The transitions from elementary to middle school and from middle to high school have the elements of many adolescents' worst social nightmares—not knowing anyone, being ignored by peers, getting lost, and confronting demanding classes and teachers. Although the anxiety usually subsides in the weeks after classes begin, schools are looking for better ways to support students during these two critical periods of early adolescence.
To ease the transition to middle school, for example, many schools have created summer programs that not only introduce incoming students to one another, the quirks of using combination locks, and the way to language arts class, but also give students a taste of the academic life to come through demonstration lessons.
For high school freshmen, some schools are experimenting with setting 9th graders apart in their own physical location with separate teachers and schedules to give students the literal and psychological space they need to mature. This "academy" approach allows students to develop closer bonds to teachers, who will in turn have more chances to personalize learning to meet students' individual needs, advocates claim.
As schools develop programs for smoother transitions, educators are finding that they must make their settings less impersonal beyond the transitional stage to help students flourish academically and emotionally in their new environment.
Transition Worries
Before entering middle or junior high school in 6th grade or 7th grade, students usually worry about finding their way around the new, large school, moving from class to class, and having more responsibility for their work and academic success, says Oregon guidance counselor Linda Eby, middle and junior high level vice president of the American School Counselors Association (ASCA). Some of the signs of poor transition experiences for first-year middle school students are a reluctance to attend school, a drift away from their previous friends, and a drop in their grades. "Preadolescent problems get exacerbated in the middle school by lots of hurt feelings and ‘cliqueiness.' Self-esteem also takes a hit, especially for girls, which is why we try to do all we can to deal with equity issues for math and science for girls," adds Barbara Muller-Ackerman, elementary-level vice president of the ASCA.
Anxiety over academics and social issues increases as students enter high school, say researchers. High school students must contend with more rigorous academics and greater amounts of homework, and balance these demands with extracurricular activities. Not surprisingly, some students' feelings of inadequacy increase during the transition to high school and are exacerbated by intense worries over social relationships and sexual feelings. In 1996, the Georgia Middle School Association published a study of 9th graders in Georgia and Florida and reported that many girls measured themselves against an unrealistic "Barbie doll" ideal of being "stick-skinny, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed."
As students struggle to search for their identity as individuals, an extensive transition program that gives them the tools to understand expectations in the new school can decrease their anxiety and help them succeed in school. A good transition program can reduce the high school retention and dropout rates, say researchers. According to Douglas MacIver of Johns Hopkins University, the best transition programs
- Give students and their families information about the new school and specific classes through school visits, conferences, and written information.
- Offer students social support during the transition, so that students get to know other incoming students, older students, and teachers.
- Bring together the staff members of schools to share information about one another's curriculum and requirements.
So This Is Middle School
Once schools identify the components of good transition programs, they need to work on the timing of such programs. An extensive and effective transition program begins long before the first week of school. The transition for students entering Parkway Northeast Middle School in Creve Coeur, Mo., begins in January when parents attend an orientation night at the school. Parkway's principal, assistant principal, guidance counselor, and six to eight middle school students visit the four feeder elementary schools during the same month. During each visit, older students give 5th graders a presentation about middle school life, including details about how to operate lockers and follow a class schedule. In the spring, each elementary school's 5th graders take turns visiting Parkway to tour the school, listen to the student choir, and meet with 8th grade students in small group sessions where they can ask further questions.
"The elementary school teachers were very positive about the program, and their kids feel more attached to the school because they get information from our students," says Parkway Middle School Principal David Kanne. In June, Kanne meets with the principal of each elementary school to get a better understanding of the class as a whole or of individual students who might require extra help.
For three years, Parkway Northeast Middle School has been running a four-week summertime class called "So This Is Middle School." Run by 6th grade teachers, the two-hour classes meet at the middle school four mornings a week, to give incoming students a better feel for the school building layout, expose them to sample language arts lessons, and provide instruction in the computer lab and in library research skills. Students also learn to work in teams to accomplish tasks, such as getting a signature from the principal or locating the media center.
Only 70 of the 320 incoming students took part in the summer course this year, but Parkway is committed to its transition program and will continue to refine it to deal with "what kids are curious and concerned about," says Kanne. "I would love it if the whole class would come. We would find a way to staff it."
Setting 9th Graders Apart
Although some high schools have adopted programs similar to middle school models with parents' nights, peer sessions, and school tours, other schools hope to help new 9th graders by keeping them together in their own wing of the school with their own teachers. Teachers in such programs plan lessons that integrate learning in the four core subject areas. The common planning time allows teachers to know students better, as subject area teachers compare notes about the progress or particular needs of individual students, say experts.
"Ninth graders don't have as strong a relationship with teachers as they did in middle school," says Jay Hertzog, dean of the School of Education at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. "But when four teachers get to know 130 students really well, they can start sensing who is a loner, who is angry, who needs more help."
Such special 9th grade programs continue the middle school model concept that learning for young adolescents should be based on team planning, an integrated curriculum, and a concern for the habits of mind that promote intelligent thinking over rote learning, says longtime middle school expert John Lounsbury of the National Middle School Association.
Harold S. Vincent High School in Milwaukee, Wis., has adapted elements of the 9th grade academy to ease the freshman transition into high school. Ninth graders stay with four core subject area teachers for the year, to allow teachers to become "nurturers," a theme that is stressed during summer staff development, says Vincent Principal Gloria Erkins. The core teachers also meet as a team to discuss their students' progress or to talk with parents during parent-teacher conferences.
To ease the stress over the greater amount of homework freshmen receive compared with when they were in middle school, Vincent arranges the class schedule so that 9th graders use 90-minute periods to take only two academic core courses per semester. The core courses are supplemented with electives, such as a foreign languages, or health education classes that are confined to shorter class periods. "It gets students used to the rigor of high school. When they concentrate on two core subjects they can focus and do better academically," says Erkins.
Keeping 9th grade students together and on their own timetable also frees them from getting caught up in the social side of school that may fuel a need to compete and impress older students, says Erkins. Ninth graders start school at 8:30 a.m., an hour later than the upper grades, and change classes on a separate schedule so that they "can develop ownership of the building," she explains.
Involving Stakeholders
Educators who have studied the problems students experience when transitioning to larger schools say programs need to be tailored to the concerns of students and their families. Contrary to past practices, says Hertzog, the principal and school counselors should not be the only ones deciding key elements of the program.
"Kids know what they need better than we do. Their parents know better than we do. We have to be able to address those needs," says Hertzog. Simple social events and information exchanges can provide schools with valuable information about their students' concerns—and they can also result in parent and community support for the school, he adds.
It is just that kind of community support that Sacajawea Middle School Principal Herbert Rotchford wanted to build among principals, teachers, parents, and students in his Spokane, Wash., school and its feeder elementary schools. So he forged the Alliance of Schools—a formal affiliation that has met over three years to discuss how to improve students' transition to middle school. The students from six different elementary schools who come to Sacajawea are often overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of other students—450 in 7th grade alone.
Because all stakeholders are involved in the deliberation process, the alliance has already produced highly successful back-to-school events that bring 95 percent of the new students and their parents to Sacajawea. The school also began its Home Base program this year, in which each teacher meets with 18 students from different grades and neighborhoods on a daily basis. Home Base teachers are charged with getting to know their students thoroughly in order to become their advocates within the school if any academic or personal problems arise.
Parent Involvement
Although efforts by schools are important to help students in transition, the benefits of parent involvement should not be underestimated. Nancy Mizelle, an education professor at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Ga., found that middle school students with long-term relationships with their teachers develop a stronger sense of self and more confidence in their ability to succeed in high school. But the involvement of parents or guardians is critical in the transition period as the student is adjusting to the new school and academic workload. Indeed, research affirms that family involvement is just as important for the entire middle school and high school experience as it is during school transition times.
"It's critical for parents to know what the courses are and why students need them to fulfill requirements or future goals," says Mizelle. For example, she recalls that when her daughter was in 8th grade, she tested on the borderline for placement into the higher-level or lower-level 9th grade tracks. Mizelle investigated to see what the ramifications were for choosing either course. The higher-level course would have required that her daughter work harder and possibly need a tutor, but taking lower-level algebra would have placed her outside the college-bound track. By giving her daughter all the information, Mizelle says, she helped her make an informed decision. In the end, her daughter rose to the challenge of the upper-level algebra course and graduated in the top 10 percent of her high school class.
Adolescence is rarely a smooth time for students. But the combined efforts of administrators, teachers, older students, and parents can help create smooth sailing for students transitioning to middle and high school. "The reality is that interaction between parents and children tends to lessen in middle school and high school because parents think students don't want them involved. But I say, bug the heck out of your kids," Mizelle urges. "It will pay off in the end."
