A Brief Report

The goal of the study was to assess positive factors that contribute to African American students’intentions to stay in school. Two hundred and thirty-one African American students participated in this study. Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a conceptual model, surveys measured student attitudes toward school-year completion, social support for completing the academic year, and their perceptions of personal control over school completion. The contributions of self-esteemand racial self-esteemwere also examined for their influence on academic strivings. The TPB was a better predictor of intentions to complete the school year than student grade point averages (GPAs). Self-esteemadded only slightly to the variance explained in predicting intentions to complete the school year, but neither self-esteemnor racial self-esteemwas a significant predictor of GPAs.