The flip side of the coin: Understanding the school's contribution to dropout and completion

In this narrative review, we argue that schools play an important role in fostering student retention and completion. We suggest that psychological perspectives on the goodness of fit between students and the school environment should be used to guide school reform efforts. Using a structural perspective from organizational theory, we review aspects of schooling associated with dropout. We briefly review selected reform initiatives that restructure the school environment to improve student achievement and retention. We propose that efforts to understand and promote school completion will be most effective if they are based on sound psychological theory and science and are embedded in an ecological perspective that accounts for the complex reciprocal interactions of individuals and their environment.