Utilizing Random Forest Method for Predicting Student Dropout Risk in Madrasah Environments
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63158/journalisi.v7i4.1364Keywords:
Student Dropout Prediction, Random Forest, Machine Learning, Madrasah Miftahul UlumAbstract
The phenomenon of school dropout represents a crucial issue with negative impacts on educational institution performance, social stability, and national development. Consequently, the early detection of high-risk students constitutes a strategic preventive measure. This research aims to develop an accurate predictive model using a Machine Learning approach. The study employed a comparative evaluation using classification algorithms, with the primary focus being the performance analysis of the Random Forest Classifier. The dataset utilized, comprising 1,763 student records, underwent a rigorous data pre-processing phase, including data cleaning, variable transformation, and class imbalance handling, to ensure high-quality input. The model was trained using a Random Seed configuration of 75 to guarantee experimental reproducibility and consistency in evaluation results. Experimental findings indicate that the Random Forest algorithm provided the best performance, achieving an accuracy of 82.0% and a precision of 83.8%. This superior performance confirms the model's effectiveness in identifying the key determinants of dropout, stemming from both students' internal and external factors. Based on these results, the research recommends the application of Random Forest as a Decision Support System instrument to facilitate targeted interventions, including medical support, economic assistance, and academic counseling. Future research is advised to integrate historical counseling data to further enhance the prediction sensitivity of the model.
Downloads
References
A. Tayebi, J. Gomez, and C. Delgado, “Analysis on the Lack of Motivation and Dropout in Engineering Students in Spain,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 66253–66265, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3076751.
L. Masserini and M. Bini, “Does joining social media groups help to reduce students’ dropout within the first university year?,” Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, vol. 73, p. 100865, Feb. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.seps.2020.100865.
M. Utari, B. Warsito, and R. Kusumaningrum, “Implementation of data mining for drop-out prediction using Random Forest method,” Proc. 8th Int. Conf. Inf. Commun. Technol. (ICoICT), pp. 1–5, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Jun. 2020, doi: 10.1109/ICoICT49345.2020.9166276.
T. Devasia, V. T. P., and V. Hegde, “Prediction of students performance using educational data mining,” Proc. Int. Conf. Data Mining Adv. Comput. (SAPIENCE), pp. 91–95, Ernakulam, India, Mar. 2016, doi: 10.1109/SAPIENCE.2016.7684167.
M. N. Haque, M. S. Islam, M. M. Rahman, and R. Jannat, “Student performance prediction using machine learning techniques,” J. Inf. Knowl. Manage., 2020, doi: 10.1142/S0219649220500344.
K. Hastuti, D. Lestari, and Hartono, “Prediction of student dropout using Random Forest algorithm,” Int. J. Adv. Comput. Sci. Appl., vol. 12, no. 3, 2021, doi: 10.14569/IJACSA.2021.012345.
D. Kabakchieva, “Predicting student performance by using data mining methods,” Int. J. Comput. Sci. Manage. Res., vol. 2, no. 1, 2013, doi: 10.2478/cait-2013-0006.
S. Kotsiantis, C. Pierrakeas, and P. Pintelas, “Predicting students’ performance in distance learning using machine learning techniques,” Appl. Artif. Intell., vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 411–426, 2004, doi: 10.1080/08839510490256532.
S. Zhang, “Fundamental techniques in data preprocessing for machine learning,” J. Big Data, vol. 6, 2019.
L. Aulck, N. Velagapudi, J. Blumenstock, and J. West, “Predicting student dropout in higher education,” Proc. Int. Educ. Data Mining Soc., 2016.
S. Banerjee and S. Ruj, “Application of Random Forest in educational data mining for predicting student performance,” Int. J. Comput. Sci. Inf. Secur., vol. 18, no. 1, 2020.
L. Breiman, “Random forests,” Mach. Learn., vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 5–32, Jan. 2001, doi: 10.1023/A:1010933404324.
C. Márquez-Vera, A. Cano, and C. Romero, “Predicting school failure using data mining,” Appl. Intell., vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 63–75, 2013, doi: 10.1007/s10489-013-0400-3.
S. Sathyanarayanan, “Confusion Matrix-Based Performance Evaluation Metrics,” AJBR, pp. 4023–4031, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.53555/AJBR.v27i4S.4345.
G. Zeng, “Invariance Properties and Evaluation Metrics Derived from the Confusion Matrix in Multiclass Classification,” Mathematics, vol. 13, no. 16, p. 2609, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.3390/math13162609.
P. Contreras, J. Orellana-Alvear, P. Muñoz, J. Bendix, and R. Célleri, “Influence of Random Forest Hyperparameterization on Short-Term Runoff Forecasting in an Andean Mountain Catchment,” Atmosphere, vol. 12, no. 2, p. 238, Feb. 2021, doi: 10.3390/atmos12020238.
H. Bichri, A. Chergui, and H. Mustapha, “Investigating the impact of train/test split ratio on the performance of pre-trained models with custom datasets,” Int. J. Adv. Comput. Sci. Appl., vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 154–161, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.14569/IJACSA.2024.0150235.
D. Temesgen and A. Ambelu, “Student dropout prediction using machine learning techniques: A comparative study,” Education and Information Technologies, vol. 28, pp. 3425–3438, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1007/s10639-022-11463-y.
E. E. Osemwegie, F. I. Amadin, and O. M. Uduehi, “Student Dropout Prediction Using Machine Learning,” FJS, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 347–353, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.33003/fjs-2023-0706-2103.
K. Schouten, F. Frasincar, and R. Dekker, “An Information Gain-Driven Feature Study for Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis,” in Natural Language Processing and Information Systems, E. Métais, F. Meziane, M. Saraee, V. Sugumaran, and S. Vadera, Eds., Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 9612, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016, pp. 48–59. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-41754-7_5.
S. Raste, R. Singh, J. Vaughan, and V. N. Nair, “Quantifying Inherent Randomness in Machine Learning Algorithms,” SSRN Journal, 2022, doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4146989.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors Declaration
- The Authors certify that they have read, understood, and agreed to the Journal of Information Systems and Informatics (JournalISI) submission guidelines, policies, and submission declaration. The submission has been prepared using the provided template.
- The Authors certify that all authors have approved the publication of this manuscript and that there is no conflict of interest.
- The Authors confirm that the manuscript is their original work, has not received prior publication, is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and has not been previously published.
- The Authors confirm that all authors listed on the title page have contributed significantly to the work, have read the manuscript, attest to the validity and legitimacy of the data and its interpretation, and agree to its submission.
- The Authors confirm that the manuscript is not copied from or plagiarized from any other published work.
- The Authors declare that the manuscript will not be submitted for publication in any other journal or magazine until a decision is made by the journal editors.
- If the manuscript is finally accepted for publication, the Authors confirm that they will either proceed with publication immediately or withdraw the manuscript in accordance with the journal’s withdrawal policies.
- The Authors agree that, upon publication of the manuscript in this journal, they transfer copyright or assign exclusive rights to the publisher, including commercial rights














