Secondary School Dropout Prevention Through Service-Learning: A Pilot Study Arco-Tirado, José Luis Fernández-Martín, Francisco D. Hervás, Mirian Brozmanová Gregorová, Alžbeta Heinzová, Zuzana Subasi Singh, Seyda Service-learningSecondary school dropoutQuasi-experimentalEffect sizeEducational effectiveness This study investigates the impact of a service-learning program on secondary school dropout prevention in four European countries. The methodological design was a cluster randomized trial. The intervention involved a sample of secondary school students (n = 204), implementing an ad hoc intervention model. Regression results in Model 7 with all predictors and controls show a significant effect in the variable experimental group, with all predictors and controls explaining 27.9 % of the variance. Suggestive positive results are present for other variables like country (Austria) and Slovakia (Model 2), global trait emotional intelligence (Model 3), civic responsibility, civic efficacy (Model 4), civic skills (Model 5), and learning mindset (Model 6). Based on these promising results, some recommendations are made to improve the future impact of this type of comprehensive service-learning program. 2025-07-18T06:32:51Z 2025-07-18T06:32:51Z 2025-07-04 journal article Arco-Tirado, J. L., Fernández-Martín, F. D., Hervás Torres, M., Brozmanová Gregorová, A., Heinzová, Z., & Subasi Singh, S. (2025). Secondary school dropout prevention through service-learning: A pilot study. International Journal of Educational Research, 133, 102704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102704 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/105417 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102704 eng This work was supported by the European Commission [Grant number 621448-EPP-1–2020–1-BE-EPPKA3-IPI-SOC-IN]. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Springer