The research on students who do not graduate from high school has traditionally focused on students who drop out before their expected graduation date. This ignores the experiences of "persisters" or "persisting students"--those who remain enrolled in high school on or beyond their expected graduation date, but have yet to earn…

Although persisters now represent the largest group of non-graduating high school students, they have received little attention in the research literature, leaving unanswered the question of how persisters differ from dropouts in terms of demographic characteristics, academic preparation, and key life outcomes. Using statewide…