How do Out-of-School Youth Perceive the Impact of Quality of Education on their Sense of Belonging and Dropping out of School in Israel?

Abstract

The research aimed to highlight the in-depth discussion over different prospects of quality of education and sense of belonging regarding the way it affects the at-risk high school student dropping out in the case of Israel. It further evaluated the concept of risk of dropping out among high school students along with the dynamics and reasons of dropout rate in high schools of Israel. In addition, the impact of the quality of education and the sense of belonging on the at-risk high school students’ dropping out is also evaluated. The research design of the study was mixed where both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and CB-SEM modelling respectively obtained from 600 respondents. It was found that a negative relationship is present between the quality of education and risk of dropout; sense of belonging and risk of dropping out; and that significant relation between perception of school and risk of dropout also exists followed by the subjective hypothesis that only little steps taken by schools towards reducing dropout rates will be found. Meanwhile, in the qualitative part, it was found that schools lack effective measures to reduce the dropout ratio. Hence, considerable measures are required to be taken by the Israeli government.