Abstract

Currently, there are approximately 1.3 million annual high school dropouts who potentially might lose $355 billion of income over their lifetimes. Effectively addressing retention and dropout issues has far-reaching societal implications. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between ninthgrade retention and on-time graduation. For the purposes of this study, on-time graduation was defined as completion of high school within four years after entering as freshmen. A convenience method of sampling was utilized to measure ninth-grade retention and dropout rates among students (n = 1,202) in a Southeast Texas high school. A chi-square analysis determined the relationship between the variables. The findings indicated a statistically significant relationship between ninth-grade retention and on-time graduation, yielding a very large effect size (Cramer’s V = 0.61). Specifically, ninth-grade students who had been retained were more than six times less likely not to graduate on time than were the ninth-grade students who had not been retained. Implications of these findings are discussed.