Effects of Instructional Organization on Students' Transition Success

Abstract

The Junior High School Transition Study examined the ways in which classrooms were organized for instruction in grade six in six elementary schools and in grade seven in the junior high school attended by students from these elementary schools. Six elements of instructional organization were investigated: (1) content of instruction, (2) group size and composition, (3) division of labor, (4) student control, (5) evaluation, and (6) student advancement. In combination, these elements describe the activity structure within which instruction takes place in a classroom. Findings suggest that, across the various subject matter areas, students were required to deal with less diverse and less complex activity structures in grade seven than in grade six. The greatest diversity of structures was observed in self-contained grade six classrooms. Even though the activity structures were similar across subject areas and teachers in grade seven, students who experienced a greater variety of activity structures in grade six were more successful in their transitions to junior high school than students who came from elementary schools where similar structures were used across the subject areas.