News Release
____________________________________________________________
January 27, 2006
Nearly 14,000 Idaho Students Unaccounted for by School
Records, According to Report Released by Boise State
Nearly 14,000 Idaho schoolchildren, or about 6.5 percent
of the population, are �missing� from school enrollment records, and the
state has no system in place to determine if they are receiving an
education, according to a statewide report released by the Center for School
Improvement and Policy Studies in the College of Education at Boise State
University.
�Educational Neglect & Compulsory Schooling: A Status Report� was
commissioned by the Governor�s Task Force for Children at Risk to
investigate how Idaho is meeting its responsibility to ensure that all
students meet compulsory education requirements, and to provide policy
recommendations to address issues of compliance. In Idaho, children are
required by law to receive nine years of compulsory education, from 7 to 16
years old.
Idaho�s �missing students� figures are nearly twice the national average of
3.5 percent and the 16th highest among all 50 states. Nationwide, 1.7
million children cannot be identified with any educational institution.
According to the report, the state�s higher-than-average numbers may be
attributed in part to the fact that Idaho is among only six states that do
not require home-based educators to register students.
�The law in Idaho mandates that every child receive an education. This
report is an important step in assisting us to understand the challenges
Idaho faces and to address these issues,� said Diane Boothe, dean of the
College of Education.
Even with the nation focused on the federal policy outlined in �No Child
Left Behind,� most states, including Idaho, cannot identify all of their
students, according to Philip Kelly, senior policy analyst with the
university�s Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies. �This study
sheds light on the phenomenon at the national level and for the state of
Idaho specifically,� Kelly said.
Added William Parrett, director of the center: �This report provides a
framework for discussion for Idaho legislators, educators, parents,
administrators and others. My hope is that it will generate discussion and
action on many levels and in many forums which will result in an assurance
that no Idaho child is being educationally neglected.�
The 58-page report provides an analysis of national and state policies on
educational neglect, habitual truancy and home education. It also includes
recommendations to address the issues.
Among the report�s key findings:
� Of the 215,042 children within the state�s compulsory education age range
in 2003, Idaho is currently �missing� 13,954 children who exist in the
census but are not recorded in any educational institution. This is
approximately 6.5 percent of the population, or 1 out of every 15 Idaho
school-aged children.
� If the 13,954 children unaccounted for in Idaho congregated, they would
constitute the third largest school district in the state.
� 67 percent of Idaho�s school districts could not determine if any children
residing within the district were not being educated. Of those that were
able to provide a number of children, they primarily relied on informal
information sources.
� 96 percent of Idaho�s districts had no written procedures for tracking
students who fail to continuously enroll from one year to the next.
� Idaho provides no oversight for monitoring of home educators and their
students. Fewer than half of Idaho school districts were able to estimate
the number of home-educated children within their district.
� Idaho school districts use varying standards to define habitual truancy.
Over their work careers, the 2,921 Idaho dropouts from the 2002-03 school
year will generate a net loss of $1.5 billion-$2 billion to the Idaho
economy.
The report�s policy recommendations include the following:
� Establish a clear statement of primary responsibility for educational
neglect within the Department of Health and Welfare and develop an
intervention system similar to several systems described in the report.
� Adopt a single statewide definition of habitual truancy and establish a
combined, multi-agency approach to truancy involving the Department of
Education, the Department of Health and Welfare, and the Attorney General�s
office.
� Identify children being home-educated in Idaho through registration with
the Idaho Department of Education.
� Require annual standardized assessments of academic progress for all Idaho
children in grade equivalents 3 through 10.
According to the report, �implementing these policy recommendations will
improve Idaho�s ability to meet its democratic obligation to ensure an
educated citizenry. Continued failure to do so will result in a population
ill-prepared to meet the intellectual and economic challenges of the
future.�
The Educational Neglect & Compulsory Schooling status report is based on
extensive state and national data collected over a one-year period by Kelly
and his project staff in the university�s Center for School Improvement and
Policy Studies. The Boise State researchers conducted interviews with
attendance officers and administrators in 112 Idaho school districts,
reviewed statutes dealing with educational neglect issues in all 50 states,
contacted personnel from state departments of education in all 50 states,
and analyzed other studies and background information to formulate the
report�s recommendations.
The report has been submitted to the Governor�s Task Force on Children at
Risk. Established in 1988, the task force is a non-partisan, broadly
representative group dedicated to providing informed recommendations to the
Governor of the State of Idaho regarding the full scope of issues related to
child abuse and neglect.
The Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies at Boise works to
assist educational and public leaders with the development of effective
partnerships between Boise State, school districts, and communities in Idaho
� partnerships that help local leaders access research and expertise to
guide efforts to improve public education in Idaho.
A legislative brief that summarizes the full report has just been printed
and will be distributed to Idaho legislators, state school superintendents,
the governor�s office, the State Board of Education, the State Department of
Education and to a number of other agencies. Copies of the full report and
the legislative brief are available at
http://csi.boisestate.edu/policy_studies.htm.
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Contact: Philip Kelly, College of Education, (208) 426-4977,
pkelly@boisestate.edu
Media Contact: Janelle Brown, University Communications, (208)
426-1790, jbrown2@boisestate.edu
Boise State University is the largest institution of higher education in
Idaho with about 18,600 students and 2,200 faculty and staff. More than 190
undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and technical degrees are offered within
eight colleges. A metropolitan university located in the capital city, Boise
State is committed to life-enhancing research, teaching excellence and
public service.
The Office of Communications and Marketing
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Boise Idaho 83725-1030
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Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007