Measures to Combat School Dropout in France: Macro and Micro Visions

This book review focus on the macro and micro-level reasons of the dropout phenomenon (for instance, at the macro level transformations of the job market, new school regulation system, etc. and, at the micro level, dynamics and interactions within the classroom, etc.). Two books published in 2014 are useful to investigate the topic from both points of view. The first book, edited by Thierry Berthet and Joël Zaffran The school dropout: issues, actors and policies to contrast descolarization, offers a panorama of current French research. It also describes different models of analysis and field experimentation, as well as individual trajectories and some of the most important policy measures adopted in France to contrast the dropout. The second book is titled Addressing early school leaving. Field experiences, edited by Eric Flavier (from LISEC - Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l'Education et de la Communication, at Université de la Lorraine) and, Sylvie Moussay (from Laboratory ACTé - Activité, Connaissance, Transmission, éducation, at University Blaise Pascal in Clermont Ferrand), tries to describe school dropout addressing not only educational authorities, teachers, and policy makers, but also students and families, providing them with a toolkit for better understanding and improving educational practice as well. Both books adopt a sociological approach and agree on considering school dropout as a multifactorial and long-term process. In this book review we are going to describe commonalities of the two books and some points of weakness.