This paper examines the effects of school characteristics on both the probability of dropping out and the strongest predictor of dropping out -- absenteeism. The authors employ a sub-sample from the High School and Beyond (HS&B) database which contains results of background questionnaires and standardized achievement tests given in 1980 to approximately 30,000 sophomores in 1,100 public and private schools. The students, both those still in school as well as those who had dropped out, were resurveyed two years later. Supplemental data were also obtained from principal questionnaires. The analysis reveals: (1) absenteeism is less prevalent in schools where faculty are interested and engaged with students, and where there is an emphasis on academic pursuits; (2) schools that respond to diversity in the student body by differentiating program and curriculum have higher absenteeism rates; and (3) students are more likely to graduate from schools where there is an emphasis on academic pursuits, an orderly environment, and less internal differentiation. [This document is a reissue of the February 1989 CPRE Research Report RR-012 under the same title (ED304755).]