Test Scores, Dropout Rates, and Transfer Rates as Alternative Indicators of High School Performance

  • Schools have relatively small effects on student learning in comparison with student background characteristics: about 26% of variability in learning is attributable to students’ high schools.
  • Differences in background characteristics of students account for more than half of variability in school drop out rates.
  • Differences in background characteristics of students account for one-third of the variability in attrition rates.
  • Differences in background characteristics of students account for almost none of the variability in transfer rates.
  • Proportion of students from nontraditional families and mean achievement of students in eighth grade had significant effects on all four outcomes (learning, dropout, transfer, and attrition).