Abstract
Students negotiate the transition to secondary school in different ways. While some thrive on the opportunity, others are challenged. A prospective longitudinal design was used to determine the contribution of personal background and school contextual factors on academic competence (AC) and mental health functioning (MHF) of 266 students, 6-months before and after the transition to secondary school. Data from 197 typically developing students and 69 students with a disability were analysed using hierarchical linear regression modelling. Both in primary and secondary school, students with a disability and from socially disadvantaged backgrounds gained poorer scores for AC and MHF than their typically developing and more affluent counterparts. Students who attended independent and mid-range sized primary schools had the highest concurrent AC. Those from independent primary schools had the lowest MHF. The primary school organisational model significantly influenced post-transition AC scores; with students from Kindergarten - Year 7 schools reporting the lowest scores, while those from the Kindergarten - Year 12 structure without middle school having the highest scores. Attending a school which used the Kindergarten - Year 12 with middle school structure was associated with a reduction in AC scores across the transition. Personal background factors accounted for the majority of the variability in post-transition AC and MHF. The contribution of school contextual factors was relatively minor. There is a potential opportunity for schools to provide support to disadvantaged students before the transition to secondary school, as they continue to be at a disadvantage after the transition.
Highlights
The issue: Transition from primary to secondary school The transition from primary to secondary school has long been acknowledged as an important change in the lives of most students [1,2,3]
A student attrition rate of 32.7% resulted in a Time 2 (T2) sample of 266 participants from 152 secondary schools
Chi-square and paired sample t-tests demonstrated that the participants who continued to be involved in the study at T2 did not differ from those who discontinued involvement, on gender, disability, socio-economic status (SES)-level, academic competence (AC) and mental health functioning (MHF)
Summary
The issue: Transition from primary to secondary school The transition from primary to secondary school has long been acknowledged as an important change in the lives of most students [1,2,3]. Despite contextual variations in school systems, similarities in the features of this transition exist [4]. The secondary school transition involves simultaneous changes in school environments, relationships, and academic expectations [1,5,6,7]. Students in Western Societies, including Australia, negotiate the school transition at a time in development when they are striving to gain independence from their parents, establish a unique identity [8,9], and gain approval and support from peers [10]. Adjusting to the changes associated with the secondary school transition can be challenging. Unsuccessful negotiation may set some students on a trajectory of diminishing returns, in the short-term [11,12], and years thereafter [2]
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