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Dissertation Barb Boyd.pdf (2.85 MB)

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Early-Warning Indicators of High School Dropout

Boyd, Barbara A
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9391-6533
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1457276247

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science.
The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which there are characteristics of sixth grade students and their schools that are predictive of whether students are promoted on time to the tenth grade, as an early-warning indication of dropout. Many studies have examined the reasons for dropout and determined it to be a multifaceted and challenging problem with no single reason for students’ to drop out. This study examined the variables associated with dropout and applied them to on-time arrival to the tenth grade using both variable- and person-centered approaches. The variables selected for this study are readily available data on students from schools including attendance, behavior, core academic performance, and sociodemographic factors. The setting for this study was Columbus City Schools, the largest school district in the state of Ohio. To qualify for this participant set, students needed to have data from the end of sixth grade (school year 2009-2010) and the beginning of tenth grade (school year 2013-2014). The sample included 2162 sixth grade students from 34 Columbus City Schools who had an average rate for on-time promotion of 81.5% to the tenth grade, meaning that 18.5% of the students or 400 students in this sample were not promoted to the tenth grade on time. There were three major findings. First, the results revealed that there were several student-level variables at sixth grade, which predicted on-time promotion to the tenth grade. Attendance, two core academic variables and two sociodemographic variables, were significant in predicting on-time promotion to the tenth grade. Second, there were four reliable profiles of sixth graders based upon attendance, core academics, and sociodemographic factors. Third, and most important, these profiles were associated with on-time promotion to the tenth grade. A student’s decision to dropout is the culmination of a long-term process; no single factor and no single event fully accounts for the choice to leave school. In addition, students show signs of dropout long before they actually drop out. These signs are evident in their school data; metaphorically, their data is raising a hand to ask for help. Early identification allows more time for effective intervention and is the main value of this study. Accordingly, three research-based prevention and intervention programs are presented. The results of this study suggest it is possible to use these indicators and profiles to identify children at risk, to determine the real issues facing students based upon their feedback, and to develop an appropriate intervention for each child.
Xin Feng, Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair)
Laura Justice, Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair)
114 p.
Education
dropout; early-warning indicators; K-12 education

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Boyd, B. A. (2016). Early-Warning Indicators of High School Dropout [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1457276247

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Boyd, Barbara. Early-Warning Indicators of High School Dropout. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1457276247.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Boyd, Barbara. "Early-Warning Indicators of High School Dropout." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1457276247

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1457276247
1,839
© 2016, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Early-Warning Indicators of High School Dropout by Barbara A Boyd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.