Contrasting school dropout: The protective role of perceived teacher justice

Background: School dropout is a serious issue with high individual and societal costs. Although numerous risk factors have been studied, those related to the proximal learning environment have mostly been neglected. Aim: In this study we tested whether a feature of the learning environment, i.e., students’ perception of being treated fairly by teachers, could reduce their intention to drop out. Sample: 547 9th grade students (56% male, 94% born in Italy, Mage =13.92). Method: Participants answered a questionnaire on teacher justice and intentions to drop out at the beginning (T1), middle (T2) and end (T3) of the school year. Results: A latent growth model indicated that intentions to dropout increased over time and perceptions of teacher justice had a negative association with the increase both at T2 and T3, even after controlling for gender, nationality, motivation, and perceived learning difficulty. Conclusion: These findings suggest that teacher justice can play a relevant protective role against early school leaving.