While dropping out of high school is often seen as a long, slow process of disengagement, a significant portion of students who drop out face sudden events that lead to them leaving school, such as injury or the death of a parent, according to a new report in the journal Review of Education Research.
Researchers from the University of Montreal in Canada, Tufts University in Medford, Mass., and the University of Texas at Austin suggested that outside “triggering events” at vulnerable periods in students’ academic lives—such as during the transition to high school—can make it significantly more likely that they will leave school. The review recommends that policymakers consider both students’ long-term risks and the effect of triggering events when they plan dropout prevention strategies.
