“Changing Pattern and Process of High School Dropouts between 1980s and 2000s” by Suhyun and Jingo Suh investigates the general decline in dropout rate and increase of school completion. According to the article, the high school drop out rate has decreased in the period between the 1980s and 2000s.

The research focused on the dropout rate and completion rate over three decades using decomposition analysis. According to the authors, cross-section analysis was insufficient for collecting the data necessary for the study. Two surveys from The National Survey of Youth (NLSY) from the 1980s and 2000s were used to track changes and or a correlation of both rates. This survey represents a sample of 9,000 to 12,500 youths who’s ages ranged from 12 to 16 from December 31, 1978 and 1996. Two surveys were used to determine the completion rate of a sample which was then compared with the surveys when the ages of the sample were between 20 and 24 years old.

The NLSY gathered data such from various aspects of the youths’ lives including behavioral, personal, educations and familial experiences. Of this information, eight factors were found to be most influential in both surveys. These categories consisted of minority race, gender, living with biological parents, mother’s permissiveness, household size, whether the you lived in a metropolitan area, whether the youth lived south or west, and school suspension at least once.

The results of the study found little correlations between the high school dropout rate and completion rate from the 1980s to the 2000s. The researchers discovered that unknown independent variables were crucial in understanding the fluctuating pattern of dropouts, long term. The authors also suggested the need for educators to be informed on which students are more likely to drop out in order to prevent it.

Suhyun Suh and Jingo Suh. “Changing Pattern and Process of High School Dropouts between 1980s and 2000s.” Educational Research Quarterly 34.4 (2011): 3-13. Print.