Balfanz, Robert, Lisa Herzog and Douglas J. Mac Iver. Educational Psychologist, 42(4), 223–235 Copyright 2007, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. In this study of the freshman year of high school, researchers found that attendance in this pivotal transition year was a key indicator of whether students would finish high school. The study also found attendance and studying more predictive of dropout than test scores or other student characteristics.