A Prospective Longitudinal Study of High School Dropouts Examining Multiple Predictors Across Development

Risk or resilience? What makes a difference?

“…The current study aims to validate previous work conducted with students at-risk in the United States (Jimerson et al, 2000) and in Australia (Candy & Baker, 1992). This work suggests the most proximal predictor of dropping out of school is challenging behaviour because it is highly linked to low achievement, the strongest predictor for dropping out (Battin-Pearson, Newcomb, Abbott, Hill, Catalano, & Hawkins, 2000;Bradley, 1992).…”

“…Because behaviour is a product of current circumstances and prior developmental history (Rutter, 2002;Jimerson et al, 2000) students in Years 8 to 10 are included in order to test the hypothesis that there is a greater tendency to become at-risk, and therefore drop out, in the later years of high school. In addition, because of the widening gaps between Indigenous students' literacy and numeracy compared to other Australian students (Miller & Spooner, 2004), the analyses are applied separately to the two samples of students, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, in order to compare and contrast differences and similarities between the two groups.…”

“…One indicator of adjustment to school is challenging behaviour leading to and measured by suspensions (Jimerson et al, 2000). Challenging behaviour, often exhibited by students at-risk, is broadly divided into two: externalizing, where problems are directed towards others and the environment, and internalizing, where problems turn inwards towards the self.…”

The Influence of Multimedia-Based Parent and Adolescent Interventions of Substance Abuse Among Poor Youth

“…These studies suggest that school dropout is a process not an event (Jimerson, 2000), and that it is strongly related to SES. Given the relationship between school dropout and substance use, successful school experiences can be viewed as a protective factor that is contrary to substance use.…”

“…A study conducted by Jimerson (2000) followed 177 children and their families from the last trimester of mothers' pregnancy until the child was 19 years old. The sample participants were poor, had low education, received public assistance, and were single parents.…”