IndexMethodologyDataResultsParents Altered preferencesEnd of examAttendance at examEnd of ninth grade OptionsConclusionThis report aims to summarize the findings of Dominique Goux, Marc Gurgand and Eric Maurin on school dropout. Other literature focuses on altering students' academic performance to prevent dropout; however, this study examines the idea of ​​changing expectations regarding future academic choices. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Dropping out of school is a significant problem in our society today. The world has become increasingly competitive; therefore it is essential to have a strong educational background to secure employment. Dominique Goux, Marc Gurgand, and Eric Maurin discuss how setting educational expectations with poor student achievement leads to lower dropout and grade repetition rates. They changed student and parent expectations with a non-intensive experiment in France, facilitated by principals of 37 schools. One of the main causes of dropout behavior is the inability to develop realistic educational goals. The economic literature sees school as an investment: if the immediate costs are greater than the expected earnings, this leads to a greater number of adolescents dropping out of school. The article is important as it highlights how an inexpensive intervention facilitated by the principal can lead to a decrease in school dropouts. Parent-teacher interaction is important, and researchers have highlighted it as a way to change the aspirations of low-achieving adolescents. The article is also important because it shows that if a student changes their educational expectations it may prevent them from dropping out in the future. In many different countries, after high school, students have to apply to a new type of school. These usually include prestigious academic schools and professional schools. Upon completion of middle school in France, students can enter a highly selective three-year academic program or enter a vocational school that offers both two- and three-year programs. In France, an award system assigns students to their preferred choice using their average grades in key subjects. Both three-year programs provide access to higher education for students. Therefore, it is more prestigious than the two-year program. Additionally, students could drop out of the education system entirely and take up apprenticeships. Generally, to reduce dropout rates, schools may impose rigorous activities on students in order to increase academic performance, however this is not the case in this study, the researchers conducted a large scale randomized experiment targeting students with poor results. School principals facilitated the experiment, allowing students to apply to different tracks (options after ninth grade) based on their academic performance. There were two meetings between parents and teachers, the results show a reduction in repetition of studies and dropout rates. The findings also show more teenagers applied for vocational programs and two-year apprenticeships. The findings indicate that it may not be helpful to try to change a student's academic record; instead, schools should focus on changing students' and parents' expectations regarding future choices, taking into account their academic abilities. This is evident as a greater number of membersto the two-year professional period; therefore the principal modified his expectations and preferences based on the students' academic abilities. Other researchers have focused more on high-ability students who underestimate their potential, while this article focuses on low-ability students who overestimate their potential, thus bringing new evidence on how changing expectations can result in lower dropout rates . Furthermore, many other dropout prevention policies include financial incentives and academic support therefore the conducted experiment contributes to the literature on school dropout rates. The article is supported by other research such as that of Stinebrickner and Stinebrickner (2009), who found that unrealistic expectations regarding college entry led to higher dropout rates in US colleges. Furthermore, other literature supports the idea that unrealistic expectations lead to poor outcomes for students, such as Gottfredson's 1981 research. Methodology The experiment took place in Paris at the Local Education Authority comprising 1.1 million students . 37 schools participated, equal to 9% of the total schools in the district. Low-income areas of Paris are strongly represented within the sample. At the beginning of the academic year, the principles randomly selected the 25% of students most exposed to the risk of dropping out of school. Principals based their selection on students' academic abilities, and those selected had the lowest grades. Over half of the selected students had already repeated a school year. Pre-selected students were randomized into treatment and control classes by Goux et al. The researchers divided half the classes into the treatment group and the other half into the control group. Randomization was stratified based on the number of pre-selected students, the number of girls, and the number of students who had previously repeated a grade. In total, there were 97 treatment and 82 control classes. There were no important differences between the treated and control classes in terms of characteristics. Only parents of the 97 treatment classes were invited to participate in the meetings. The results are based on a comparison between the treatment and control groups of pre-selected students. After each group was divided, the experimenter invited the parents of the students preselected within the treatment group to have two meetings with the principal regarding their children's future track choice. (options after the 9th year). The reason for the meetings is because they allow parents to be involved in their children's future. The meetings took place in January and April before 6 am inside the school. LEA experts helped prepare principals with guidelines for meetings. These include the academic future for parents' children, procedures for applying for further education, and how parents can help. The guidelines included identifying family aspirations; however, only regarding the child's academic performance. The principles helped adjust expectations based on adolescents' academic performance. For example, a principal may suggest the idea of ​​an apprenticeship for a student who is at risk of dropping out of school or repeating a year. The program allows parents to understand that the two-year vocational qualification can be a good option and that it may be more suitable for their children who have to continually repeat 9th grade. The principals invited only the parents of the pre-selected children into the treatment group, not the group ofcheck. This is highlighted through the time sheet. This shows that participation is only large for pre-selected students within the treatment groups. Goux et al. found that 52% of parents attended one of the meetings and 21% attended both. Only a small portion of the families who had not been invited showed up. This shows that the principal made an effort to call and invite the parents of the pre-selected students within the treatment group. Data The researchers collected data taken from schools during the 2010-2011 academic year. The data includes students' grades in key subjects such as maths and English. This is very important because these two subjects are key indicators of whether a student will receive their preferred school/internship choice after 9th grade. The researchers also collected attendance and grades on the national end-of-year exam for everyone in 9th grade. The exam is not mandatory and does not determine whether students will achieve one of their preferred school choices after 9th grade. The exam is held on the last day of the academic year and some students are absent on this day, although on this day most students may find out if they have been accepted into their preferred track. The researchers found that absence on this day was highest among dropouts. The next piece of data is a questionnaire for parents to complete. The questionnaire included questions on how parents are involved in their children's future and how they can get in touch with teachers at the school. One of the questions also included their children's educational expectations, etc. To increase the response rate, the researchers called pre-selected students who had not responded and asked them the same set of questions. Additionally, the authors took extensive administrative data that provides information on the application and assignment process for each pupil. The data includes applications for all four preferred choices at the end of the year, and researchers know the rank of each choice and the type of school/program. They also know if a student has appealed a decision or decided to repeat 9th grade. The data also includes the student's whereabouts one year after the treatment (dating) year and also two years later. This uses each student's national identification number. Researchers can then tell who is still in school, in apprenticeships and who has left the system altogether. ResultsY_(is = αT_i + X_is β+ U_S +V_s )The authors analyzed the effect of meetings using the following model above. They focused on pre-selected students. T_i Is the dummy variable (0 or 1) that indicates whether a student is in a treatment class or not. X_is Is a vector of control variables that includes dummies for a variety of different student characteristics. The other two variables are the school fixed effects and the potential error term. Altered Parental Preferences By the end of treatment, parents were highly involved in their children's academic careers. Academic aspirations changed based on the adolescent's academic record. This is demonstrated by the options that adolescents chose at the end of the third trimester. The results of the experiment suggest that parents adjusted their expectations regarding their children's academic performance. The researchers found that there was an 8% reduction in the number of parents waiting for their children to complete a three-year academic/vocational program leading to high school education (comparing treatment and control classes). The researchers also found a3.4 percentage point increase in parents expecting a two-year vocational course. This highlights that the results show a change in academic expectations through meetings with the principal. The findings of the article also suggest that very few parents expect their children to drop out of school, regardless of whether they are in the control or treatment group, which agrees with the idea that parents' expectations regarding dropping out of their children are extremely rare. This is because parents understand the difficulties in finding work if their children drop out of high school. End of exam Attendance of exam End of middle school exam C TC Failed but present on exam day 44.8 +6.7**Not present on exam day 10.6 -5.4**The researchers collected information on the number of students who presented themselves and took the national secondary school leaving exam. The exam is not mandatory and the results are not taken into consideration. Most students know what academic path they will follow for the next two/three years before taking this exam. This allows schools to discover the academic path followed by each pupil on the exam day. This means that students who fail to appear for the exam are at risk of being potential dropouts. Table 1 has two columns, C which is the pre-selected control group value and TC which represents the treatment dummy value. The results of the article show that students preselected in the control group have a higher frequency of absences (10.6%) than the treated group (5.2% as 10.6 – 5.4 = 5.2). There were no increases in academic achievement by people who attended compared to those who did not attend. This shows that the students who showed up wanted to know what academic path they would take in the future, meaning they are less likely to drop out. Furthermore, it shows that the experiment had an effect on the possible prevention of dropping out of school for students pre-selected into the treatment group. End of ninth year Application Options C T-CA At least one two-year vocational program 15.8 +4.9 Two years of vocational training – first choice 11 + 3.8Two years of vocational training – not first choice 4.8 +1.1It was found that l The experiment had weak effects on pupils' academic performance. The real purpose of the treatment was not to change academic results but to change the expectations of pupils adhering to their academic results. There was no increase in the number of shortlisted students applying for a three-year programme, however this is to be expected as children's expectations may have been changed through these meetings. Table 2 has two columns, C which refers to the mean value for students preselected in the control group and TC which is the treatment dummy value. The number of pre-selected students who included a two-year professional period in their application increased by 4.9 percentage points. The number of students who applied for three-year professional courses and the number of students who repeated the year also decreased. Two-year courses are easier to accept; this therefore demonstrates that meetings facilitated by school principals may have allowed students to change expectations and apply for two-year courses as potential support. Track choice results show that students are realistic about their academic future and their chances of being accepted into a three-year program. The results show that the experiment made students more aware of other choices rather than signing up for.