By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

RICHLAND, Wash. – Several Washington State University faculty are the recipients of a $1.4 million grant from the to refine and expand an assessment that helps address truancy in K-12 schools.

The program, also known as WARNS, uses evidence-driven procedures to track and improve interventions with students. The program was developed in 2008 to assess students on a scale of six needs that have been linked to truancy, delinquency and/or dropping out of school: aggression-defiance, depression-anxiety, substance abuse, peer deviance, family environment and school engagement. More than 100 schools in Washington state and across the nation are now using the tool.

Paul Strand, 厙ぴ勛圖 professor of psychology, Brian French, Berry Family Distinguished professor and director of WSU���s and , Nick Lovrich, WSU Regents professor emeritus, and Bruce Austin, research associate in educational psychology and the LPRC, have worked since 2014 to evaluate and refine WARNS. With the grant, the group is also adding the following members to their team to help refine the tool: Chad Gotch and Marcus Poppen, both WSU assistant professors in education, and Mary Roduta Roberts, an associate professor of occupational therapy at the University of Alberta.

French said what makes the program so successful is its ability to hone-in on issues that lead to truancy early in a student���s educational path. Schools can develop a plan for how to address those issues and increase the student���s likelihood of being successful. He said what was made especially clear amid the COVID-19 pandemic is the need to get information to counselors regarding student issues at home and other external factors that prevent students��� current and future success.

���This grant will also allow us more space to examine its success,��� French said. ���We will also be looking into specific implications of the WARNS ��� how it is used and the success when it is in use. We want to look at the implications and gather data to know how those conversations are helping and specific instances of how that is happening. Then, we can continue to build from that information.���

Updating the assessment

Strand said the new grant will allow the team to update the instrument in a few ways. He said a variety of new issues have arisen that have impacted school attendance and performance in recent years. Examples, he said, include the prevalence of vaping and social media use.

Additionally, the team aims to improve the middle school version of the instrument to tailor it further for issues that pertain to that specific age demographic.

���The grant allows us to explore the context of student situations and how to refine WARNS to reflect that context,��� Strand said.

Identifying issues early to reduce truancy, drop-out rates

French said more than 10,000 assessments have been given through the program.

���To me, that represents 10,000 productive conversations that have occurred with kids,��� he said. ���We can look at the large numbers to help us do that, but each of those individual conversations are helping make a difference in the lives of thousands of kids each year.���

Strand said schools use the data from the assessment to develop and implement a plan for at-risk students through school community truancy boards to help prevent and/or correct student behavior.

���With the pandemic, we have seen that many counselors are struggling to stay connected and invested in kids,��� he said. ���But what we have seen with WARNS is that it has helped schools stay connected and invested in kids. The pandemic wasn���t something we could have envisioned, but it is a tool that has helped.���

For more information about WARNS, including how to implement it for individual schools or school districts, visit��

 

Media contacts:

• Paul Strand, 厙ぴ勛圖 professor of psychology, pstrand@wsu.edu
• Brian French, WSU Pullman Berry Family Distinguished professor and director of WSU���s Learning and Performance Research Center and Psychometric Laboratory, frenchb@wsu.edu
• Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖 director of marketing and communication, 509-372-7333 (office), 619-403-3617 (cell), maegan_murray@wsu.edu
• Brandon Chapman, WSU College of Education public relations/communications manager, 509-335-6850, b.chapman@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

Washington State University is leading the online implementation of a program aimed at reducing school truancy that could positively impact schools not only across the state, but also across the nation.

The Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students program, also known as WARNS, uses data-driven procedures to track and improve interventions with students. As indicated in the Becca Bill, which requires children from the age of 8 to 17 to attend a public, private or home-based school, unexcused absences may be an early warning sign for unaddressed problems with school failure and dropout rates.

Paul Strand, 厙ぴ勛圖 professor of psychology, Nick Lovrich, WSU Regents professor emeritus, Brian French, professor and director of WSU���s Learning and Performance Research Center and Psychometric Laboratory, and Bruce Austin, research associate in educational psychology and the LPRC, have worked since 2014 to evaluate and refine the Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students program, also known as WARNS.

The program was developed in 2008 to assess students on a scale of six needs that have been linked to truancy, delinquency and/or dropping out of school: aggression-defiance, depression-anxiety, substance abuse, peer deviance, family environment and school engagement. Within the program, schools can use the data to develop and implement a plan for at-risk students through school community truancy boards to help prevent and/or correct student behavior.

WSU���s recent evaluation of the program supports using the WARNS as a global screening assessment of risks and needs, citing its reliability and validity. The evaluation was published in SAGE Publications this spring.

���A critical component to the use of scores for decisions about youth is building this line of evidence,��� French said.

When children stop going to school, Strand said it can have a substantial effect on their attitude and success in school.

���What happens is kids fell behind in their credit accumulation and when they get to be a sophomore or junior, it starts to feel like a lost cause,��� he said. ���We want to try to identify truancy problems as early as possible because the less days that kids go to school, the less well they do. It is true that kids that go to school regularly may still struggle, but they struggle less than kids that don���t go.���

WARNS program now available online to schools

WSU���s Learning and Performance Research Center houses the online implementation of the assessment, which is offered to individual high schools and middle schools for $275 per year plus a $1 charge for each student assessed. Districts can also sign up for a subscription for $500 for both middle school and high school WARNS plus a $1 charge for each student assessed. The costs of the program are to ensure the technical integrity and continued development of the assessments.

Strand said he and his colleagues are excited to be in the stage of online implementation because the resource is invaluable for schools across the state.

���We are in a position now where schools can use this,��� he said. ���We want to get the word out about how to use this system. We think the cost is minimal compared to the benefit that both schools and students could experience.

For more information on the assessment, including how to get started using WARNS, visit .

The WSU researchers are also developing programs for elementary schools, as signs of delinquent behavior can begin at early as fifth-grade, Strand said.

���Where truancy really begins to show a problem is about seventh-grade, but even in the fifth- and sixth-grade, you can start to predict who the kids are who will have problems,��� he said.

The team���s research for the WARNS program was supported by $150,000 and $98,000 grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a $21,400 grant from the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts, a $25,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Priority Spokane and a high-risk, high-reward grant from the WSU College of Education.

���These funds help support the development of the Platform for Supporting Successful Outcomes, on which WARNS resides,��� French said.

Use across the state and nation

Currently, approximately 80 schools across the state are using the platform, in addition to a school district in the state of Georgia. Schools in California, Ohio and Connecticut have also expressed interest, Strand said.

���Schools in Spokane County, for example, experienced increased graduation rates, of those that were using it,��� Strand said. ���Now, we���re working with a group that is part of WSU���s Learning and Performance Research Center to put the whole program into an online platform, with the help of WSU���s Social and Economic Sciences Research Center. Students can take the assessment and get immediate feedback. We���re also making it very affordable so schools have the means to access this resource.���