Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Changes in Academic Adjustment and Relational Self-worth Across the Transition to Middle School

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Moving from elementary to middle school is a time of great transition for many early adolescents. The present study examined students’ academic adjustment and relational self-worth at 6-month intervals for four time points spanning the transition from elementary school to middle school (N = 738 at time 1; 53 % girls; 54 % African American, 46 % European American). Grade point average (G.P.A.), intrinsic value for schoolwork, self-worth around teachers, and self-worth around friends were examined at every time point. The overall developmental trajectory indicated that G.P.A. and intrinsic value for schoolwork declined. The overall decline in G.P.A. was due to changes at the transition and across the first year in middle school. Intrinsic value declined across all time points. Self-worth around teachers was stable. The developmental trends were the same regardless of gender or ethnicity except for self-worth around friends, which was stable for European American students and increased for African American students due to an ascent at the transition into middle school. Implications for the education of early adolescents in middle schools are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderman, E. M., & Maehr, M. L. (1994). Motivation and schooling in the middle grades. Review of Educational Research, 64(2), 287–309. doi:10.3102/00346543064002287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderman, E. M., & Midgley, C. (1997). Changes in achievement goal orientations, perceived academic competence, and grades across the transition to middle-level schools. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22(3), 269–298. doi:10.1006/ceps.1996.0926.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blyth, D. A., Simmons, R. G., & Carlton-Ford, S. (1983). The adjustment of early adolescents to school transitions. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 3(1–2), 105–120. doi:10.1177/027243168331008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, C. (1902). Human nature and the social order (pp. 179–185). New York: Scribner’s.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crockett, L. J., Petersen, A. C., Graber, J. A., Schulenberg, J. E., & Ebata, A. (1989). School transition adjustment during early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 9, 181–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. (1983). Expectancies, values and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motives (pp. 75–146). San Francisco: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S. (2004). Schools, academic motivation, and stage-environment fit. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed., pp. 125–153). Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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 in families. American Psychologist, 48(2), 90–101. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.48.2.90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feldlaufer, H., Midgley, C., & Eccles, J. S. (1988). Student, teacher, and observer perceptions of the classroom environment before and after the transition to junior high school. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 8(2), 133–156. doi:10.1177/0272431688082003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finger, J. A., & Silverman, M. (1966). Changes in academic performance in the junior high school. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 45, 157–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000). Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29(6), 679–695. doi:10.1023/A:1026455906512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredricks, J. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). Children’s competence and value beliefs from childhood through adolescence: Growth trajectories in two male-sex-typed domains. Developmental Psychology, 38(4), 519–533. doi:10.1037//0012-1649.38.4.519.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., Taylor, A. Z., & Ho, A. Y. (2009). Race and ethnicity in peer relations research. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 394–413). New York, NY, USA: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., Taylor, A. Z., & Hudley, C. (1998). Exploring achievement values among ethnic minority early adolescents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 606–620.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, M. L., & Way, N. (2005). Self-esteem trajectories among ethnic minority adolescents: A growth curve analysis of the patterns and predictors of change. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(2), 151–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, N., Chassin, L., & Young, R. D. (1981). Measurement of global self-concept versus multiple role-specific self-concepts in adolescents. Adolescence, 16(61), 49–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (1981). A new self-report scale of intrinsic versus extrinsic orientation in the classroom: Motivational and informational components. Developmental Psychology, 17(3), 300–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (2012). The construction of the self: Developmental and sociocultural foundations. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S., Waters, P., & Whitesell, N. R. (1998). Relational self-worth: Differences in perceived worth as a person across interpersonal contexts among adolescents. Child Development, 69(3), 756–766. doi:10.2307/1132202.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S., Whitesell, N. R., & Kowalski, P. (1992). Individual differences in the effects of educational transitions on young adolescents’ perceptions of competence and motivational orientation. American Educational Research Journal, 29, 777–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, B. J., & Rapkin, B. D. (1987). The transition to junior high school: A longitudinal study of self-esteem, psychological symptomatology, school life, and social support. Child Development, 58(5), 1235–1243. doi:10.2307/1130617.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Juvonen, J. (2007). Reforming middle schools: Focus on continuity, social connectedness, and engagement. Educational Psychologist, 42(4), 197–208. doi:10.1080/00461520701621046.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juvonen, J., Le, V., Kaganoff, T., Augustine, C., & Constant, L. (2004). Focus on the wonder years: Challenges facing the American middle school. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kling, K. C., Hyde, J. S., Showers, C. J., & Buswell, B. N. (1999). Gender differences in self-esteem: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 125(4), 470–500. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.4.470.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtz-Costes, B., & Rowley, S. J. (2012). School transitions and African American youth. In S. A. Karabenick & T. C. Urdan (Eds.), Transitions across schools and cultures (Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 17, pp. 27–54). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

  • Lipsitz, J., Jackson, A. W., & Austin, L. M. (1997a). What works in middle-grades school reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 78(7), 517–519.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipsitz, J., Mizell, M. H., Jackson, A., & Austin, L. M. (1997b). Speaking with one voice: A manifesto for middle-grades reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 78, 533–540.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, M., & Cicchetti, D. (1997). Children’s relationships with adults and peers: An examination of elementary and junior high school students. Journal of School Psychology, 35, 81–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C. (2002). Goals, goal structures, and patterns of adaptive learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from http://lccn.loc.gov/2001045107.

  • Midgley, C., Anderman, E. M., & Hicks, L. (1995). Difference between elementary and middle school teachers and students: A goal theory approach. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 15(1), 90–113. doi:10.1177/0272431695015001006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C., & Edelin, K. C. (1998). Middle school reform and early adolescent well-being: The good news and the bad. Educational Psychologist, 33(4), 195–206. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3304_4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C., & Feldlaufer, H. (1987). Students’ and teachers’ decision-making fit before and after the transition to junior high school. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 7(2), 225–241. doi:10.1177/0272431687072009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C., Feldlaufer, H., & Eccles, J. S. (1989). Change in teacher efficacy and student self- and task-related beliefs in mathematics during the transition to junior high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(2), 247–258. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.81.2.247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nottelmann, E. D. (1987). Competence and self-esteem during transition from childhood to adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 23(3), 441–450. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.23.3.441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: applications and data analysis methods. London, UK: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rockoff, J. E., & Lockwood, B. B. (2010). Stuck in the middle: Impacts of grade configuration in public schools. Journal of Public Economics, 94(11–12), 1051–1061.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogosa, D. (1988). Myths about longitudinal research. In K. W. Schaie, R. T. Campbell, W. Meredith, & S. C. Rawlings (Eds.), Methodological issues in aging research (pp. 171–209). New York, NY, USA: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowley, S., Kurtz-Costes, B., & Cooper, S. M. (2011). The schooling of African American children. In J. Meece & J. Eccles (Eds.), Handbook of research on schools, schooling, and human development (Chap. 17). New York: Routledge.

  • Rudolph, K. D., Lambert, S. F., Clark, A. G., & Kurlakowsky, K. D. (2001). Negotiating the transition to middle school: The role of self-regulatory processes. Child Development, 72(3), 929–946. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00325.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schulenberg, J. E., Asp, C. E., & Petersen, A. C. (1984). School from the young adolescent’s perspective: A descriptive report. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 4(2), 107–130. doi:10.1177/0272431684042002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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(2), 507–522. doi:10.2307/1131399.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, R. G., Black, A., & Zhou, Y. (1991). African-American versus white children and the transition into junior high school. American Journal of Education, 99(4), 481–520. doi:10.1086/443995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, R. G., & Blyth, D. A. (1987). Moving into adolescence: The impact of pubertal change and school context. Hawthorne, NY, USA: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, E. A., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Connell, J. P., Eccles, J. S., & Wellborn, J. G. (1998). Individual differences and the development of perceived control. In Monographs of the society for research in child development, 63, 1–231.

  • Watt, H. M. G. (2004). Development of adolescents’ self-perceptions, values, and task perceptions according to gender and domain in 7th- through 11th-grade Australian students. Child Development, 75(5), 1556–1574. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00757.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wigfield, A., Eccles, J. S., Mac Iver, D., Reuman, D. A., & Midgley, C. (1991). Transitions during early adolescence: Changes in children’s domain-specific self-perceptions and general self-esteem across the transition to junior high school. Developmental Psychology, 27(4), 552–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, R., & Johnston, J. H. (1999). Challenging orthodoxy: An emerging agenda for middle level reform. Middle School Journal, 30(4), 10–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, C. A., Eccles, J. S., & Sameroff, A. (2003). The influence of ethnic discrimination and ethnic identification on African American adolescents’ school and socioemotional adjustment. Journal of Personality, 71(6), 1197–1232. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.7106012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author contributions

AR conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination and drafted the manuscript; SS performed the statistical analysis, created all tables and drafted the results section of the manuscript; KM conceived of the study and helped draft the introduction and discussion of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Allison M. Ryan & Kara A. Makara

  2. Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA

    Sungok Serena Shim

Authors
  1. Allison M. Ryan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sungok Serena Shim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kara A. Makara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Allison M. Ryan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ryan, A.M., Shim, S.S. & Makara, K.A. Changes in Academic Adjustment and Relational Self-worth Across the Transition to Middle School. J Youth Adolescence 42, 1372–1384 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9984-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9984-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation