Abstract
An increasingly popular government initiative to achieve quality education and prevent students from dropping out of school is the raising of compulsory schooling years. Using exploratory research design, this study determined whether the duration of compulsory schooling predicts students’ dropout rate. Data mining techniques were used in exploring the data sets of 90 countries worldwide. To fit the data with the appropriate model, a polynomial regression analysis was used with an acceptability level pegged at R-Sq = 85% and above. Results revealed that the increase in the number of years of compulsory education decreases the dropout rate until it reaches the saturation point of 13 years. Beyond the saturation point, dropout rate increases. The study recommends for government initiatives and interventions to improve student engagement for countries implementing compulsory schooling beyond 13 years. Keywords: length of compulsory schooling, dropout rate, compulsory school attendance age, out-of-school youth, data mining DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-17-12 Publication date :June 30 th 2019
Highlights
Countries around the world have different educational standards set forth to achieve quality education viewed to be a fundamental factor in securing economic progress
The study of Hungerman (2014) gave a different perspective,. He found that the Canadian compulsory schooling laws which uplifted the level of education of the broader population led to the decline of religious affiliation in the country
A policy analysis was done by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) on high school dropout age providing a general view of the challenges in increasing the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 years old
Summary
Countries around the world have different educational standards set forth to achieve quality education viewed to be a fundamental factor in securing economic progress. A policy analysis was done by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) on high school dropout age providing a general view of the challenges in increasing the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 years old It found the role of schools, together with parents and the community, to play an important part in preventing students from dropping out (Bhanpuri & Reynolds, 2003). The study of Landis and Reschly (2010) revealed that compulsory school attendance age had a small relationship with the level to which the student drops out but with no relationship with high school completion They found no observable pattern of reduction in dropout rates manifested by states that raised their attendance ages. Mackey and Duncan (2013), did not find a clear pattern of effects on dropouts, truancy, and disciplinary actions among the 11 states in the United States from increasing the compulsory school age
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