Students’ concerns about the transition from elementary to junior high school: a comparison of two cities

Abstract

Students' level of concerns and expectations about their transition to junior-high schools in two different cities was examined. In one city, junior-high schools (grades 7 to 9), were newly established, whereas heretofore in that city the school system consisted of 8-year elementary schools and 4-year high schools. In a second city junior-high schools had been operating for more then a decade. 952 students, 547 from the city with the new junior-high and 405 from the city with the veteran junior-high, were asked to respond to a questionnaire on the first day of the new academic year. In the analyses of the data students’ SES served as a co-variate. Results show that the students from the city with the new junior high expressed significantly more negative feelings and more concerns regarding their anticipated adjustment to new school then did the students from the city with the veteran junior-high. However, students from both cities expressed concerns and uncertainty at a level high enough to deserve close attention.