The Utility of Educational Resilience for Studying Degree Attainment in School Dropouts

Abstract

The few studies that have compared dropouts with and without degrees have provided information that has limited application for policy and prevention, because factors identified as associated with degree attainment are ones that are difficult to affect. The present study examined diploma and GED attainment in Mexican American and non-Latino White dropouts, hypothesizing that utilization of the educational resilience framework would increase knowledge about degree attainment in dropouts and provide factors that are more easily affected by practitioners. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with degree attainment, and multiple imputation was used to account for sample bias due to nonparticipation. Results indicated that viewing the returning dropout as a resilient student does provide a more useful set of factors associated with degree attainment.

Key Words:

• diploma and GED attainment
• educational resilience
• Mexican Americans
• multiple imputation
• returning dropouts