A few definitions...

Various terms are used in connection with the prevention of school dropout: student retention, persistence, educational success, etc. Here are some definitions to help clarify the terms.

Dropping out (or dropout)
The abandonment of an education before the expected minimum number of courses has been completed. In general, the minimum expectation is of a high school diploma (DES) or vocational school diploma (DEP), although the tendency increasingly is to recognize other forms of certification for weaker students. The term “dropout" is generally applied at the secondary (high school) level, although it can also be used at the CEGEP and university levels. The verb “dropout” is often used as a noun in North America.

A dropout
A student who enrolled before September 30 in a given year, and has neither graduated in the course of the year, or the following year, either in general youth education (public or private sector), or general education for adults, or vocational training. A dropout is also someone who leaves school without a diploma. Potential dropouts are students who are likely to abandon their studies.

Dropout rate
Proportion of the population aged below 20 not attending school and not having obtained a high school diploma.

Reintegration
Restoring an individual to a study program after a fairly long absence. Support for school reintegration includes various actions carried out to enable all young people who have not completed their studies to repeat them, while offering students the means to do so.

Social dropout
A much less significant phenomenon than school dropout, which refers to the social exclusion of an individual that may be manifested in different ways: homelessness, drug addiction, prostitution, psychosocial problems, delinquency, criminality, etc. Although the two phenomena are somewhat linked, it would be wrong to conclude that dropping out of school automatically leads to being a social dropout.

Risk factors related to school dropout
Depending on a young person’s social maladjustment, risk factors are events or conditions that increase the likelihood of an individual experiencing emotional or behavioural problems that may contribute to dropping out.

^{Sources : Ministère de l’Éducation du Loisir et du Sport, Conseil régional de prévention de l’abandon scolaire (CRÉPAS) - Réussite Montérégie - Table des Partners - Persévérance scolaire Montréal}