Abstract
Are middle schools ill-suited for early adolescents, or can school characteristics account for any differences in student functioning? Achievement, school engagement, and perceived competence of children starting middle schools in 5th and 6th grades were compared to those of their same-grade peers in elementary schools in a national, longitudinal sample (NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, n = 855; 52% Female, 82% White). Classroom quality (observed and teacher-reported) and school characteristics (composition and size) were considered as explanations for any relationships between school-level and student functioning. Fifth grade middle school students did not differ from those in elementary school, but students entering middle school in 6th grade, compared to those in elementary school, experienced lower classroom quality, which in turn predicted slightly lower achievement. They also had lower school engagement, explained by larger school size. Classroom quality and school characteristics predicted youth functioning regardless of school type. We suggest reshaping the research and policy debate with renewed focus on classroom quality and school size instead of grade organization.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akos, P., & Galassi, J. P. (2004). Gender and race as variables in psychosocial adjustment to middle and high school. Journal of Educational Research, 98, 102–108.
Allhusen, V., Appelbaum, M., Belsky, J., Booth, C., Bradley, R., Brownell, C., et al. (2001). Nonmaternal care and family factors in early development: An overview of the NICHD study of early child care. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 22, 457–492. doi:10.1016/S0193-3973(01)00092-2.
Alspaugh, J. W. (1998). Achievement loss associated with the transition to middle school and high school. The Journal of Educational Research, 92, 20–25.
Alspaugh, J. W., & Harting, R. (1995). Transition effects of school grade-level organization on student achievement. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 28, 145–149.
Arnett, J. J. (1999). Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered. American Psychologist, 54, 317–326. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.5.317.
Barber, B. K., & Olsen, J. A. (2004). Assessing the transitions to middle and high school. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 3–30. doi:10.1177/0743558403258113.
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., Houts, R., Friedman, S., DeHart, G., Cauffman, B., et al. (2007). Family rearing antecedents of pubertal timing. Child Development, 78(4), 1302–1321. doi:0009-3920/2007/7804-0017.
Benner, A. D., & Graham, S. (2007). Navigating the transition to multi-ethnic urban high schools: Changing ethnic congruence and adolescents′ school-related affect. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 207–220. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2007.00519.x.
Cook, T. D., Church, M. B., Ajanaku, S., Jr., Shadish, W. R., Kim, J.-R., & Cohen, R. (1996). The development of occupational aspirations and expectations among inner-city boys. Child Development, 67, 3368–3385. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.ep9706244864.
Cook, P., MacCoun, R., Muschkin, C., & Vigdor, J. (2008). The negative impacts of starting middle school in sixth grade. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27, 104–121. doi:10.1002/pam.20369.
Crosnoe, R., Johnson, M., & Elder, G. H. (2004). School size and the interpersonal side of education: An examination of race/ethnicity and organizational context. Social Science Quarterly, 85, 1259–1274. doi:10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.00275.x.
Eccles, J. S. (2004). Schools, academic motivation, and stage-environment fit. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 125–153). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., et al. (1993). Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and families. American Psychologist, 48, 90–101.
Friedel, J., Cortina, K., Turner, J., & Midgley, C. (2010). Changes in efficacy beliefs in mathematics across the transition to middle school: Examining the effects of perceived teacher and parent goal emphases. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 102–114. doi:10.1037/a0017590.
Hosmer, D. W., & Lemeshow, S. (2000). Applied logistic regression. New York, NY: Wiley.
Jacobs, J. E., Lanza, S., Osgood, D. W., Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Changes in children’s self-competence and values: Gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve. Child Development, 73, 509–527. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00421.
Midgley, C., Feldlaufer, H., & Eccles, J. S. (1988). The transition to junior high school: Beliefs of pretransition and posttransition teachers. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 17, 543–562. doi:10.1007/BF01537831.
Midgley, C., Feldlaufer, H., & Eccles, J. S. (1989). Student teacher relations and attitudes towards mathematics before and after the transition to junior high school. Child Development, 60, 981–992. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2008.04.002.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (1994). Child care and child development: The NICHD study of early child care. In S. L. Friedman & H. C. Haywood (Eds.), Developmental follow-up: Concepts, domains, and methods (pp. 377–396). New York, NY: Academic Press.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2002). Early child care and children’s development prior to school entry: Results from the NICHD study of early child care. American Educational Research Journal, 39, 133–164. doi:10.3102/00028312039001133.
Satorra, A. (2000). Scaled and adjusted restricted tests in multi-sample analysis of moment structures. In R. D. H. Heijmans, D. S. G. Pollock, & A. Satorra (Eds.), Innovations in multivariate statistical analysis. A Festschrift for Heinz Neudecker (pp. 233–247). London, UK: Kluwer.
Seidman, E., Aber, J. L., & French, S. E. (2004). The organization of schooling and adolescent development. In K. Maton, C. Schellenbach, B. Leadbeater, & A. Solarz (Eds.), Investing in children, youth, families, and communities: Strengths-based research and policy (pp. 233–250). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Seidman, E., Allen, L., Aber, J. L., Mitchell, C., & Feinman, J. (1994). The impact of school transitions in early adolescence on the self-system and perceived social context of poor urban youth. Child Development, 65, 507–522. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00766.x.
Simmons, R. G., & Blyth, D. A. (1987). Moving into adolescence: The impact of pubertal change and school context. New York, NY: Aldine Transaction.
Skinner, E., Marchand, G., Furrer, C., & Kindermann, T. (2008). Engagement and disaffection in the classroom: Part of a larger motivational dynamic? Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 765–781. doi:10.1037/a0012840.
U.S. Department of Education. (2011). Digest of educational statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
Walters, E., & Deane, K. E. (1985). Defining and assessing individual-differences in attachment relationships—q-methodology and the organization of behavior in infancy and early-childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, 41–65. doi:10.2307/3333826.
Weiss, C. C., & Kipnes, L. (2006). Reexamining middle school effects: A comparison of middle grades students in middle schools and K-8 schools. American Journal of Education, 112, 239–272. doi:0195-6744/2006/11202-0003.
Woodcock, R. W., & Johnson, M. B. (1989). WJ-R tests of cognitive ability. Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.
Acknowledgments
This study originated as the first author’s master’s thesis and he would like to thank his committee comprised of the second author, Robert Crosnoe and Su Yeong Kim in guiding this work in its early stages. The authors would also like to acknowledge the generous comments by Aprile D. Benner and the editorial help of Elizabeth A. Schoenfeld. Finally, none of this work would be possible without the existence of the data, and for that we would like to thank all involved in the Early Child Care Research Network. Support for this research was provided through Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD 5R24HD042849-09 grant awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Holas, I., Huston, A.C. Are Middle Schools Harmful? The Role of Transition Timing, Classroom Quality and School Characteristics. J Youth Adolescence 41, 333–345 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9732-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9732-9