Tinto's Model Research Articles

Predicting freshman persistence and voluntary dropout decisions: A replication

This paper describes the results of a replication of a study testing the predictive validity of a 34-item instrument designed to assess the fundamental constructs of Tinto's model of college student attrition. A design, variables, and analytical procedures virtually identical to those of the original study (done at a large independent university) were used, and this research was conducted at a large public university. The five-factor structure, found in the original study to underlie the 34 items, was replicated almost exactly. As in the earlier work, the Institutional and Goal Commitment Scale was a significant predictor of attendance behavior even after controlling for a variety of students' precollege characteristics. Potential institutional differences in faculty members' influence on retention were identified. A cross-validation classification procedure suggests the five factors are reasonably stable predictors of attrition.

Dropouts from Higher Education: Path Analysis of a National Sample

Path analysis was used to test the Tinto model of college dropout using a sample drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Through path analysis, a more parsimonious causal model was derived. Pre-college characteristics predicted college integration, but did not directly affect the dropout decisions. Factors related to the integration of the student into the college's academic setting appeared to be far more important to subsequent dropout decisions than were factors related to integration into the social setting. The commitment of the student to the goal of college completion had the strongest positive effect on the decision to remain in school.

Toward the validation of Tinto's model of college student attrition: A review of recent studies

This paper describes the salient findings of six studies undertaken to assess the construct validity of Tinto's model of college student attrition. The studies are based on three independent data collections over a three-year period and indicate that students' informal contacts with faculty members are consistently related to subsequent persistence/withdrawal decisions. Background characteristics appear not to be reliably related to attrition by themselves, but they are significantly involved in the ways they interact with the college experience. The findings suggest that Tinto's model is a conceptually useful framework for thinking about student attrition—whether by researchers for purposes of future study, or by administrators for practical action.

Patterns of Student-Faculty Informal Interaction beyond the Classroom and Voluntary Freshman Attrition

In a test of Tinto's theoretical model of attrition, this study investigated the pattern of relationships between different types of student-faculty interaction beyond the classroom and college persistence during the freshman year. After controlling for student sex, academic aptitude and personality attributes, freshman persisters were found to have a significantly higher (p < .01) frequency of interactions along six dimensions than were voluntary leavers. Discriminant analysis indicated that student-faculty interactions focusing on discussion of intellectual or course related concerns contributed most to group discrimination.

A pesquisa institucional e a educação superior brasileira: um estudo de caso longitudinal da evasão

Este artigo apresenta os resultados iniciais de um estudo de caso longitudinal na Universidade de Brasília sobre a evasão na educação superior brasileira. A partir do modelo interacional desenvolvido por Tinto nos Estados Unidos, busca-se uma adaptação à realidade brasileira. Procurando mostrar as relações entre as suas principais variáveis, desde a vida do estudante no ensino médio, passando por suas motivações e expectativas ao entrar na instituição, centra-se na possibilidade de integração, tanto acadêmica quanto social, desse aluno, bem como no seu compromisso em permanecer na instituição e concluir o seu curso. Trabalha-se com uma amostra aleatória estratificada por curso e sexo entre os alunos da UnB ingressos no primeiro semestre de 1998, para um acompanhamento de quatro anos. Os dados sugerem que fatores internos possuem um peso importante na decisão em evadir, melhor observado quando da análise sobre as diferenças entre alunos evadidos e não evadidos.