Transitioning to middle school

A study explores how psychological interventions may help adolescents transition to middle school. During adolescence, self-awareness and independence typically increase and sensitivity to social acceptance heightens. Transitioning to a new environment during adolescence may increase the risk of poor grades and behavioral problems in school. Geoffrey D. Borman, Christopher S. Rozek, and colleagues recruited 1,304 middle-school students in the midwestern United States to determine whether an intervention that included advice, reassurance that social and academic adversity in middle school was temporary, and confirmation that support was available at school could ease the transition from elementary to middle school. The authors surveyed the students at the beginning of the school year in September, 2 weeks before starting the intervention, and at the end of the school year in May. Across the entire school district, the intervention increased students' sense of social belonging, reduced disciplinary incidents by 34%, reduced the number of failing grades by 18%, and reduced class absences by 12%. The intervention was particularly successful for male students and underrepresented ethnic and racial minority students. The majority of long-term academic benefits of the intervention resulted from changes in students' academic engagement and attitudes toward school, such as anxiety and social belonging, according to the authors.

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Article #18-20317: "Reappraising academic and social adversity improves middle school students' academic achievement, behavior, and well-being," by Geoffrey D. Borman, Christopher S. Rozek, Jaymes Pyne, and Paul Hanselman.

MEDIA CONTACT: Geoffrey D. Borman, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI; tel: 608-215-1586; email: geoffrey.borman@wisc.edu; Christopher S. Rozek, Stanford University, CA; tel: 763-350-6029; email: crozek@stanford.edu