In this article, the study looks at the dropout rates by looking at first graders to find any early signs. In the study, there were 1,242 black students that went to school in an urban neighborhood. In this community, dropout rates were very high, so the people in the study wanted to find any correlation. In the study, the researchers looked at school performance in the first grade, along with family background, family environment, and educational hopes at the time. They compared these factors to see if any pattern related to dropout rates in high school or just any major educational problems. In order to do this study, the researchers decided to take longitudinal data so that they can continually get the data overtime from the same 1,242 individuals that started the study.When the researchers collected the data for the final time, they found school files from 1,101 of the 1,242 that started the study. The researchers also took out all the people that moved and or died in the given time. Of the remaining students, it was calculated that 57% of males and 44.8% of females had dropped out. One of the underlying reasons was that some families struggled to get the kids to school due to economic constrictions. Overall, there was a link to socioeconomic status and dropout rate in this particular district.

This study could be beneficial because it answers the main question that I am researching. However, it only looks at one community in an urban area. I might want to look at more areas, both urban and rural, to see how this data relates to others that are similar. This study was beneficial for my learning and is another source that I could use later on.

Ensminger, Margaret E., and Anita L. Slusarcick. “Paths to High School Graduation or Dropout: A Longitudinal Study of a First-Grade Cohort.” Sociology of Education, vol. 65, no. 2 (1992): 95–113