Quality of Teaching and Dropout Risk: A Multi-Level Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how the quality of teaching contributes to a sense of belonging and satisfaction, while considering students' personal and socioeconomic variables, in explaining the risk of dropping out of school. Two thousand, eight hundred and seventy 4th- to 9th-grade students from 105 classes in 18 schools participated in this research. A 3-level HLM6 analysis was performed: Students, classes, and schools. Findings showed the effect of the type of school (traditional vs. experimental) on the connections between quality of teaching and dropout risk; these connections are stronger in traditional schools. The conclusion was that quality of teaching plays an important role in decreasing the risk of dropout. Teaching quality has a significant effect on students' satisfaction and their sense of belonging, thereby affecting the risk of dropout.