The Impact of Student Perceptions on the Transition from Elementary to Middle School
When confronting change, individuals may face perceived fears and challenges. Many current middle schools do not address the needs of middle school students as they transition from elementary to middle school (Akos,2004; Eccles, Midgley, et al., 1993). School personnel understand the problematic transition students embark on when moving from one level of schooling to another. The transition from elementary to middle school may be particularly challenging because it often involves substantial school and personal change at a time when most students are experiencing cognitive, physical, social, and emotional challenges that occur in puberty and have been coupled
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with amplified emotionality, conflict, and defiance of adults (Berk, 1993). Transitions involving the normative progression of grades leading to a change of physical setting to a different school have a significant negative impact on students (Alspaugh, 1998). How well students manage these complex changes is a critical factor in whether they stay engaged and perform in school, develop positive peer relationships, and feel positive about themselves and their future (Roeser & Eccles, 2000; Eccles & Midgley, 1989; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998). This early adolescent period also has been referred to as a “turning point” upon which the students’ outcomes may depend on the care and opportunities that adults and institutions provide young people (Roeser & Eccles, 2000; Carnegie Council, 1989, 1995). At the same time, middle school teachers must manage a more complex environment than their elementary peers with larger classes each period, five or six times as many students per day, and more demand for classroom management and administrative tasks (Seidman & French, 2000). Throughout their academic careers, children and adolescents are affected by their school setting.
There are several school-level processes that may affect student outcomes either as direct effects of instructional practice or indirectly through support of students’ social-psychological needs (Rowan, B., Chiang, F.-S., Miller, R. J., 1996).
Difficulity in transitioning from elementary school to middle school can be seen by lower test scores, lower motivation, lower self-efficacy, higher absentism rates, and more office referrals (CITE).
The sixth-grade year is, for many reasons, one of the most important academic years for most students. Not only does this year mark the transition for most students into a middle school setting, but the sixth grade year also serves as a catapult for future academic and educational experiences
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(CITE). Federal legislation is continuing to hold schools more and more accountable for all students. These standards force schools to find ways to increase student success and learning experiences. Statement of the Problem Researchers studying grade level transitions in the middle years of childhood noted that a majority of children were experiencing declines in motivation and achievement, which seemed to coincide with a misfit between students’ needs and characteristics of the learning environment (Friedel, 2010). A sixth through eighth grade high priority middle school in North Carolina is the school being used in this research. According to the data retrieved from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) the school’s 2014 school performance grade and score, this school failed to meet expected growth. However, the feeder elementary schools and high school from this cluster all met or exceeded their expected growth. This evidence leads one to believe that the students are not making a successful transition from elementary to middle school. Table 1 2014 School Performance Grade and Score School Achievement Score Growth Score Met Goal East Union Middle 46 58.5 No Forest Hills High 59 86.1 Exceeded Marshville Elementary 56 73.9 Met Rock Rest Elementary 1/2 69 88.8 Exceeded Union Elementary 60 84.4 Met Wingate Elementary 57 72.9 Met Table 1 demonstrates the how each of the Title I elementary schools met or exceeded their expected growth and how the high priority high school exceeded its expected growth and the high priority middle school did not meet its expected growth. The only efforts being made to help support sixth grade students transitioning from elementary school are a tour of the school in April and open house in August. There is no communication between fifth and sixth grade teachers within the cluster. Students are clustered by grade level in the building and sixth grade students are supervised during class transitions. ADD TABLE WITH REFERRAL AND ABSENTISM INFO Sixth grade is a critical year and some students are not ready for the challenges they will face academically and socially as they transition from elementary school to middle school (Cauley & Jovanovich, 2006).
According to Niesen, transitions can be difficult for everyone, but for young people one of the most difficult transitions is the one from elementary to middle school. At the same time that young adolescents are adapting to hormonally induced physical, emotional, and cognitive changes, they suddenly enter new educational environments that are typically less nurturing, larger, more departmentalized (e.g., going from one classroom to another), more competitive, and more demanding academically. Middle school students are generally expected to be more independent and responsible for their own assignments as well as other commitments ( 2004, p. 163).
The sixth-grade year is critical in terms of providing the foundation for a student’s middle school career (Clark, 2007). If students have problems transitioning to middle school, the outcome for students may be negative (Ruiz, 2005). Akos, Eccles, and Midgley (1993) state that the timing of these events in a student’s life can lead to lower motivation, lower self-efficacy, lower standardized test scores, higher rates of absenteeism, and behavioral issues. Developmentally responsive schools may be the key to alleviating the problems of young adolescents' school transition (Mullins, Emmett R.; Irvin,
J). Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to examine what measure student perceptions of self-efficacy, motivation, student-teacher relationships, and procedural differences during the transition from elementary to middle school has on student growth. The success students’ encounter during their transition from elementary to middle school can be linked to their academic, social, and emotional growth. (CITE) This is important because “current research shows that young adolescents go through tremendous brain growth and development. Significant intellectual processes are emerging as adolescents are moving from concrete to abstract thinking and to the beginnings of metacognition (the active monitoring and regulation of thinking processes). They are developing skills in deductive reasoning, problem solving, and generalizing” (Lorain, 2015). The researcher considers the perceptions of the students in relation to self-efficacy, motivation, student-teacher relationships, and procedural changes to determine what is interfering with students’ abilities to successfully transition from elementary to middle school within the district. Research Question 1. What impact does student perception of motivation, self-efficacy, student-teacher relationships, and differences in procedures between elementary and middle school have on student growth during the transition from elementary to middle school? Definition of Terms Adolescence Middle School Motivation Peer Relationships Perception Procedural/organizational changes Puberty School performance grade and score Self-efficacy Student-teacher relationship Transition THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: Stage-Environmental Fit Theory In the broadest interpretation, stage-environment fit theory (SEF theory) states that developmentally appropriate or developmentally regressive shifts in the nature of social and learning opportunities in the home and school environments that young people experience as they develop during adolescence may help in explaining individual differences in the quality and course of their academic motivation, educational achievement, and social-emotional well-being during these years (Eccles, 1993). Self-Efficacy Theory (Lit Review ?) Social Cognative Theory (Lit review ?) Assumptions: The researcher has a relationship with many families in the community and school, the researcher will make the assumption that parents will allow their children to participate in the study. The researcher will also make the assumption that students will be willing participants and will answer the survey questions honestly. Limitations: Limitations will always exist that are out of the researcher’s control. The limitations of this study are as follows: 1) students perception of their sixth grade year; 2) students remembering their sixth grade year; 3) researcher’s relationship by being a sixth grade teacher at the middle school; 4) the number of responses the researcher will receive from the selected population . Delimitations: Delimitations established by the researcher are as follows: 1) selection of seventh grade students that attended fifth grade in one of the feeder schools within the cluster. Significance of the study: Any effort that enhances understanding of the elements affecting student growth during the transition to middle school is important to persons concerned with the long term effects these elements may have on student achievement. Role of Researcher Conclusion
Making the transition from middle school to high school is a huge stepping stone in a teenager’s life. High school represents both the ending of a childhood and the beginning of adulthood. It’s a rite of passage and often many teens have the wrong impression when beginning this passage. Most began high school with learning the last thing on their mind. They come in looking for a story like adventure and have a false sense of reality created through fabricated movie plots acted out by fictional characters. In all actuality high school is nothing like you see in movies, television shows, or what you read about in magazines.
Throughout the length of schooling, students go through various changes. In their first year of school, children are required to make the transition from being at home for the entire day to being in school for a number of hours a day. These transition periods happen many times through the schooling years, but the most drastic changes occur during the transition from high school to college, where students weather numerous lifestyle changes. While each individual student goes on their own journey, certain themes remain common between different students. Studies are done to look at these themes identifying the numerous differences and similarities.
The narrator describes the drastic change from elementary to junior high for example the narrator talks about his new situation with his teachers “…what happened was there were teachers now, not just one teacher, teach-erz...” his confusion by the drastic change of having only one teacher to teach his class and help him out then to having multiple teachers. You also get that sense of abandonment and being overwhelmed. He feels abandoned because now that he has multiple teachers, he doesn’t get the kind of attention and care that he was used to in middle school. With all these different teachers with different personalities and classroom rules he
During adolescence, the transition from childhood to adulthood is extremely important. Children are becoming more independent and begin to look to the future in terms of career, relationships, family, housing, etc. During this period, they are exploring the possibilities and begin to form their own identity based on the result of his explorations. This sense of who may be hampered, leading to a sense of confusion about themselves and their role in the
The text depicts a historical perspective on Middle Childhood, as during the twentieth century, children were viewed primarily as an economic source of income, in terms of providing for the family. According to the text this happens often in European counties and in parts of the United States. Elizabeth D. Hutchinson, Dimensions of Human Behavior The Changing Life Course 3rd, 2008. In this short review we will look at how this historical perspective in itself is not a question to how, but when these individual give.
Theresa M. Letrello & Dorothy D. Miles (2003) The Transition from Middle School to High School:
As young adolescents make the transition from middle to high school, ambiguous behaviors are becoming increasingly evident. Hoping to improve these behavioral issues among freshmen, certain schools are reestablishing their system so that 9th graders are isolated from the larger high school community. This will result in negative outcomes for the community as well as for these young adults.
This Transition Summary provides ideas and information on how students, families, school personnel, service providers, and others can work together to help students make a smooth transition. In particular, this document focuses on creative transition planning and services that use all the res...
Children in middle childhood are growing psychosocially at a quick rate. During middle childhood they become industrious, develop a self-concept, and learn how to be friends, amongst other things. In Erickson’s Stages of Development, a child in middle childhood (or children from age six to age eleven) moves through the industry versus inferiority stage. This stage is marked by the child working to gain new skills and in general just being productive (Click P. M., Parker J., 2002, p. 89). A child who is successful in their attempts will gain confidence in themselves and move on into adolescence firmly on the industrious side.
Middle childhood is defined a number of ways, but perhaps best defined as the ages 6 to 12 years of age or prepubescent to pubescence Middle childhood is a challenging time and a major challenge is social constructs, as this is the earliest time when children begin to move away from parental influences and establish more meaningful peer and other adult relationships. It signifies a new set of social contacts with adults and other children as well as a wider variety of settings than those that characterize early childhood. Children begin to see themselves as a part of a bigger whole. Peer influences can become more powerful than the adults in the children’s life and impact their sense of self. Grouping is established and teasing of others groups and children begins to take hold in establishing social ranking. This can be a critical time for children and a great time for a social work practitioner to implement interventions to assist vulnerable children. However, a child who has one or two adults or trustworthy peers to whom she may turn may learn that peers cannot necessarily be trusted to give her good feedback. (website) Providing a setting were children could expand their ideas, make like minded friends and have the mentoring of trustworthy adults can transition children into the next developmental phase. They begin to look at different perspectives and can see another point of view. The world opens up before them, while this is an exciting time; it is also perhaps the most turbulent.
Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (2004). The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University .
challenged to transition from childhood to adulthood. As Adler describes it, “For most children, adolescence means one thing above all else: he must prove he is no longer a child” (Fall & Berg, 1996, p.433). Adolescent individuals must understand his or her place within society, family, and community while simultaneously seeking independence in task and identity.
Growing up can be a difficult time for children and adults. Children move from being children to teenagers in the blink of an eye. In many cases, parents and families are not prepared for the challenges and changes that their child will experience in this new period of life. The world of adolescence is a confusing and unique place where the adolescent may feel like part child and part adult. It is important for parents and adults to understand the struggles and ways to encourage adolescents to move from childhood to adulthood. With the changing culture in today’s world our youth are facing challenges unrivaled in previous eras. Through using the research and studies available today can a more complete picture of what adolescence is as a period of life, the struggles that come with being an adolescent, and how to parent adolescents.
As the bell rang to trek to my next class a sense of relief filled my body as I had made it through another day in Geometry. That relief soon dissipated as I realized my next class was Algebra II. Starting ninth grade I was looking forward to the challenge of taking two math classes, but also getting ahead of my peers, so I could subsequently create more options for myself in the future. Instead, a week never went by without having a test in either one of these classes. People always talk about how transitioning to high school is a reality check, and I lived it daily.
In middle school, a student is faced with many social changes that affect success in school. The change from elementary school, where kids are mainly in one class with the same kids and teacher, to middle school, where students are rotating classes, teachers, and other students is a hard switch for some students. The relationship with their teachers isn’t as strong, due to the fact that they have multiple subjects. This makes it hard for students to get the attention they need. So that is why success in middle school is a strong indicator for success in high