Early prospective studies of the high school dropout

A limited number of empirical studies conducted between 1950 and 1970 used longitudinal designs to examine the relations between psychological characteristics of students and subsequent high school dropout. Five prospective studies demonstrated that modest but significant relations existed between completing high school and measures of personality gathered in the seventh, eighth or ninth grades. Stronger relations were found in three early studies that examined the link between sociometric measures gathered in late elementary school and high school graduation 6 or 7 years later. Results clarified some methodological requirements for useful research on school completion and suggested that social and emotional variables explain some of the variance in school dropout that is independent of academic performance. Implications are drawn for effective school dropout research, policies, and practices at the local, state, and national levels.