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Digest of Education Statistics
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Table 219.62b. Percentage distribution of 2009 ninth-graders who were current high school dropouts, stopouts, and continuous students in 2012, by selected student characteristics: 2009 and 2012
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected student characteristic All
students
Current
dropouts1
Stopouts2 Continuous
students
1 2 3 4 5
Total 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†)
Number of friends who had dropped out
      of high school as of 2012
                       
None 70.7   (0.70) 22.1   (3.08) 46.5   (2.74) 73.9   (0.66)
Less than half 22.2   (0.50) 50.5   (4.19) 31.4   (2.02) 20.7   (0.52)
Half or more 4.1   (0.31) 19.3   (3.06) 14.0   (2.27) 3.0   (0.30)
Do not know 3.0   (0.26) 8.1   (1.99) 8.1   (1.63) 2.4   (0.24)
                         
Students' educational expectations in 9th
      grade (2009)
                       
High school education or less 14.7   (0.56) 45.4   (5.29) 25.0   (2.20) 13.1   (0.53)
Some college 7.3   (0.34) 8.1   (2.04) 7.4   (1.49) 7.3   (0.37)
Bachelor's degree 17.2   (0.52) 7.0   (1.72) 12.7   (1.81) 17.8   (0.55)
Master's or higher degree 39.4   (0.64) 17.4   (3.18) 29.7   (2.56) 40.7   (0.68)
Do not know yet 21.5   (0.48) 22.2   (3.38) 25.2   (1.94) 21.2   (0.50)
                         
Student's educational expectations in 11th
      grade (2012)
                       
High school education or less 17.2   (0.56) 54.4   (3.31) 30.6   (2.01) 15.1   (0.56)
Some college 11.5   (0.40) 10.9   (1.86) 15.2   (1.45) 11.3   (0.43)
Bachelor's degree 27.6   (0.54) 11.9   (2.36) 20.0   (2.21) 28.6   (0.61)
Master's or higher degree 32.9   (0.74) 6.9   (1.72) 19.3   (1.83) 34.7   (0.84)
Do not know yet 10.8   (0.41) 15.9   (2.40) 14.9   (1.86) 10.4   (0.42)
                         
Mathematics assessment score in 2009                        
Lowest quintile 19.8   (0.75) 49.6   (5.23) 34.6   (2.52) 17.9   (0.76)
Second quintile 20.1   (0.66) 25.1   (3.52) 27.9   (2.76) 19.4   (0.68)
Third quintile 20.2   (0.48) 16.6   (2.80) 18.9   (1.96) 20.4   (0.51)
Fourth quintile 20.1   (0.56)   (†) 9.8   (1.07) 21.2   (0.58)
Highest quintile 19.9   (0.70)   (†) 8.8   (1.26) 21.2   (0.73)
                         
Mathematics assessment score in 2012                        
Lowest quintile 20.0   (0.72) 60.9   (4.33) 33.4   (2.15) 17.8   (0.74)
Second quintile 20.0   (0.50) 25.1   (3.32) 29.7   (2.50) 19.1   (0.54)
Third quintile 20.0   (0.45) 8.9   (2.59) 19.9   (1.89) 20.3   (0.48)
Fourth quintile 20.0   (0.49) 3.6 ! (1.15) 9.9   (1.16) 21.2   (0.51)
Highest quintile 20.0   (0.68) 1.5 ! (0.66) 7.1   (1.02) 21.5   (0.71)
                         
Number of times the following events
      happened in the 6 months prior to the
      2012 interview
                       
Late to school                        
Never 30.0   (0.67) 21.4   (3.30) 23.3   (1.70) 30.8   (0.71)
1 or 2 times 36.4   (0.59) 25.2   (4.65) 30.8   (2.14) 37.2   (0.60)
3 to 6 times 20.5   (0.49) 23.8   (3.20) 24.6   (1.90) 20.1   (0.50)
7 to 9 times 5.2   (0.27) 9.3   (2.15) 8.6   (2.00) 4.8   (0.30)
10 or more times 7.9   (0.43) 20.3   (3.35) 12.6   (1.51) 7.2   (0.41)
                         
Absent from school                        
Never 14.3   (0.43) 9.1   (2.11) 11.8   (1.28) 14.7   (0.46)
1 or 2 times 39.2   (0.59) 18.4   (2.68) 28.1   (2.23) 40.7   (0.60)
3 to 6 times 29.6   (0.58) 21.2   (2.81) 28.9   (1.86) 29.9   (0.58)
7 to 9 times 8.7   (0.31) 19.0   (5.20) 10.9   (1.32) 8.2   (0.34)
10 or more times 8.2   (0.41) 32.3   (3.79) 20.4   (2.22) 6.6   (0.35)
                         
Cut or skipped class                        
Never 79.8   (0.59) 48.0   (4.45) 64.8   (2.24) 81.8   (0.57)
1 or 2 times 11.7   (0.42) 18.0   (2.88) 16.4   (1.70) 11.2   (0.41)
3 to 6 times 4.6   (0.29) 11.9   (2.56) 7.8   (1.14) 4.1   (0.31)
7 to 9 times 1.5   (0.15) 6.4   (1.53) 2.7 ! (0.83) 1.2   (0.13)
10 or more times 2.4   (0.22) 15.8   (2.48) 8.2   (1.44) 1.6   (0.20)
                         
Was put on in-school suspension                        
Never 86.9   (0.53) 49.8   (4.00) 69.8   (1.90) 89.2   (0.49)
1 or 2 times 10.2   (0.44) 27.7   (3.55) 20.8   (1.69) 8.8   (0.43)
3 to 6 times 2.0   (0.17) 12.8   (2.54) 5.5   (0.98) 1.4   (0.15)
7 to 9 times 0.4   (0.07) 4.4   (1.32) 0.9 ! (0.38) 0.2   (0.05)
10 or more times 0.6   (0.08) 5.2   (1.45) 3.1   (0.77) 0.3   (0.07)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Current dropouts are 2009 ninth-graders who were not enrolled in school and had not completed high school or an alternative high school program as of the spring 2012 interview.
2 Stopouts are 2009 ninth-graders who were out of high school for at least one period of 4 weeks or longer between 2009 and 2012 but were enrolled in school as of the spring 2012 interview.
NOTE: Both the base year of the study (conducted in fall 2009, when the students were in the 9th grade) and the first follow-up (conducted in spring 2012, when most of the students were in the 11th grade) consisted of a mathematics assessment and a questionnaire-format interview. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and the suppression of cells that do not meet NCES standards.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) First Follow-up Public-Use Data File (NCES 2014-358); and High School Dropouts and Stopouts: Demographic Backgrounds, Academic Experiences, Engagement, and School Characteristics (NCES 2015-064). (This table was prepared July 2016.)

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