A Motivational Model of Rural Students’ Intentions to Persist in, Versus Drop Out of, High School

Using self-determination theory, the authors tested a motivational model to explain the conditions under which rural students formulate their intentions to persist in, versus drop out of, high school. The model argues that motivational variables underlie students’ intentions to drop out and that students’ motivation can be either supported in the classroom by autonomy-supportive teachers or frustrated by controlling teachers. LISREL analyses of questionnaire data from 483 rural high school students showed that the provision of autonomy support within classrooms predicted students’ self-determined motivation and perceived competence. These motivational resources, in turn, predicted students’ intentions to persist, versus drop out, and they did so even after controlling for the effect of achievement.