
agencies. While these programs provide an
immediate intervention for young people stopped
by the police for truancy, they typically lack
the capacity to provide ongoing support for the
student at school. Addressing truancy requires
persistent, supportive intervention on a day-to-day
basis to deal with all of the challenges that keep
students from coming to school and succeeding
there.
Stopping truancy at the middle school level is
particularly critical. The start of middle school
marks a major transition for young people:
schools are bigger, expectations higher, and both
social and academic pressures grow. Research
shows that truancy rates, especially in low-income
urban neighborhoods, can rise dramatically at this
age. A pattern of chronic absenteeism or truancy
often leads to long-term school disengagement
and a higher probability of dropping out.
The Response
The Center for Court Innovation developed the
Attendance Achievement Program by building on
evidence of what works in addressing truancy and
chronic absenteeism and on lessons learned from
problem-solving courts. The model focuses on
holding students accountable for their behavior
while giving them the support and structure to
be successful. The approach includes a family
assessment, an individualized program plan
for each student, regular formal and informal
contact with students throughout the school
week, and bi-weekly progress “hearings.” At each
hearing, students develop short-term, achievable
goals for improving not just attendance but also
academic performance and behavior during the
next two-week period. Staff support those goals
with tutoring and classroom observation to help
students catch up on assignments and develop
improved study habits. Beyond better attendance
and academic performance, the program helps
each student develop the ability to set and achieve
their own goals and become self-monitoring.
Core Strategies
Each participating student receives a program
plan with a combination of one or more of the
following interventions, based on the needs of the
individual student and family:
The Attendance Achievement Program
The Attendance Achievement Program is a school-based truancy
intervention for middle school students developed by the Center for Court
Innovation to address a pressing need for better responses to truancy and
chronic absenteeism. The program combines support to help participating
young people overcome challenges with regular monitoring to keep
students focused on reaching their goals.

2. Center for Court Innovation | Page 2
Individual conferences: Students check in with
a counselor on a regular basis, from once or twice
a week to every other week, depending on need.
Staff check in with a parent by phone during
weeks when the student does not have a progress
hearing.
Classroom observations: Staff talk to teachers
to monitor students’ academic progress and
attend classes with participants on a periodic
basis to assess how they are engaging the
curriculum and behaving in class.
Tutoring: The program holds regular tutoring
hours during lunch, recess, and after school,
with a focus on building studying and time
management skills and completing assignments.
Students needing more extensive academic
assistance are referred to tutoring programs.
Progress hearings: Participating students and
their guardians have progress hearings either
once or twice per month, overseen and facilitated
by a retired judge or other justice-system
professional. At each hearing, the students set
goals for attendance, academic performance, and
behavior that will be reviewed during the next
hearing, and track their own progress from week
to week. The judge provides a sense of structure
and consequence, although the mood, unlike
at a formal court proceeding, is collaborative.
As students begin to reach their benchmarks
consistently, they earn incentives like books or
movie tickets.
Social service and resource referrals: As part
of the initial family assessment, staff identify
service needs for the student or family members
to help address the root causes of the student’s
truancy. Referrals may include behavioral
health services, legal assistance, tutoring, and
connections to extracurricular activities such as
afterschool programs, clubs, classes, and volunteer
opportunities.
Impact
The Center for Court Innovation runs the
Attendance Achievement Program at the South
Bronx Academy for Applied Media and the
Academy of Public Relations (also in the South
Bronx), supported in part by the New York City
Department of Education and the Mayor’s
Interagency Task Force on Truancy and Chronic
Absenteeism. Between 50 and 60 students
participate in the program each year. During the
2012-2013 school year, participating students in
both schools increased their attendance rates by
an average of seven percent.
For More Information
Contact:
Luisana Victorica
347-803-8822
lvictori@courts.state.ny.us